Sometimes I feel like this whole loving to read and learn thing is a gift and a curse. Gift because…well we know why. But curse because once you know something, you can’t un-know it. And when you know better, you’re supposed to do better, right? Well, that always forces some growth which is always uncomfortable. And I’m already out here naked and afraid. Isn’t that enough discomfort for one person?
But anywho, when I learned the difference between confidence and self-confidence, it was eye-opening and it forced growth on me once again. I had always considered myself a confident person so I assumed I had self-confidence too. Well I was wrong.
Confidence comes from knowledge and experience. It’s based on past accomplishments. I’m confident that I can drive to the store and back because I’ve done it a million times. I’m confident that I can start a business because I’ve done it twice already. However, self-confidence comes from believing in your ability to accomplish something you’ve never done. I’ve never helped 100 women find their purpose in a year. I’ve also never made a million dollars. But these are my goals and in order to achieve them, I can’t rely on anything I’ve done in the past because I’ve never done it. I will have to believe in my ability to do it in the future. I must have self-confidence.
Yes, we need confidence, but when we are trying to grow and take our lives to the next level, we have to rely on our self-confidence. The good thing is that when we trust in our abilities to do something and then actually accomplish it, our self-confidence increases along with our confidence. It now becomes another past experience that gives you a boost of confidence that you could do that thing again. But more importantly, you start to believe in yourself that even though you’ve never done it before, you know that you CAN do it.
In order to reach my goals, increasing my level of self-confidence was very necessary. That meant that I had to believe in myself on another level. I had to believe that God gave me certain desires because it was meant for me to have them. I had to believe that if He gave me the desire, he also gave me everything I needed to get it. I had to believe in my abilities. I had to believe that it was possible that I could achieve every single goal I’ve set for myself.
Everything is impossible until someone does it. Think about it. It was impossible for people to fly through the air. Until the Wright Brothers invented the airplane. It was impossible to talk on the phone without a landline. Until Martin Cooper invented the mobile phone. All it took was the self-confidence, the belief in their abilities to make it happen even though they’d never done it before.
Where is your level of self-confidence? Do you truly believe that you can reach your goals and be successful in your purpose?
Gabrielle, The Thought Trainer
Leave a Reply