Exploring Possibilities: Arrogance And Self-Confidence

These are the two words which are very often misconstrued. Rather many of us are not able to clearly differentiate between the two, literally as well as experientially. Today I will attempt to have some clarity on them, and maybe it might help the readers to make a better choice.

British were strategically very smart in implementing the concept of divide and rule.

Let us also use the same old fashion strategy here and divide these two words and discuss them. Let’s first try to define and understand the word “self- confidence”. In this, the word “self”, precedes the word “confidence”. It can be defined as a confidence which one acquires when he feels when he/she is the best version of self. This concept of the best version of self is extremely dynamic in nature.

Let us attempt to understand it with an example. There is a teenage child who asks for one thousand bucks from his father. His demands are granted and he is given Rs. One thousand. After three days, the same boy demands Rs. Five hundred once again.

Most of you will agree with me that his father will ask about the previous one thousand bucks. Only once they are utilised and explained, boy has the possibility of getting further funds.

Similarly, our universal parent whom we refer to as God, has also blessed us with certain capabilities and competencies and only when we utilise them to maximum, new sets of competencies are revealed to us. To maximize our competencies, we need to be the best version of self with greater consistency. To do that we should give ourselves to get to our higher version.

This forces us to give 200% of our energy and this endeavor makes us leave our comfort zones. Every time we leave the comfort zone, we undergo the journey from “unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence to conscious competence to unconscious competence”.

When we are unconsciously competent we feel at our best and this makes us self-confident. In this situation, one is in competition with self, every single day and every single moment. Whenever we compete with others, we try to compare and improve, from our competitor. Here when we are our own competitor, self-improvement is obvious.

Now we have to take care that this self-confidence should not enter into the arena of arrogance. When we feel that we are the best in the world, we often compare ourselves with others and establish our supremacy. Now this sense of supremacy breeds arrogance. It further leads us to over confidence. It gives us a pseudo perception of I know it all. Moment this perception creeps in, we cease to learn. Moment we cease to learn; brakes are applied to our growth as a person as well as a professional. Everybody around us has so much to offer, but an arrogant person thinks that he has cracked it all.

That establishes that when we become the best version of ourselves, we are self-confident, but when we try to become better than others, arrogance creeps in. Arrogance becomes the single biggest enemy of self-growth. This perhaps also explains why life isn’t so well for those who compare. When we speak of mobile phones we also like and appreciate the newest and the latest version phones.

Henceforth, when we are at our best and keep evolving the self, we are more accepted and appreciated. Self-confidence opens our mind and arrogance closes the door of mind. We all know, our mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open. So friends, be self-confident by being your best version every day every moment, and explore possibilities….