Confidence The Pandemic Confidence has been a pandemic since forever. Longer than that even. Most people are struggling with confidence in one of two ways. Some don’t have it and some have too much of it.
– When you lack confidence you don’t try, you think trying is scary, you think of the negative outcome. You doubt your abilities. You suffer in silence. And just like my favourite singer, Erykah Badu, put it “if it’s all in your head then it’s all in your mind”.
– When you have too much confidence you find it hard to listen, you perform poorly due to lack of preparation. And the biggest disadvantage of overconfidence is MISSING OPPORTUNITIES.
So how do we find the right amount of confidence? Firstly, I don’t know. Secondly, when you find it please hotspot us, thank you. Instead of boring you with self development nton nton (which I’m not trained to even try), I suggest we hear how others perceive the idea of confidence. These people I asked for their opinions simply because of the careers they’re in, they are artists and in the arts confidence is like the black ball in a game of pool, you just can’t win without it. Confidence beats talent.
Thabang is an actress who is spreading her wings to being Executive Producer in film. Thabang defines confidence as “a foundation for building yourself and when you have laid the foundation correctly you are strong in your own beliefs”. Thabang’s confidence is subtle, she quietly knows herself and always seeking to better herself, she is single gents, shoot your shot. “When you are confident you know who you are, through fear, doubt and anxiety. You just tackle what needs to be done”, Thabang concludes.
A bubbly personality by the name Tumelo is someone whose lifestyle is lived through confidence and let me tell you something about him, he doesn’t give a damn. Tumelo sees confidence as “taking charge, standing your ground and simply being yourself”. Tumelo was featured in 7 De Laan just this past week. He is queer, he is ready for anything and there’s no stopping him. Ey, but he’s short hey, he’s so short you could swear he has never had a long day.
Babalwa is also an actress. By now you are probably saying “urgh, kanti it’s actors only?” Please calm down, these are talented actors who I’ve seen come to acting school as amateurs and leave as confident as you leaving a hair salon. According to Babalwa confidence is “knowing yourself and being unapologetic.” She was sleepy when she gave me her answer, maybe that’s why it’s as short as Tumelo. And she is also single, but she’s like my baby sister so if you want her you have to go through me. And ke mina I want 3 latest payslips, proof of residence, vaccine certificate, 2 beers and voice recordings of your ex girlfriends being brutally honest about the type of boyfriend you are.
Currently doing her master’s degree in Anthropology, Dineo is a Soweto born hustler. She is a photographer who defines her work as “celebrating the severity of blackness in contemporary South Africa in all forms”. As you can can see, she is smarter than me, I pretended like I understood that statement just like I did in Geography class when we were doing mapwork. Yerrr. But anyway, she defines confidence as “showing up for yourself, even in front of other people. If you are confident you will know the position you occupy in the world and you will be okay with it”. She had to have confidence in herself and please note: Dineo also tutors first and second year students in Anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand, or Wits for us cool kids, or Vets for pronunciation’s sake!!! “Confidence is the start of everything, even a conversation” Dineo said.
We all have an idea of what confidence is, yet some of us are at crossroads with how to grow or even develop confidence. My definition is simple: Confidence is within, not without. To have it, look in there. Not out there. In fact here’s how I want you to read this sentence: It’s in here.
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