Confidence is Refreshing

I've been thinking about the issue of confidence for a while, and am realizing that there is more than meets the eye.

Probably one of the most humbling aspects of any driven individual's life is the job search. I've rarely met anyone who hasn't had some sort of abrasive experience. While it certainly is one of the sh8tt8st feelings in the world to be pounded on during the interview or by recruiters (oh how recent it feels), I'm never one to not learn from experience.

A few weeks back, a good friend went through a bad job search. Seemingly promising prospects didn't turn out as expected, one after the other. Luckily, he made it through, and made it to quite a great place to work, too. His responsibilities seem ample, function itself quite exciting. I saw him today, and you could see the energy again, and the confidence as well. He seemed like himself again.

Confidence is invariably something everyone struggles with, and I credit the stretch of academic confidence in high school to speech competitions and the positive externalities that it created. College was a different story -- tested and stretched by my major, I think the most negative ripple was again, the issue of confidence. Since then, and since - a comment my good friend Diana made (expletive full and 100% refreshing), - a bad relationship, - being treated in an unequal manner by an equal, - seeing my kind of lack of confidence play out in a friend, - and also my own learned experiences with recruiting, I said, ENOUGH! and realized, through a series of experience tests that substantive confidence is the booster to developing a "true sense of self".

Arrogance is an Achilles' Heel, Lack of Confidence is step-on-me territory and debilitating towards growth, Surface Confidence is passable, but Substantive Confidence is enlightening and refreshing -- the stuff of influentials... That kind of deep-down happiness and belief in self, the allure that makes people intrigued by you, and the kind of stuff that drives you to do more things, to push yourself to be better.

A couple of you might know this already, but I have good news to share in a few days. :)

And definitely, props to this nice entry by Marquis, a GSB grad and current McK-er, who identified a write-in's problem. It took me by surprise how quickly and appropriately he identified it.