That day i was just talking to a friend of mine and the topic of confidence came up. I recall telling her about how I envy those people who can exude confidence effortlessly when they speak and present to a class. And her response was: confidence is really con-fidence. It was kind of a moment of enlightenment and changed the way in which I view confidence.
Her explanation: there's a reason why confidence is spelt as such. The first three letters "con" literally mean conning someone. So now I view confidence as having two layers to it. The first being apparent confidence, as implied by the word "con". People deem you as being confident because of the way you manage to display an exterior of confidence. Basically you've successfully managed to 'con' people around you that you are a confident individual despite the few or numerous insecurities you may have beyond that facade. The next layer would be true confidence. You're indeed confident about yourself and this shows as confidence naturally exudes in your demeanour and speech.
Oh yes and now I remember how this topic cropped up in the first place. It was after CRM midterms and before Advertising. I was feeling nervous about my advertising individual presentation when I made that comment that was followed by my friend's remark.
Fear - the enemy of confidence. Only when you've confidence in yourself can you conquer fear. I'm glad my confidence triumphed my fears that day :) I was happy with my presentation and was glad I displayed my talent during my presentation. One of the rare opportunities to showcase my talent during a presentation - not for a general education module mind you, but a marketing module! I really owe my friend one though (the same friend who enlightened me about confidence) - she was the one who believed in me, the one who had confidence in me. If not for her, I wouldn't have done the stunt I performed for my presentation :)
It's amazing what confidence can do!
