Chasing Confidence

My Coaching practice has led me study everything around and to do with Confidence.

You see motivational posters saying you need it. They make it seem like I should just have it, or I should be able to flick a switch to turn it on.

How the heck, do I get confidence?? Actually, what would it look like to have confidence. I'm pretty sure I have felt it, and described it as "I was in the ZONE".

Socratics, on the ideology of confidence, 'encouraged rigorous personal examination and improved knowledge of self as the only meaningful pathway to personal happiness.' Corlet, https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.10.1.84

I could go on and slide in numerous sports psychology research quotes, philosophers, and cognitive psychologists who agree that confidence is important to thrive and sometimes even survive in this world.

In my Coaching practice, I find Clients continuously leading us down a path to attaining more confidence. Whether it's a business executive, athlete, middle manager, or student, they are seeking to feel belief in themselves, a sort of comfort in their own shoes.

It may come as no surprise to you, that the root of high-performance is understanding and excepting exactly who you are. Not trying to be what you are not. This reminds me of Arnold Beisser's quote:
“Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not.”

Cambridge University describes confidence (noun): as a feeling of having little doubt about yourself and your abilities, or a feeling of trust in someone or something.

I believe the word "doubt" is exactly where the "gold dust" of creating self-awareness may lay. In doubt is a belief about the self, that is self-defeating, causing positive flow disturbances and a kind of hiccup. This is a good place to start...to grab hold of that elusive thing we call CONFIDENCE.