Why is Confidence Important?
Imagine that you are sitting in a business office and that you are taking a very important placement test. This could be for a job that you have always wanted or a position in the company that has recently opened and that you have had your eye on for quite a while. Or, it could be in a classroom and you are getting ready to take your SAT, LSAT, MCAT or GRE and you want to get the highest grade that you can. The importance of having your mind and attitude in the correct place is absolutely essential for your success. The score you make on these achievement examinations are crucial for identifying those who are truly qualified and prepared from those who are not. And do not think for a minute that the same stress and strain is not felt on those that are struggling to get through basic Algebra and Geometry in high school and junior high!
In the sporting world, millions of dollars are spent on grooming the best athletes in the world to create peak performances during clutch playoff games and conference championships. Even at a lower level of high school and AAU athletics, oftentimes college scholarships are granted to the performers who display great skill under duress and pressure. In the social and personal world of people, the opportunity to meet a new person that you have been interested in can also create a nervous and tense situation. The pressure to meet someone face to face and have a normal conversation has even changed the way that we meet new people and future spouses and significant others!
These are just a few of the many examples that people are going through every day of their lives. The decisions they make and the answers they choose play dominant roles in their present and immediate futures. For every one of these different roles and people who are the players, the skill set of durable confidence is perhaps the single, greatest asset to their resume’. The reason is that confidence provides the internal drive mechanism to push one to achieve great things and many times past what they originally thought they could do!
When one thinks of how one becomes confident, you have to consider several items that go into the melting pot that we call confidence. A few of the items I will list here:
- Preparation and Readiness to perform
- Skill Competency / Adequacy of movement competence
- Intellectual and Psychological Competence
- Adherence and Compliance
- Mental Discipline
- Grit and Tenacity
- Psychological Hardiness and Resilience
- Learned Optimism
- Trust
- Relentlessness
- Patience and Composure
- Concentration and Attentional Focus
- Successful experiences
These are just a few of the many integrated components that make up confidence. As I stated in Section 1, confidence is everything, but confidence is also every single thingthat helps to create your belief system that helps you attain whatever is your goal. Without the skill of confidence, the road to success becomes a rocky one with many turns and crevices. But when you are armed with a resolve of durable confidence, the road is still rocky and dangerous, but it becomes much more maneuverable and you are able to persevere and get to where you want to go.
As we move forward into this section, I will discuss all of these aspects and how they help to fortify one’s personal level of self-confidence. But for now, understand that everything that we do as human beings is based on how we walk, talk, act and behave in either a personal, social or professional setting. Make no mistake, people are watching and judging your every move and when you move with self-assurance and confidence, you stand out. And that is a good thing, because the word outstanding means that you separate yourself from all of the rest….you stand out. When people have a healthy self-regard and are comfortable with being themselves, you can almost feel a wave of self-confidence that flows from them into everything they do and whatever they touch.
But like anything in this world, confidence is not given nor earned freely. People have to develop their craft, whatever that may be, through years of trial and error experience and also strive to improve themselves each day to bring a demeanor of professionalism and effortlessness to their endeavors. What most of us see from the outside is smooth, professional and somewhat without struggle. The real truth is anything but easy and smooth. Confidence is a skill that has to be worked on each and every day. That is why the creation, maintenance and continual development of your self-confidence is an on-going quest and journey. Everyone can use a bit more confidence. The secret is that it can be developed and nurtured, much like any good manner or habit.