Hello!
In this sprint I said I would read a book on confidence, with no amazing book jumping out to me I decided to look into something different.Paul McKenna's Instant Confidence.
Hypnotism you say? Yes. Although sometimes I'm not so suggestible as others I thought this would be an interesting foray and different approach into personal development.
The book comes with an accompanying audio file on CD which you listen to to get you in a calmer state where you become more suggestible and open to influence. It's calm and interesting, the suggestion (in STEREO!) comes at you in drips and drabs to help you build up your self esteem.
So, did it work?
Kind of.
So the crux to confidence is similar to positive thinking and happiness; you need to build up yourself with the inner voice. Shaping the discourse surrounding your self image determines how confident you are.
McKenna argues, and is right in saying that all confidence is, is surety. I am not confident. However, this in itself is an oxymoron and an impossible sentence. By stating 'I am not confident' expresses my confidence in believing myself to not be confident. I am confident in my failings.
To change this, I need to readdress where I focus my energy and start telling myself more about the good things I can do and expressing what I'm good at. By telling myself I am confident I can actually become confident. What I need to do is to stop telling myself I'm not confident and that I'm awkward in social situations, if I continue to do so I will become even more awkward and uncomfortable.
'Fake it 'til you make it' is a clunky but simplistic way of illustrating it, but it's true. Perceptions feed into reality, by defining my own personal perceptions and shaping the surrounding discourse, I can shape the world and myself.
ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD
Thanks for reading!
AT
