Confidence and Ability

For quite some time I have wanted to write about confidence and ability. Finally, I am going to take the time to do it.

At an initial glance these two things may seem only peripherally related, but I believe there is a strong correlation between the two. If there is an abundance of one but a shortage of the other, it can contribute to failure. A shortage of both leads to failure as well. Let me delve into further detail.

Having the ability to do something is extremely important, but it is equally important to possess confidence in these abilities. Humility is always a good thing, but ability without the necessary confidence is timidity. A great basketball shooter is only as good as his confidence to take the next shot. He may possess all the ability in the world, but until he puts confidence in that ability, it sits idly. By lacking the confidence to try, you immediately fail.

Confidence unfortunately gets a bad rap. In and of itself it is not a bad thing. However, a significant discrepancy between confidence and ability leads to cockiness, arrogance, whatever you wish to call it. Talking a big game does not lead to immediate failure. It is obnoxious, but it does not cause “instafail”. In fact, the cocky prey on the less confident, getting them to back down. This leads to even greater confidence inflation. It does, thankfully, lead to eventual failure. There is always someone better out there, and even if one is the greatest at something, greatness is fleeting. Trusting confidence over ability, simply put, gradually builds to catastrophic failure.

It would be foolish to eschew confidence. The key to the greatest success is balance. If one is novice or unskilled in a particular area it is best to possess confidence commensurate to ability. Likewise, if one does possess a significant amount of ability, it is appropriate to possess confidence to match the skill set. We will not always be the best in the world at what we do, but we won’t be the worst, either. The key to maximizing success is to be cognizant of one’s abilities and to subsequently balance it with matching confidence. To summarize, look at these equations.

Ability > Confidence = Timidity = Instant Failure
Ability < Confidence = Arrogance = Eventual Failure
Ability = Confidence = GREAT SUCCESS!