Creative Confidence is not the answer...

Why would I say that? I believe confidence to be ultra-important to getting anything done in life and achieving your creative vision. But there is something that is more important than confidence and that is commitment.

I often talk to people about confidence and people want more of it. People say that they just need more confidence to take action to have an exhibition of their work or to record and release their album or to write their book. They want the confidence first and then they will commit to taking the action.

Here’s the rub. Confidence is second and commitment comes first. Confidence only comes once the thing is completed or you are taking some action towards it.

An example of that is someone jumping out of a plane. They might be frightened and say ‘I just need to build my confidence before I jump’.

The truth is that they are not building confidence they are building their commitment to follow through. It is only once they leap and land that they ‘get confidence’. It is on the completion of the task or vision that you receive the confidence pay-off.

In this example and any other example where you are waiting for the confidence, don’t wait, it will never come.

You only get confidence on the other side of overcoming the fear or resistance. Once on the other side you can look back and say “Huh, that was easier than I thought. I did it once, therefore I have the confidence to do it again”.

First comes commitment, always. So don’t work on building your confidence, work on building your commitment.