Want to boost your confidence? Well, one way is to do something daring or scary that makes you uncomfortable.
Not sure of where to start? Here’s a short (true) story that might help:
OK, so the photo above might not look like much but it was the first time I’d ever played the guitar in front of a public audience.
Now, I don’t think I’m a very good guitarist (getting better) but I was once asked if I’d be willing to come along to a jazz jam night, where you bring your instrument and just join in.
Like a fool, I said yes (I’d had a couple of drink by that point).
So the following week I took along my guitar and realised that there was nearly 100 people in the audience.
No, I hadn’t been hoodwinked. But it turns out that plenty of people like jazz but very few can play it (me included).
I was mortified. I wasn’t expecting more than a few people to turn up. To say I was nervous was a gross understatement (I really was brickin’ it).
It got worse when they asked me what songs or tunes I knew. The list was short, really short.
However, we settled on ‘Girl From Ipanema’ and we played. Despite the fact that (at least I thought) I was visibly shaking with nerves and I was all over the place.
To make matters worse, I lost my place after the drum solo and was sure I was playing all the right the chords in all the wrong places.
It was one of the most torturous 15 minutes of my life. It seemed to go on forever and I couldn’t wait to get off the stage and have a large drink of something alcoholic.
But I did it and nobody died (well, I think the music, perhaps, suffered a little bit).
At the time I vowed that I’d never do it again.
But here’s an interesting consequence:
I’m now not nearly as nervous playing guitar in front of people. I mean, there’s little that could be worse than how I felt during that show.
So, the point of this story is that we should be aiming to go and do scary and daring things.
Why?
✔️ Because it’s the only way we’ll grow.
✔️ It’s often the only way we’ll truly begin to tackle our fears.
✔️ It’s sometimes the only way we can overcome the obstacles in life.
Give it some thought, do something daring, push your boundaries. It’ll be worth it.
Want more on personal development? Check out:
Believe it and achieve it – well, not quite! (article)
The first 20 hours – how to learn anything (YouTube video)