As I trawl through the online world I quite often see a quote from Rabindranath Tagore who lived between 1861 and 1941. As well as being a prominent figure of the Bengali Renaissance he was also a poet, author, playwright, musician, composer and painter. He noted that ‘you can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water’.
Although it feels like a form of tough love I think there is no other way to build self confidence other than actually having the courage and/or motivation to step outside your comfort zone and try things. Once you do it’s amazing how often the universe conspires to help you or you find people in a similar position who aid your journey.
The best example I can think of to illustrate this is here in the UK on Saturday mornings with something called Park Run. In its simplest form this is a free 5k timed run open to all and now being prescribed by doctors to improve both mental and physical health.
Regularly you hear stories of people who have never run in their life and can just about walk the course on their first attempt who revel in the friendly atmosphere and camaraderie and become increasingly self confident as the weeks go by. In time they are committed regulars some even going on to compete half marathons and full marathons. This then becomes a ‘virtuous circle’ with the new found belief rippling out into other areas of life.
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