Confidence is a Choice
How to awaken the Lion inside you
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When I was growing up, I thought that confidence was something you were born with.
No one told me that confidence is a choice. Or if anyone did, I didn’t listen. Such is the power of belief.
So naturally, I thought that I would never have it.
The day my inner lion came out
My mother told me that one day a friend came over and took something from me.
Instantly, I came to life and wrestled whatever it was from him, not settling for letting him get away with it.
She said she’d never seen me do anything like that before.
That’s pretty surprising for someone who normally had no confidence whatsoever.
But that day I chose to use it, in this instance.
Why?
Because someone took what was rightfully mine. A friend! Really? Why on earth would a friend rob me to my face?
Friends don’t do that to friends.
I decided right then I would be the judge who set things right. So I went after what was mine with all the energy I had. Danger? What danger? I didn’t care. I had a mission to accomplish and by God, I was going to.
What if you summoned your inner lion every day?
Now that I’m older, I see that the reason I didn’t act with confidence more often is I didn’t believe I deserved much.
Like, almost nothing.
But when my rights, the ones I acknowledged and believed in, were violated — I sprang to action without a second thought. I called on every ability I needed to claim what was mine. I didn’t need coaching, affirmations, or positive self-talk. I just did what anyone would do if they were attacked. I fought back.
A few years back, I started studying persuasion. I came across a book called the Forbidden Keys to Persuasion. It’s premise was that persuasion techniques are amoral. It’s people’s intent that makes them good or bad.
How about that?
