Confidence [Self-Confidence]

Oh, yes! I love this fun and tasty subject for the week.

Firstly, let’s look at some definitions of the word confidence courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com:

1a: feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances
Examples: had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed
                  met the risk with brash confidence

1b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way
Example: have confidence in a leader

2: the quality or state of being certain : certitude
Example: they had every confidence of success

3a: a relation of trust or intimacy
Example: took his friend into his confidence

3b: reliance on another's discretion
Example: their story was told in strictest confidence

3c: support especially in a legislative body
Example: vote of confidence

4: a communication made in confidence : secret
Example: accused him of betraying a confidence


Attribute: “Confidence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confidence. Accessed 9 Jul. 2024.


Which definition is the subject matter for this post?
Actually, it’s 1a: feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances.

Now, I consider myself to be a confident person in some areas of life and admit to not feeling confident in other areas of life. That’s true for most people when they are honest with themselves.

Which is kinda cool because there’s room for growth!

Imagine if we were born with all the knowledge and skills that we need for life. Where would the opportunities be to learn something new?

For example: Following 55 years of cooking meals at home for my family I’m confident mixing food, spices, herbs, sauces, etc. to create a delicious and healthy meal. If I were to take said home-based skills to a Michelin-rated restaurant, I’d be totally out of my element and have little confidence in my abilities to cut butter properly.

Okay.
I could cut the butter.
Properly.

And, there would be everything else to learn about working in a 5-star kitchen under pressure to perform at a very high level. Confidence would be low to begin with. With lots of practice and experience, then expertise and confidence build.

So, when does confidence begin, or asked a different way, how does one build confidence?

Actually, building confidence began when we were toddlers as we took our first step after being held and carried everywhere for the first 18-24 months of life. That first BIG STEP! Lots of cheering and encouragement from our parents or whomever was raising us. HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT and an itsi, bitsy, teenie, weenie shot of confidence was established.

We were little mobile beings.
Exploring our expanding world.
Touching everything.
Testing the limits.

Until, we got too close to the edge of safety and someone screamed, ‘NO!’ ‘STOP!’ ‘DON’T DO THAT!!’ to prevent us from hurting ourselves.

<Play sound of record scratch>

Talk about a change of state!  
Also, probably lowered what little confidence we had to pretty much nothing.
Back to square one with you Janey or Jimmy.

Life is like that though, yes?
We build confidence in some areas of life, move on to something new and build confidence in other areas of life.

“Confidence is not an innate, fixed characteristic. It’s an ability that can be acquired and improved over time.”

There’s a really good article in Psychology Today that addresses how to build confidence.

Building confidence takes a lot of resilience and a huge heart filled with self-love and self-compassion.
Not an easy combination to have for oneself. And, very doable, one step at a time.

Why did I write about confidence? Well, today I gave a short presentation about confidence, the theme at a Women’s Networking Group meeting. Yes, men are welcome in this group which is refreshing and soooo insightful. I learned tons listening to all of the participants talk about being women in the workplace. Eye opening and heart wrenching. In this day and age women still work twice as hard as men for recognition and promotion. That’s such a load of horse pucky. In other words, that’s bullshit. Sorry, women of the world. You deserve better!

So, I thought, “Why not take some of the material, expand on it and let it be the post for the week?”

I’d love to learn about your experiences with building confidence. Has it been easy? Hard? What challenges have you had to face? What advice would you give to someone facing a lack of confidence?

Thanks for the read!

Glenn    

Human made: no AI bots were used writing this post.