The Great Leaders of The World Encourage Confidence in Both Word and Action

.The best leaders inspire confidence in their teams. They also encourage courage and uplift belief. 

Action and human connection are the antidotes to low-confidence. 

The best leaders know that:

1. Human Connection Creates Confidence. 
2. Action Eliminates Fear 
3. Action Creates Confidence
4. Action Inspires More Action 

As a teenager, I wasn’t confident. Looking back, most probably weren’t. I just didn’t hide it very well. 

Then I went to Hong Kong. Once I understood my mission and my purpose, then I started to do good work and my confidence grew. I made connections. I connected with people. That is what changed everything.

I found that doing things helped me do more things. 

The more we do, the more we can do. 

Once I was doing, I started connecting as well. 

Do you know what solves most confidence issues? Human connection. 

When we feel free to be ourselves, we act with confidence. 

When we feel we are needed, we act with confidence. 

When we feel our ideas are important, we act with confidence. 

When we feel connected to others, we act with confidence. 

Without human connection, confidence becomes harder. 

Confidence is often replaced with fear. Confidence often hides behind false humility. This false humility tells us not to achieve greatness. This false humility tells us to worry about what others think. This false humility becomes an excuse to not pursue our potential. 

Confidence is predicated upon success. 

The best and fastest way to develop confidence is to act with courage. 

Confidence is different from self-esteem and courage. They are all related, but they are all different. 

• Courage = I Do 
• Self-Esteem = I Am 
• Confidence = I Can 

Courage is doing the right thing in the face of fear, grief, or pain. 

Self-esteem is your belief of who you are. 

Confidence is your belief in what you can do. 

If you want to become more confident, increase your courage. 

If you want to become more confident, connect with others. It is the right thing to do. 

As I learned to connect, I also learned a few simple truths about confidence: 

Confidence comes from a belief in what you can do, what you can do is proven with action. 

“Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause of fear.” - Norman Vincent Peale

Preparation builds confidence because preparation creates success. 

“For me, it’s always been about preparation, and the more prepared I can be each week, the less pressure I feel and the more confident I am. As your confidence grows, it’s only natural that the pressure you feel diminishes.” - Aaron Rodgers

When you know your purpose your confidence will shine through. 

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” - Marie Curie

Confidence means you don’t need the approval of others. 

“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” - Lao Tzu

Confidence is knowing what you are truly capable of. 

“Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are and who you have always been. And understanding it can change your life because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way.” - Sheri L. Dew

We live up to our expectations. 

“Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.” - Brian Tracy

Helping others first requires we help ourselves.

“Self-belief is not self-centered. We can only fight effectively for others if we already believe in ourselves.” - Carla H. Krueger

Love (the feeling and action of positive energy toward another) cures everything.

“I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” - Viktor Frankl

Choosing the confidence and connection attitude is a gift available to all. 

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way...Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Viktor Frankl

In summary:

• The best leaders encourage confidence through connection and action.
• Human connection helps build confidence. 

To build confidence, I suggest these 6 books:

1. Personality Isn’t Permanent by Benjamin Hardy 
2. The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks 
3. The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris
4. Leadership & Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute
5. Your Stories Don’t Define You by Sarah Elkins 
6. The Courage To Be Disliked by Kishimi & Koga 

Your Turn:

*What resources will help others build their confidence? (share in comments)