We make way for the man who boldly pushes past us
– Christian Bovee
Often the only thing between a life of mediocrity and greatness is the amount of confidence in a man. Of all qualities that is needed to achieve success, confidence in oneself is the most important quality to have. Look at all the champions we know, past and present, the one quality they all share is confidence in their ability.
Goethe wrote, “ Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
A person without confidence will never attempt anything that is worthwhile. He will stand by and miss out on the fun, opportunities and growth that life has to offer.
The one factor that gnaws and chews on a person’s confidence is fear. When a person is exposed to too much negative experiences, his confidence takes a beating and if he does not pause and put things in proper perspective, fear sets in. This fear, left unchecked will grow the next time a person goes through a negative experience. The more fear a person has the less confidence he will have in himself and lesser confidence the greater the fear is. This vicious cycle, if not stopped, can drive to self destruction.
In order to have greater self confidence, fear must first be destroyed. The two steps strategy to eliminate fear as proposed Dr. David J. Schwartz in his book “The Magic of Thinking Big” are:
- Isolate fear. Identify exactly what is the fear and write it down. Analyze it and look at it objectively.
- Take action. Do the necessary. Every fear has some kind remedy.
Tips on building self confidence.
1. Accept yourself. Know and love yourself.
2. Believe in yourself. Affirm yourself and flush out negative thoughts.
3. Acknowledge your accomplishment. Keep a success journal.
4. Reward yourself. Treat yourself to something nice each time pulling through a challenge.
5. Speak up.
6. Visualize your goals.
7. Do not compare yourself with others.
8. Always make eye contact.
9. Have proper perspective of people and things.
10. Be prepared.
11. Walk a little faster.
12. Be a front sitter.
13. Be a expert in something.
14. Depersonalise failure. Look upon your failure as a step forward.
15. Smile big.
