Confidence does not require a specific set of talents + strengths.
Confidence does not require the absence of weaknesses, mistakes + screw-ups.
Confidence doesn’t require you to “fix” yourself.
You can be confident exactly the way you are – right now.
With your talents + strengths.
And WITH your weaknesses + flaws.
You don’t need to be flawlessly perfect in order to feel confident.
And yet, so often we believe that life will be better, easier and more blissful once we’ve fixed ourselves.
Aiming to be perfect, so that no-one will judge us, and everyone will like us + cheer us on.
Avoiding mistakes, failures and screw-ups.
Pursuing the “right” career.
Doing things the “right” way at work.
Always being on the look-out for what others are thinking about us, and adjusting accordingly.
But as you’ve most likely noticed, trying to be that perfect, polished version of yourself is a lot of never-ending, hard work.
The irony is that – despite that hard work + the good intentions – you still find yourself failing, being judged and criticized nonetheless, right?
And you still find yourself feeling insecure, right?
The irony is that the more you try to fix yourself, the less confident you’ll feel.
And that’s NOT because you are flawed-beyond-repair or because you’re not capable of creating confidence, but because it’s unrealistic to live a failure-free + comment-proof life.
And because morphing yourself into someone you are not, is in itself, by definition, a source of insecurity, creating that nagging sense of feeling mis-aligned, disconnected and out-of-place.
There is nothing wrong with YOU.
YOU don’t need fixing.
There’s simply something wrong with the belief that somehow you are not ok EXACTLY the way you are.
What if you’d truly believe that you are ok the way you are?
With YOUR style + preferences – even though they might be different than those of your colleagues or peers.
With YOUR flaws + weaknesses – because no-one’s perfect.
But also,
what if that so-called weakness is actually a real strength, that you labeled “weakness”, simply because it’s deviating from the expectations you’ve grown up with?