Confidence

31 Jan 2014

This is all about confidence...more specifically self-confidence.

Where does your confidence lie? What's the source of your confidence? Are there external or internal factors to your confidence? Or both?

Is the way others perceive you important at all? Or is your confidence completely independent of anyone else? Or is it based on how you feel compared to the way you perceive others? Or even how others feel compared to the way they perceive you?

Do you think age plays a part in confidence? Can a woman/man in the prime of her/his youth be just as confident as a woman/man who is middle aged or older? And vice versa?

What are you confident about? And how do you deal with major/minor blows to your confidence?

What do you do to boost confidence in yourself? Or even in others?

"What is the quality of your intent?" - Thurgood Marshall

2 Feb 2014

Wow... that's a lot of questions for one thread, but I'll give it a shot.

I thought that I was confident as a teenager and in my twenties, but life often conspired to correct that notion. Now past the mid-century mark, I find that I am not only more confident but that confidence is reinforced or influenced by a couple different factors:

- I have a greater awareness of my abilities, what I can and can't do (and the surprising thing is that my abilities have expanded).
- I don't feel the need to telegraph my confidence. The proof is in the delivery, not the promotion.
- My priorities are far more consistent than they were in my youth. I don't feel compelled to worry about the small stuff.

I've reached that point in my life where:

- I start prefacing thoughts with "I've reached that point in my life where:
- And I've discovered the person within me... and I'm satisfied with him.

2 Feb 2014

Confidence is learning how to wrangle penguins.

My Karma just ran over your Dogma

3 Feb 2014

This one was long enough that I had to copy + paste the OP in order to keep track of it all and answer each part individually.

My confidence stems from two sources, first off I have a wonderfully supportive wife who gives me plenty of praise without giving so much as to devalue said praise, and secondly I realized a few things a few years ago, mainly that you care far more about anything you do than anyone else does unless they are the sort of people who judge or criticize everyone around them, in which case I don't really want to be around them.

I do think that my confidence is derived from a mix of 75% how I perceive myself and 25% how I feel others perceive me.

I'm confident about a lot of things, I know at least some of my natural strengths and weaknesses and try to play to them to an extent, also I am confident in my appearance, though like everyone I do have a few things I work to change. As for blows to said confidence I simply seek out those who I know will uplift me, also I often seek out constructive criticism on the topic in the hopes of improving myself.

I don't really do anything to boost confidence in myself it just sort of happens. As for boosting in others I always try to go out of my way to compliment and give credit where compliments and credit are due. I think compliments and positive encouragement are the best building blocks for confidence, so if I can help someone to feel better about themselves I will. A single compliment can sometimes turn a person's entire outlook around, so why not, right?