Confidence
is one of the things I “activate” in the world—I activate it in YOU, as someone in touch with me. I’ve thought a lot about confidence: what it means to have it, how you get it, and so on.
Let’s analyze confidence … breaking it down into
3 kinds of confidence:
Internal Confidence:
Also known as “self-esteem,” internal confidence is how you feel about yourself.
External Confidence:
This has to do with how you are seen by others. It relates to visibility, and to finding a sense of belonging. This confidence blooms when you feel others know, accept and like “the real you.”
Worldly Confidence:
Also known as “competence,” worldly confidence comes as you gain mastery in your skill sets.
There are various things you can do to raise one, or sometimes all three of these kinds of confidence. One “triple threat” approach is…
…having regular ways to experience new levels of achievement.
I get a lot of value from this—I’m sure it’s a part of why I excelled in school back in the day. My confidence needed feeding, and succeeding in school was one way of experiencing new levels of achievement with regularity.
You might have a string of projects to complete, or one big goal you can break into smaller pieces to celebrate as benchmarks.
For the last year I’ve belonged to Toastmasters. It has a DIY education system, broken into measured achievements—it’s been a terrific confidence builder, for all three kinds of confidence. I recently achieved my first award: the Competent Communicator Award. (Here I am with 2 other club members celebrating the same achievement.)
However you analyze it, having confidence is part and parcel of loving your life.
Coach’s Challenge:
After you analyze confidence—What ways do you have of regularly experiencing achievement? Simply identifying those ways can help you attribute them the power and prominence they deserve in your life. Recognize the ways you feed your confidence!
