What lies beyond confidence?

My life experiences so far would make for a pretty skyline, what with the mighty highs and sudden lows, gentle slopes, and at times, steep descents – all with a purpose, nothing wasted, all leading to the depths of self-belief. 

Only recently, and with the tugging of age, have I begun to explore the seductive depths of self-belief. For many years, belief meant to me – confidence. In many ways, I was right and still am, though that’s just one dimension of belief. Confidence helps belief get noticed – it’s the visible part. 

When I stretched my potential and ventured into unfamiliar and untested territory, confidence proved inadequate. Realizing my deeper potential is hard work. Only I know what I am capable of, because only I can look within and see it, only I have the power to pluck it out of its hiding place. 

And in doing so, I discovered that beyond confidence – lies certainty – the certainty of knowing myself, of being aware of my deepest beliefs, of having gone the length and breadth of my own being.  Certainty brings with it a sense of security, a groundedness that confidence can exude, but not necessarily generate. To reach this rock solid place, we need to deepen our faith in ourselves. 

As I journey within myself, more so with the passage of time, I find greater evidence in favor of being outrageously original. To stand up in the face of what’s popular and have the courage to walk in the opposite direction, if that’s what I feel certain I should do. Not to be a non-conformist for the sake of it, but to conform to my own true self. That kind of certainty is foolish to ignore. Following the herd, on the other hand, is a greater folly. 

I have come to believe that going beyond confidence also demands knowing our craft with the precision of a trapeze artist, who (knows and) performs a perfect and complex mid-air swap that looked impossible, and enthrall us. We might never see her again, but we will talk about her art for years – and we’ll remember her name. They say the best kind of publicity is word-of-mouth. That’s because we wouldn’t waste our breath pushing another’s cause if the person wasn’t worth it. What we do for others without a motive comes from the certainty of knowing that the other person was superbly good. 

In this spirit then, whatever be our industry of work, the depth of knowing our craft is directly proportionate to the certainty with which we present it to our audience. And knowing our craft requires that we know our self first. Beyond any marketing strategy and the temporary sense of confidence it provides, is the certainty of knowing ourselves and our work. Nothing tops this kind of advertising.

Beyond confidence lies magic. It sprinkles our talents, strengths and our work with the divine. There is nothing quite like that which springs forth from the depths of self-belief. It can weave magic in the minds of who ever your audience might be. The magic is unique, like our thumb print, no other quite the same. In every era, and every economic phase - originality is a big ticket to big success. 

To help our original, true self to emerge, I feel, it is best not to focus too hard on what works for others. What works for them is their own magic. Maybe, our magic is yet to be uncovered from the depths of our potential. When we discover our deepest self and our real worth with certainty, the magic begins.