Confidence
2 min Shivan Sivakumaran Suggest ChangesNobody is born confident.
No one is born with the God-given gift of flipping the camera lens towards them, hitting record, and speaking clearly, coherently and confidently.
The opposite of confidence is fear of failure. No one is born fearless.
Fear is a useful survival mechanism to stay alive. At an edge of a cliff? Stay away from that, says the brain. What about taking the first step to controlling your life? What will others think? What if I fail? What’s an excuse I can come up with today?
Isn’t your brain funny?
Fear keeps you prisoner, and the jail is called comfort.
Freedom is when you break free from the prison of your comfort zone.
Yes, you can redirect that fear. Fear and excitement are the same physiological response. The difference is our frame of mind. Instead of suppressing the fear to begin with, don’t calm the fire, fuel it.
Fear regret. Fear mediocrity. Fear using gratitude to cope with your current situation instead of using that gratitude to skyrocket your ambitions.
What can you do to combat fear? Self-belief? Yes, that’s true. But the antidote to fear is action.
When you take that leap (not off that cliff) and continue to take action, you finally pick your struggle.
You are now fighting a battle you want to win.
You’re alive. Free.
Nobody was born with the ability to comfortably bare their soul on camera for the entire world of strangers to watch and scrutinise. Nobody was born with the ability to feel okay with no growth or success. Getting up again after setbacks is what you have to experience.
What’s your fear? No. What’s your action?