A while back, a really good friend of mine who’s a very successful car dealer told me a story about confidence.
He was talking about people like him, people like myself, and that we’re really not the smartest people. We’re really not the most innovative thinkers. We’re really not the people who have created anything that’s going to change the world. But the difference between us versus most people was confidence.
It’s having confidence in your decisions. It’s having confidence in your daily life. It’s having confidence simply to do anything that you’re trying to do. A lot of people overthink things in their life. They overthink things about their career. They overthink personal situations. They overthink day-to-day responsibilities. But sometimes simplifying something down to the simplest form and having confidence is all you need.
People can smell confidence – whether you have it or don’t have it – from a mile away. People learn how to read people who are confident. You have to be careful with confidence so it does not come across as arrogant, egotistical, or like you’re just trying to brag, but having confidence and knowing the confidence you have in yourself is the real difference-maker for a lot of people.
I was very glad I had this conversation with my friend a year ago because it totally changed my perspective on how I talk to people and deal with people who are trying to build up their confidence.
Confidence can be lost, but once you understand confidence, it’s something that you can never have taken away from you. You may have good days. You may have bad days, but having confidence in yourself is the greatest gift of all.