Great article Ben. There are many nuanced characteristics that allow people to feel confident. You give a good range of very good examples.
What changed my understanding of confidence was after I moved to Italy and discovered that 'confidence' comes from the latin 'con fides' (with faith).
I think this aligns well with your confident or irrationally confident examples, they all had faith (and it's not religious faith) in themselves and in what they did and their skill.
Hi @Vincent McMahon thanks so much for taking the time to read the article and sharing your thoughts, I’m really glad you liked it.
I find it fascinating the way that confidence and humility is such a cultural thing. Clearly in Italy it seems more encouraged whereas other cultures it’s kind of looked down upon.
This is among the many reasons why it’s important to travel and meet people from different cultures, really expands your understanding of the world.
There are differences between north and south Italy, I would say, personally speaking in southern Italy more timid but more grounded.
I do feel we need to look at our ‘natural grandiosity’. As tiny babies we just are natural legends, we smile, burp and fart and receive all the accolades without any guilt. Masterful. Then we grow up and feel we are narcissistic or let others tell us we. But we need to know the difference. There is a natural grandiosity that is our birthright. I think it was Eric Berne who said ‘we come into the world as emperors and empresses and our family & environment turn us into frogs’. Anyway this is a longer reply than I thought I’d write. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Yes of course Ben, we receive the information in order to share it with others. These are important topics, thank you for writing about them and also engaging.
Great article Ben. There are many nuanced characteristics that allow people to feel confident. You give a good range of very good examples.
What changed my understanding of confidence was after I moved to Italy and discovered that 'confidence' comes from the latin 'con fides' (with faith).
I think this aligns well with your confident or irrationally confident examples, they all had faith (and it's not religious faith) in themselves and in what they did and their skill.
Thank you for sharing.
Hi @Vincent McMahon thanks so much for taking the time to read the article and sharing your thoughts, I’m really glad you liked it.
I find it fascinating the way that confidence and humility is such a cultural thing. Clearly in Italy it seems more encouraged whereas other cultures it’s kind of looked down upon.
This is among the many reasons why it’s important to travel and meet people from different cultures, really expands your understanding of the world.
There are differences between north and south Italy, I would say, personally speaking in southern Italy more timid but more grounded.
I do feel we need to look at our ‘natural grandiosity’. As tiny babies we just are natural legends, we smile, burp and fart and receive all the accolades without any guilt. Masterful. Then we grow up and feel we are narcissistic or let others tell us we. But we need to know the difference. There is a natural grandiosity that is our birthright. I think it was Eric Berne who said ‘we come into the world as emperors and empresses and our family & environment turn us into frogs’. Anyway this is a longer reply than I thought I’d write. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
This is amazing and super insightful.
Part of why I write my substack are for comments and exchanges like this.
If I go over and edit or add to any of my articles I might add some of the points you raised
Yes of course Ben, we receive the information in order to share it with others. These are important topics, thank you for writing about them and also engaging.
Interesting piece, Ben, a blend between pop culture and self-help. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you @Qi Bing SIA im glad you like it and found it helpful/interesting!
Love the last chart Ben!
The design team had a day off, but I hopefully it at least conveyed the message!