When people look for a good basketball player, what do they usually look for? Size, Strength, shooting, ability, footwork and passing, along with a few more things are usually on the list of favorable characteristics that are sought upon. But, there is one more thing that is pivotal to make an excellent, wel-flourishing and complete player, or person, in any category. And that skill is none other than confidence.
Confidence can be described in many ways – and should be depending on the situation. Many could describe confidence as having the ability to stand up in front of a crowd and deliver a 10 minute speech. Others may describe it as taking the last shot in the most important game when you could’ve passed it to your team’s most statistically best player. But, simply I believe that confidence is the act of believing in your mind and body – that everything is possible.
So, how can confidence affect your life? Well, I want to trace back to the example of the basketball player I gave in the opening paragraph. What if, even with all the attributes that could bolster one’s success in the game, the player didn’t have confidence? Well, the short answer is that his performances would reduce drastically, because he wouldn’t have the confidence to shoot the ball, steal the ball from the opposition, and his capabilities would be short-lived. This example can be translated into any experience of life – work, ideas, school, thoughts and even the littlest of decisions!
Now we have discussed how confidence can shrink even the best of talents, what are some ways to be confident and develop confidence? First of all, and mostly importantly, you need to trust your gut. Your gut is your body’s thoughts. By trusting your gut, you give your body confidence, as you trust your body’s decision. If you didn’t trust your gut, you would have a pre-made assumption that your body is obviously incorrect – and you should stop relying on it. This is also equivalent to self-confidence. The second piece of advice that I will tell you is to take risks. Taking risks always seems like it’s going to end in disaster, but will it just improve your confidence? Scared of heights? Go to tree climb and do the courses. Take deep breaths to calm yourself down. By finishing the course, you have developed confidence – in terms of heights. One more tip that I can give you is to start self-talk. Self talk is the idea of talking to yourself in your brain, saying encouraging words which help you confidence-wise, and also mentally. For example, if you are doing public speaking, try to say some coaxing words, before, during and after your speech, such as ‘you’re doing a great job’ or ‘excellent’ and ‘you can do it’. These can ultimately be the factors that push you over the line, and give you the confidence to do what you want to do.
After following these tips and some others, definitely expect to be much more confident in any task, at any place. After all, remembering in confidence is the last piece in the puzzle, but also one of the most important pieces.
(Go watch this TedEd talk which inspired me to make this article here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-HYZv6HzAs)
Sorry for not uploading for a long time, I will be back at it regularly now.