Menu

Sunday, May 17, 2009

A Confident Talk on Self-Confidence

Zouave_by_Vincent_Van_Gogh
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

‘Over confidence’ is believing on who you are not. This is not healthy, because it leads to pride, prejudices, and pretensions. It also undermines the confidence of others. On the other hand, a healthy self-confidence is mirroring who you are, your real worth, and what you are capable of. It harnesses your potential from within, and when utilized and exuded, it boosts others confidence as well.

Where does it begin?

Believing in yourself is the cornerstone of a healthy self confidence. Hear it from the head of The Blixseth Group –Tim Blixseth, who failed as a Hollywood songwriter and rose-up as one of the richest people in the United States and proud owner of exclusive Yellowstone Club resorts and golf courses:
“The turning point, I think, was when I really realized that you can do it yourself. That you have to believe in you because sometimes that's the only person that does believe in your success but you.”

Well said. Should I add more? Nah. Here’s your take:
  • Believe in yourself regardless how and what the world believes otherwise, this is the key to a healthy self-confidence and success.
And here’s another:
  • "If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." ~Vincent Van Gogh (Famous Dutch artist - Post Impressionist painter)
Are you having trouble with your self-worth and/or self-confidence? How did you overcome it? Your story will surely inspire others. We'd love to hear it. Would you care to share it?

----------

Note: The image used here was actually one of more than 2,000 paintings by Van Gogh entitled: The Zouave 1888. Vincent van Gogh painted several portraits of Zouaves, including his friend Paul-Eugene Milliet (not the sitter for this portrait). A zouave was a regiment of the French army dressed in an arabesque influenced manner because of its Algerian background.

Van Gogh wrote about the Zouave painting in a letter to his brother Theo van Gogh, saying "I have a model at last.. a Zouave.. a boy with a small face, a bull neck, and the eye of a tiger, and I began with one portrait, and began again with another; the half-length I did of him was horribly harsh, in a blue uniform, the blue of enamel saucepans, with braids of a faded reddish-orange, and two yellow stars on his breast, an ordinary blue, and very hard to do. That bronzed, feline head of his with a red cap, I placed it against a green door and the orange bricks of a wall. So it's a savage combination of incongruous tones, not easy to manage. The study I made of it seems to me very harsh, but all the same I'd like always to be working on vulgar, even loud portraits like this. It teaches me something, and above all that is what I want of my work. The second portrait will be full length, sitting against a white wall." (from ArtQuotes.net)