How would your life be different if you were absolutely, positively confident in what you could accomplish?

Which plans now on the shelf would you pull down, dust off, and put in motion? Would you reach out to those you’ve admired from afar and expand your circle of influence? Would you therefore finally quit that dead-end job and start your own business, knowing with absolute conviction that you would be successful?

Would you graciously bid adieu to no-longer supportive relationships, guaranteed you would be okay on your own?

Would self-assurance propel you back to school, secure in the knowledge that yes, you really could study primates in the outback, or be a healer among the third world?

If the reflection in your mirror felt buoyant about your appearance, what would you attempt? Would you learn to dance or sing, focused more on the joy of self-expression rather than the judgmental concerns about what others might think?

Bottom line, you would be happier and more successful.

Of course, absolute confidence is absolutely unattainable. Doubt, its antithesis; forever lurks like Gollum in our dark spaces. [Read more…]