Do you see yourself as a confident person? How about a self-confident person?

What’s the difference? Read on. 

How often have you or someone you know avoided doing something you’d love to do because you’re not confident? For me, that number was pretty high up until now.

Believing we lack confidence is about as believable as a talking scarecrow who thinks he doesn’t have a brain. I mean, how does he talk? If you lack confidence, how did you get this far in life?

Confidence isn’t something we lack, ever. It’s always there.  Think about all the ways you are confident in who you are and what you do. But for me, there is a big distinction between confidence and self-confidence. Let me know what you think.

Confidence comes from doing something usually more than once. I’m confident each morning when I make my coffee that I can do it well, and enjoy a good cup of coffee just the way I like it. I’m confident about driving my car and getting to places I’m familiar with. How to use my laptop. When the local market decides to change everything around and put the crackers where the cereal used to be, I am confident I’ll find my way to the crackers. The list of what each of us is confident in is endless. 

Self-confidence is an entirely different concept. Self-confidence is taking that first step when you can’t see the whole staircase and trusting you’ll be okay. Trusting you’ll be guided to the next step as long as you take the first one. Self-confidence is the courage to step into the unknown, try something new, take the risk to be authentic, and know you will be okay no matter what the outcome is. 

We build confidence through self-confidence which is the courage to take action toward what we want in life. It means we can do something even if we are afraid because we know it can be messy, awkward, and maybe embarrassing and we’ll be okay no matter what. 

I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t very confident the first time I drove a car. Over time it got easier, right?

This is an important distinction if you want to live a wildly imperfect and boldly authentic life. To be true to yourself, you must trust yourself to take a chance on you – again. You’ve done it before. If it feels like a big or overwhelming leap, make the step as tiny as possible, and trust yourself to take it. 

We all have dreams and aspirations for ourselves and our lives, don’t let perfectionism and the possibility of failure stop you from living yours.

Whatever your dream, trust yourself to take the first step.

With love,

Dive into FREE monthly masterclasses all about The Art of Self-Approval – 2nd Wednesday of the month.
Register here to be sure you get on the list and receive the Zoom link!