Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.
In the military we used to speak of having a “can do” attitude. We were trained to approach every assignment as possible. Someone’s mental attitude and outlook have tremendous impact on the outcome. Competency and confidence are two sides of the same coin. They flow in and out of the same river.
"Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Someone once said that true confidence has four components: hope, efficacy, optimism and resilience." - Source Wikipedia
Confidence in life is important. It can have a calming effect. Confidence can allow us to block out all the noise and concentrate on the task at hand. In other words, confidence should allow us to harness our abilities and focus them towards accomplishing a goal. I have noticed that when confidence is high, energy is high. Confidence also enables us to be able to bounce back.
Think of all of the past difficulties that you have encountered. Some of them may have seemed insurmountable at the time. Once you overcame them, your confidence soared. On the other hand life is not a succession of uninterrupted victories. Disappointment and loss are a part of the process. If we are not careful, they can chip away at our confidence.
A lack of confidence leads to a pessimistic mindset. We lose the enthusiasm to pursue our dreams. It drains of us the energy to set or to achieve goals. Our outlook on life becomes confining. It can cause us to see limitations were there aren’t any. In other words we simply stop trying.
Building Confidence
“As a man thinks, in his heart so he is.” Proverbs 23:7
“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny,” Chinese proverb
Believe it or not, confidence is something that can be cultivated. You can develop and grow confidence. Imagine for a moment that your mind is soil. Whatever you plant there will grow there.
We spoke about how we need to be able to block out noise. The biggest noise is the voice in side our own head. Without question, we often are own worst critic. This is the voice that says “It won’t work”, “I can’t do that”, “Who wants to hear what I have to say”. The more we rehearse these thoughts the more ingrained they become. Negative thinking is habit forming. You must now learn a new skill. You must now train your mind to think good thoughts.
As you become aware of those “limiting” thoughts:
- Recognize them as negative and limiting.
- Counter them by rehearsing positive thoughts.
- Recalling past victories.
Remember to be patient with yourself. It is a process that takes time.