CONFIDENCE- Handle with Care

Do you remember the ‘Building Blocks’ game of the Nokia 3310 handset? Pretty weird example but hold on, its archaic but very relevant. Yes, so as we progressed higher into the game, the blocks would turn golden when placed perfectly and as the height of the tower increased, so did the magnitude of our confidence level. The game used to seem highly gratifying until that one block started acting cranky and slipped, refusing to let you win the game. Though we played the game for refreshment purposes, the fallen tower of blocks used to slightly shake up our confidence level. Well I experienced it and i’m sure many can relate.

From the descriptive example above, I wish to convey that confidence is a difficult quality to portray but once you learn the art of carrying yourself gracefully, you can be a professional at it. But the story doesn’t end here. Learning to handle confidence is a bigger task. Being confident is important but having a clear idea about what use do you want to put it to is of greater importance. As always, you have two choices.

First, you can unwittingly transform your confidence into over-confidence by getting drenched in its power and taking all your tasks for granted. Second, you can choose to stay grounded, use your confidence as a booster for your future endeavours and not let it blindfold you and hinder your progress.

It is said that good things take time and we can very well figure out that adverse occurences are very frequent and only our mindfulness can prevent them. Gaining a confident composure constitutes ninety percent of any task. When we are certain about our preparation, the results will definitely be in our favour.

Let me share my story since it can give a real-life overview to all readers.

I was in grade 4 and I was taking part in an elocution competition. I was terrified looking at the audience and how they were goggling at me. My parents, who had listened to my speech atleast fifty times, were sitting in the crowd as if they hadn’t even heard it once. My topic was – Speak about your future ambition. Being a kid I, like all the other kids, was fascinated by careers which had fancy names. I spoke about becoming an IAS Officer, not even sure what IAS stood for. I went on stage and started speaking. Halfway through the speech, the deadliest thing which could happen to a speaker, happened. I forgot the rest of the script and started speaking whatever came to my mind. My confidence had shattered. I started avoiding the stage. End of story. But again in grade 8, I spoke in front of the same audience, perhaps a larger one this time. I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to pull it off but then with renewed confidence, I went on stage and well that is probably the reason why Effervescent is here today.

I chose to refurbish the vase of my confidence and pull back all the pieces and give myself a fresh start.

My main motive here is to convey that once you build confidence in yourself, you must learn to take care of it and exercise great caution. You must use it as a tool to improve your performance and not consider it as an advantage and deteriorate from where you currently stand.

Confidence is like a delicate package. It will travel places with you but only if you handle it with extra care. Another thing I can relate confidence with is rocks. The way you want to use those rocks is completely upon you. You can leave them randomly, in their original state and let them become roadblocks for you or you can build a road with them upon which you can walk to your dream destination. Its all about a choice.

It is said that if you add too much sweet to a dish, it becomes bitter and inedible. The same way if you let confidence get into your head too much and corrupt it with the poison of overconfidence, life will always give you lemons disguised as oranges.

Well quite a few examples in this blog! I hope these examples are relatable and help convey the essence of this post.

So let me give you the takeaway. Be confident, not boastful. Be hopeful, not foolhardy. After you gain confidence, the next step is learning how to treat it. Use confidence as a tool to progress. Configure your mind to treat confidence as the oil for the engine of success. Be aware of where you stand and gauge how much more confidence do you have to gather to achieve more.

So yes, I hope this post rebuilds confidence in you and propels you to the next level. I have written this post after a long time and I hope it casts maximum impact on you and strengthens your stature.

Until next time, bundles of confidence coming right your way! Thank you!