How to Build Confidence

How do you build confidence as a Fierce Gentleman?

You don’t. You already have it. Because aspiring to become a Fierce Gentleman (or Fierce Lady) is f***ing awesome.

I’ve just reviewed the top 15 Google hits and most-shared articles of all time for “building confidence” and “how to build confidence” and “how to get confident” and what I found was so conventional, I almost threw up.

Here’s how the truly exceptional people I’ve studied — people like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, & Shawn “JAY Z” Carter — live their lives with confidence:

  1. Try to stop me. I don’t need permission from anybody. If it’s a good idea, I’ll do it. If it fails, it wasn’t a good idea, and I’ll do something else. If you want to stop me, you’re welcome to try, but you probably don’t have what it takes. (Picture Richard Branson chartering a private jet and then selling tickets, despite not having money to pay for the jet.)
  2. Is there evidence I can succeed at this thing? If so, do it. If not, see #3.
  3. Is there any evidence that I CAN’T succeed at this thing? Having never done it before doesn’t count. Lack of negative evidence is as much cause of confidence as presence of positive evidence. (Tweet it.)
  4. Does this thing need to be done? Then I’ll do it. If it doesn’t need to be done, somebody else can waste their time with it.
  5. Is anyone else doing it well? If not, I’ll do it.
  6. Do I suck at this thing, but realize that it’s very important that I get better at it eventually? Then I’ll keep doing it until I get better. Pardon me, everybody, while I make a mess! The situation will improve presently.
  7. Am I alive? Then I’m a human, and deserve as much consideration, respect and authority as any other living human being does. I feel confident about that.
  8. Is everyone thinking it, but nobody is saying it? Then I probably need to say it. Because most people lack confidence.
  9. Am I a fundamentally good person? Yes. Therefore I need to stand up for what I believe, loudly. This is what we used to call “having the courage of your convictions.”
  10. Is everyone talking in abstract or theoretical language, making things sound overly complicated? It’s probably not that complicated. Let’s just do it.
  11. Is my mind giving me reasons I’m not good enough, smart enough, or otherwise shouldn’t pursue what I really want? Shut up, mind; we got this.

Look at this man. Does he look like he’s lacking confidence?

Heck no he doesn’t. Neither should you. You may not look like him, or dress like him, but that doesn’t matter — you should be every whit as confident as he looks. (And you can work on getting fitter and becoming a snappier dresser over time, as a way to help you further build your confidence.)

Look at this woman. Does she look like she’s lacking confidence?

No she doesn’t. Why not? Because she’s a clearly a f***ing badass.

So what are the 3 keys to building rock-solid, unbreakable confidence?

You will have rock-solid, unbreakable confidence the very instant that you install in your mind the following 3 key beliefs:

  1. All humans are equal, and none are more equal than others. What does this mean? It means you never have any reason to take sh*t from anybody, or dish any out to your fellow humans. Dish love, not hate.(Twitter this.)
  2. You’re dishing love to your fellow humans every minute of every day, which means you’re worth prospering, and every good thing will come to you in due time. So don’t stress.
  3. Everything that happens to you is designed to make you into a stupendous badass, including (especially) the “bad” things, and this is true for everyone else as well. Events are perfect in this way so all you have to do is learn the lessons in every moment and use them to make the world a brighter place and you’ll be unstoppable.

Now.

How do you build unlimited confidence in social situations, forever and ever?

Refer to the belief above, “All humans are equal” and realize that nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent, as Eleanor Roosevelt said.

Another trick you might use in social situations — say, when you meet someone that sorta intimidates you — is realizing that every single person you meet was once a 3-pound lump of blubbering snot-congealing flesh that peed itself 3 times a day.

And ultimately, we’re all going to dissolve into the same mouldering earthworm buffet (unless we disappear in a poof of angelic light first) so in the brief moments we’re walking around at cocktail parties with stupid grins, let’s not take ourselves so seriously.

Speaking of taking oneself seriously, I found the following — from Founders & Funders — very useful when considering confidence vs arrogance:

We hope this article pointed you in the right direction.

Go, and lack confidence no more!

You’re invited to attend our FREE webinar on Dating Confidence for Men. Click here to get access to the webinar.

Originally published at FG.