Self-confidence is the firm foundation, based on which one could materialize his imaginations. However, many people lack this rare virtue. The want of self-confidence makes them so weak and apprehensive that they hesitate in moving forward on the path of progress. Always concerned about the people around them, such people think that their failure would only tarnish their image in the society. Consequently, they are neither able to take a new initiative, nor are they in a position to provide efficient leadership to any group. In spite of having new ideas, they could not transform their thoughts into actions. Real accomplishments could only be made by those possessing profound self-confidence.
The renowned psychologist Louis El Hey has written in his book, ‘Self-esteem affirmations’ that confidence is the prerequisite for success. He further writes – ‘If one wants to succeed, he has to equip himself with confidence. It strengthens one’s determination and augments the will power and this helps immensely in completing a task. Owing to this sole virtue, people could even accomplish such arduous tasks, which could be of historical significance.’
The importance of confidence could be explained by the anecdote of Dashrath Manjhi of Gahlore, Gaya. Today known as ‘Mountain Man’, he was once considered crazy. He was criticized and ridiculed. But, he was least concerned about what people said about him. For a long period of twenty-two years, he kept cutting the mountains. The result of his constant endeavours was a thirty feet wide road, built across the lofty mountains, twenty- seven feet high. His efforts reduced the eighty kilometres long distance to just three kilometres. He did this all alone. While, those who criticized him, had no courage to even think about something so great.
The precious virtue of courage was also demonstrated by Santiago, the brave hero of Hemingway’s book, ‘The old man and the sea’. He went to the sea in his small boat for fishing. He spent two days and night amidst fierce waves and deadly sharks and caught a big fish at the end. However, his story is only symbolic. His small boat symbolized his firm confidence. The sea symbolized his work-field, in which he had to strive with adverse circumstances, as fierce and formidable as sea waves and sharks. The big fish he caught at the end represented the great success he attained as the result of his unrelenting struggle.
Adversities are a part of life. They appear as gigantic as sea and as ferocious as its fierce waves. To face and overcome them, we need to have faith in ourselves, with which we could use our prudence and courage to deal with such situations.
Confidence emerges when a person has faith in himself. A confident person creates numerous opportunities for himself and fights adversities to emerge victorious. On the contrary, the thoughts of distrust and failure impede our success. Confidence is thus, the key to success. There are numerous such examples which have demonstrated that people with self-confidence have successfully overcome difficulties and paved their own way to success, overcoming all adversities.
A village girl was able to lead the mighty French troops like the ‘Joan of Arc’ only because of the immense confidence she had in herself. Her staunch faith compelled even the French Emperor to follow her orders. When the British Prime Minister, William Pitt was removed from his post, he said confidently to the Duke of Devonshire-’Only I could save this country. No one else could do this job.’ For the next eleven weeks, England had no Prime Minister. At the end, the responsibility of Prime Ministership was given back to him.
Benjamin Disraeli is another such example. He was insulted on account of being a ‘Jew’. British parliamentarians did everything they could to insult him. But, he remained amidst them with all his confidence and later became the Prime Minister. He compelled even his critics to appreciate him. Similarly, common people like Napoleon, Luther Vasley, Bismarck and Savonarola were able to make great achievements and register their names in the list of eminent personalities, solely due to their self-confidence.
The famous behavioural analyst, Grace Fleming considers self-confidence as the key to success. In his popular book, ‘Building self-confidence’, he has written – ‘If one wants to boost his self-confidence, first he should identify his weaknesses and then generate internal energy to overcome these weaknesses, which could be related to any aspect of our personality, like- health, complexion, family background, lifestyle, weight, attributes, habits, poverty, etc. We should reach the core of these weaknesses and seek effective remedies. When we try to face our weaknesses, we would be intimidated at first. However, we would be able to remove them and augment our confidence, only after overcoming this fear’.
Knowing our weaknesses is not sufficient. But, identifying our potentials is also essential. Everyone comes in this world with his unique talent. This natural talent could be extremely useful in boosting his confidence. Behavioural analysts believe that our health would improve if we joyfully practice yoga and walking exercise. Laughter reduces negative thinking, while praising others brings appreciation to ourselves. Practicing Yoga and taking adequate sleep have miraculous impact on our behaviour. Self-study energizes the mind, while introspection gives us a better understanding of ourselves. There are numerous such small remedies, by which we could identify and remove our weaknesses and thereby, boost our confidence.
Akhand Jyoti Magazine 2015 May-Jun