“I have much so much more confidence now that I’m successful”.
During a coaching session with a client earlier this week, whilst reviewing her recent business success, she exclaimed: “I have much so much more confidence now that I am successful”.
Whilst it’s true that she appears to have more confidence than a year ago when her business was failing, it interested me that she considered her increased confidence to have come as a result of her achievement, as opposed to it being a contributing factor to it.
As a coach, I have observed that in addition to competence, there are two main components of self-confidence:
Self-efficacy and Self-esteem.
Self-efficacy relates to our perception of our ability to learn, to develop skills and to apply ourselves to achieve a result. This usually leads to us accepting challenges positively, and to confidently overcoming obstacles.
Self-esteem is a general sense of having value in the world. This often comes from an awareness of the contribution we make to the lives of those around us as well as a feeling that they approve of us.
Whilst self-confidence may come as a result of success, at least one of the above needs to be present in order for the pathway to success to even open out.
Without some perceived ability to achieve, as well as a general sense of self-worth, apparent self-confidence arguably lacks authenticity and is therefore unlikely to result in genuine success.
Of course, once we are aligned and on the path, success and self confidence can ride in tandem, providing the fuel for each others’ journey, but I fail to see how success is achieved without some level of confidence as a contributing factor.
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