Confidence – Where to Get it and How to Keep it

By Roy H. Williams

Getting confidence and keeping confidence – emotional muscle – is like getting and keeping any other muscle; it just requires daily exercise.

But where does confidence come from? Is it merely a feeling – the product of an optimistic attitude gained through positive thinking rituals learned at motivational seminars – or is it something more substantial?

According to Baltasar Gracian, confidence comes from authority, "…and the highest authority is that which rests on an adequate knowledge of things and long experience in different occupations. Master the subject matter and you will come and go with grace and ease and speak with the force of a teacher; for it is easy to master one’s listeners if one first masters knowledge. No sort of abstract speculation can give you this authority; only continual practice in one occupation or another. Mastery arrives from an action done often and well… Authority originates in nature and is perfected by art. Those who attain this quality find things already done for them. Superiority itself lends them ease and nothing holds them back: they shine, both in words and deeds, in every situation. Even mediocrity, helped out by authority, has a certain eminence, and a little showiness can make everything come out right."

Keys to confidence:

1. Do your homework….

Link: Monday Morning Memo for February 21, 2005

3 thoughts on “Confidence – Where to Get it and How to Keep it

  1. Pingback: Success Blogging

  2. Yvonne DiVita

    Nice photo! As always, marvelous Monday morning memo. I can’t get going without it. Hey…what happened to your neat video? Michele still has hers…I LOVED your video. Are you making a new one?

    Reply
  3. Pingback: This is going to be big. I can feel it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *