Confidence is an Acquired Trait

Before I began my five-year Rich Habits Study, I held the belief that confidence was a prerequisite for success – something all successful people had.

But I was wrong.

Confidence, I learned, was a byproduct of success. It’s not some innate trait that one must have in order to succeeed.

It takes courage to pursue your dreams and the goals behind those dreams. Courage, because the pursuit of a dream is very risky.

In the beginning, nothing goes right. Mistakes, pitfalls, setbacks and obstacles are your constant companions. In the early going, the pursuit of a dream feels like you are at perpetually behind the eight ball. Every day some new unexpected problem rears its head.

But overcoming those problems forces you to figure out what works and what doesn’t work. They force you to learn, grow and evolve.

That learning, growth and evolution transforms you into a different person – the person you need to be in order for success to happen.

Success, it turns out, is built upon a mountain of mistakes, pitfalls, setbacks and obstacles.

True success is defined by your ability to overcome the mistakes, pitfalls, setbacks and obstacles that you encounter during your success journey. Each time you are successful in overcoming those hurdles, you become more confident.

Confidence grows with each victory.

The more you learn what works and what doesn’t work, the more confident you become. That confidence then fuels you with optimism, enthusiasm and courage to keep moving forward.

As you overcome adversity, your confidence grows and this fuels your belief in yourself and what you’re doing. When your confidence grows strong enough, you will begin to believe that you can overcome any mistake, pitfall, setback or obstacle that life throws at you.

Fear losses its power over you, as you become more confident. This allows you to take on more challenges and pursue more opportunities.