Self-Confidence

Recently, I found out that a former co-worker is now referring to himself as a “Public Figure” on Instagram. This caught my attention because I thought that this title was designated for “famous” people (e.g., Brad Pitt, a Senator, any Kardashian).

Famous is not a word that I would necessarily use to describe my former colleague. In the moment, I chuckled and thought “Wow, he has a pretty high opinion of himself! Isn’t the title of ‘Salesperson’ more appropriate?” I admit, I was being pretty snarky. 

I’ve been working on my self-awareness and quickly identified my attitude as snarky. I challenged myself to take another perspective. Alternatively, I could choose to admire this person’s self-confidence. He is confident enough to post on social media- to the entire world- that he is “famous.” Wow!  

• What would life look like if I had that much self-confidence?

• How much would I be able to accomplish?

• What fears would dissipate?  

As a woman, it might be easy to attribute my colleague’s behavior to the fact that he is a man. Stereotypically, men are raised to be boldly confident. Women are raised to show quiet humility. However, I don’t buy into this stereotypical explanation. 

I think there is something else that is holding me back from displaying this bold sense of confidence. It’s me. It’s every time that I worry about what others will think. It’s the worst-case scenario that I create in my head. It’s the perfection that I strive for but am unable to achieve. My level of self-confidence is created based upon how I view myself and how I view the world around me. I control these things. It is I who has the ability to design my present and my future. 

 I choose to live this life boldly confident.