JKLTip Allow confidence to build by bouncing between simply taking action and improving your mindset
It’s a classic line, “what came first, the chicken, or the egg?” Not only can it be used to debate the origin of a species, but it can be used to discuss confidence. What happens first, do we build confidence, or try something?
Much like the saying, this can be difficult to answer. I strongly believe that it’s best to take the approach of doing both simultaneously. So what is the chicken, and what is the egg when it comes to confidence?
The Egg
We can build our confidence internally by improving our mindset. One strategy might be to read books, like Dare to Lead, or The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck. We can listen to inspirational talks from Eric Thomas, Les Brown, or Steve Harvey. If you prefer podcasts or videos, they are great too. Another strategy is finding quotes that remind us to keep pushing on.
The Chicken
We can build our confidence externally by taking action. The best thing we can do is try something, learn, pivot and repeat. I am confident there is no better way to improve than to try, get feedback and try again. This is the thesis driving all of my work right now. With youth, friends, or for myself, I am constantly reminding and remembering to take action.
I struggled with this topic for a very long time. Actually, I struggled with it pretty well my entire life. I ranked number one in the world at building up my internal skills. No one would ever know it, but it’s true.
I think I struggled because when I looked at others who seemed confident they all had their “thing”. They might be musicians, athletes, or actors, but they had their thing. For me I love filmmaking, but how do you build confidence if you don’t actually do it? That’s why I started a Youtube channel and even if the first thousand videos are terrible, I’ll be building confidence over time.
It Doesn’t Matter
It doesn’t really matter which comes first, whether it is the confidence to take action, or the action itself. Simply do both and allow confidence to build.
I think it’s also important to point out that confidence can be reduced in the same manner. We can begin to struggle internally, in which case we should lean on the right people to help us. We can begin to hate doing the thing we were confident in, in which case it’s best to take a break and re-evaluate.
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