Читать книгу Real Confidence - Magazine Psychologies - Страница 8

“ Confidence is being fully present. Confidence is what some people call the ‘it’ factor. ”

Patsy Rodenburg, OBE, voice and leadership coach

When we refer to celebrities as stars it’s because we of course believe that stars shine big time. You may be thinking that mere mortals surely cannot attain the ‘it’ factor possessed by stars. Yet according to Patsy Rodenburg, who is sought after by the biggest acting stars, every one of us is born with ‘presence’. Though it can get lost, it’s reassuring that Rodenburg absolutely insists that every one of us can re-engage this ‘it’ factor.

What might come as a surprise is what contributes to this ‘it’ factor or what can ignite it. For Rodenburg, who also coaches leaders and athletes, real confidence comes from deep knowledge, but she points out that this isn’t fashionable at the moment in our society. And of course we know she’s right. Anyone can be an expert on anything by Googling something. If you are suffering from chronic low confidence you might even have come to the conclusion that confidence is superficial knowledge but, as you’ll discover, real confidence is far from superficial. Rodenburg always goes back to the Ancient Greeks to make her point about self-awareness. Carved on the tree before they visited the oracle were the words Know Thy Self. Knowing yourself means accepting gaps of knowledge and gaining knowledge – which will provide you with confidence. We’re told that knowledge is power but it’s way more important than that – it generates that ‘it’ factor.

One of the problems with defining confidence is that because it’s complex, identifying it in others is not straightforward. It’s tempting to assume that anyone who appears fearless is confident. But would they describe themselves as such?