Self-Confidence Arises From Preparedness

If you are well prepared, good things will happen to you. Closed doors will open, opportunities will materialize, and jobs will become available. Preparedness brings not only material benefits, but also psychological, such as self-reliance, which is a highly desirable trait in all walks of life.

Through education, apprehensive kids can become stars. Through training, people who are fearful of every shadow can thrive in new challenges. Through preparation, men who are suspicious of every innovation can turn themselves into self-confident individuals.

We should all welcome any means and ideas that help us face life courageously. Dejection and despair lead people to retreat into disaffected railway tunnels. Self-reliance motivates men to seek out the shortest way to attain their objectives.

Training and education, reading and learning, enable man to see farther down the road. Preparedness builds the conviction that achievement is possible and within reach. Looking ahead with confidence raises individuals above the average. Those without goals are so afraid to slip and fall that they tend to keep their eyes focused on the ground. Those with a vision use preparedness to reinforce their self-confidence.

How long does it take for a person to develop the ability to turn defeat into victory? In the eyes of worrisome men, achievement is a receding point in the horizon. In the mind of rational individuals, objectives are to be pursued relentlessly. They know that attaining ambitious goals requires overcoming difficult obstacles.

In our age, if you talk to men in their eighties, you will frequently hear the story of how they returned from the Second World War without savings nor prospects and had to rebuild their lives from scratch. Their trust in the opportunities provided by their environment motivated them to achieve goals, start families, build houses, accumulate wealth, and lead a happy existence.

The only way they knew was forward. Every step prepared them for the next. What they learned one day was put in practice on the next. Training was done on the job. Evening education provided, on many occasions, whatever knowledge was missing to move ahead. Self-confidence was the result of their readiness and willingness to absorb information.

Preparedness also allows individuals to overcome shyness. In addition, learning how to perform tasks develops mental resilience. A man who acquires specific abilities is, at the same time, training his mind to deal with any sort of obstacle. Rationality enhances our general capacity to solve problems and face all of life's perils.

Developing an active mind enables man to overcome adversity and avert danger. Self-reliance allows us to identify risks and discard fears that lack basis in reality. Preparedness and education, either formal or self-acquired, reinforce creativity. Imagination and innovation are characteristics of rational men. Those faculties are unknown to those who live in fear.

When things go wrong, unreasonable men blame the world. On the other hand, when trouble blocks achievement, self-confident individuals reassess their options, choose the best alternative, and redouble their efforts. Training and education help us accept mistakes as part of the learning process, while ignorance and lack of preparation see adversity as final, obstacles as insurmountable.

Trees planted on fertile ground grow to cover hurts from their past. Learning and education in all forms constitute the fruitful land where self-confidence takes roots. The conviction that knowledge can be acquired and mastered motivates man to further achievement.

Self-reliance renders man willing to try new approaches and this capacity for innovation constitutes an essential element of long-term success. By the time a cautious conservative begins to move, a fearless innovator has already gone through the experience of failure and improvement.

In all fields, learning involves errors, usually lots of them, until you acquire the skills and expertise necessary to achieve your objectives. Self-confidence allows individuals not to pay too much attention to initial failures. Resilience precludes doubts from turning into paralysis.

Beginner's mistakes are part of the natural learning curve in any endeavour, private or professional. Detailed, valuable knowledge is acquired by playing on the field. The experience of trial and error builds self-confidence. Start your preparation for life's challenges as soon as you can and the clock will tick in your favour.

JOHN VESPASIAN writes about rational living and is the author of the novel "When Everything Fails, Try This." He has resided in New York, Madrid, Paris and Munich. His stories reflect the values of entrepreneurship, tolerance and self-reliance. See John Vespasian's blog about rational living.

http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com/