Here’s a couple of questions to ask yourself when you have a minute: What’s confidence? What isn’t?

Confidence is in your gut feeling.
In uncertainty.
In the things you are afraid of.
In the events yet to experience.

Confidence is not flawless. It’s in the trial and error, not in the perfect conditions. There are no conditions that are perfect. There will never be. It all begins with the unknown; with the uncomfortable.

It isn’t the absolute absence of fear. It’s moving forward while still afraid. It’s trusting process and the progress that comes along.

At the same time, welcoming the creative challenges you have at hand contributes to developing confidence. It’s all about “developing a taste for having problems,” as Oliver Burkeman proposes in his principles of patience. From this idea, it’s safe to come to the following conclusion:

The sooner you welcome uncertainty and not-knowing as normal ways of being, the better off you’ll be.

Austin Kleon

Embracing the unknown is the key phrase here. After all, no sailor learned anything in calm seas.

What does confidence look like to you?