5 Levels Of Confidence

Something that is central to the conversation around personal development is becoming more self confident. More confidence means that you’re willing to dream bigger, try harder, stand up for what you believe in, and play a greater role in influencing the world. Not to mention how good it feels to love, accept, support, and believe in yourself as you navigate life’s challenges.

Recently I heard on a podcast the various degrees of self-confidence (I wish I remembered who said it). It was helpful to hear the distinctions, so I wanted to forward the lesson to you about the 5 different levels of self-confidence, sharing them in increasing order via confidence statements:

1. “I can’t” - This is extremely low confidence where you’re convinced that you’re incapable of taking action in such a way that will generate the result. It’s disempowering, deflating, and keeps you from even trying.

2. “Perhaps I can” - This is the next step up because rather than being convinced you’re incapable, there’s the faintest suggestion of a possibility that you can. It offers a very weak signal and doesn’t reach the threshold of inspiring you to strongly consider taking action on it.

3. “I think I can” - This level of confidence offers the first true level of hope. It might actually work out. It could actually happen. There’s still significant doubt, but it’s offset by a sense of belief as well and that makes you more likely to proceed with it.

4. “I know I can” - This is a fully convicted sense of confidence. There’s no doubt. In fact there’s certainty that you’re capable if only you had the willingness to apply yourself. Which leads us to…

5. “I will” - This is where you’ve already made the decision. You’re going to do it, and it’s not up for interpretation, negotiation, or discussion. It’s an expression of commitment, and the only thing getting in the way are figuring out the details around it.

What I want to point out directly is the correlation between being more confident and having a readiness to take action. And it makes sense - the more confident you are, the less you expect to go wrong or the more prepared you or to fix what went wrong.

Here’s another dimension to reflect on: The more prepared someone is to take action with less confidence, the more successful they’re likely to be. Ed Mylett, who is and speaks often with the most successful people in the world, says that the most successful people he knows are the ones who can take action with the lowest amount of preparation, readiness, and understanding - aka confidence.

Action is the mechanism of transformation, and if you want to transform, it’d serve you to start before you’re ready. But you’re not alone, I’m here to do it with you.