It’s been a rough 2020 so far. In particular, I feel for those in the graduation class of 2020. You’ve had the rug pulled out from underneath you. Your life the past several months has been a mishmashed, bizarro world. I said some words at our local high school graduation a few years ago about bouncing back and using failure as a tool to improve which might help at this time. Here’s a link to the transcript of that 2018 graduation speech if you are interested.
In the chaos of 2020, I know one thing for sure: you will survive these times and be better for it. While the fail cycle can help, there’s something else that can help carry you through the tough times.
Confidence.
Confidence in yourself and your abilities.
Confidence often gets a bad rap. We’ve come to equate confidence with bravado. They are not the same. Not even close. Bravado is “a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate” according to the dictionary.
To understand confidence and how we can make full advantage of it in our life, we should look more closely at the word itself. Confidence is derived from the Latin confidentia which is a combination of the Latin word “con” with the word “fidelis”.
Con = With
Fidelis = Faith
Confidence at it’s most basic derivation means, “with faith”. When you have faith in yourself, you have confidence. When you have true confidence, the world is your oyster.
How do we build that kind of confidence?
I like to think of confidence as a combination of three things. Preparation. Practice. Performance. In order to build confidence, you need to train the physical, the mental, the emotional, the spiritual, and the intellectual pieces of yourself. You need to practice the task time and again until the execution of the task is flawless. You need to go out and make it happen in a controlled and in a real-world environment.
Preparation, practice, and performance build confidence. True confidence gets results while bravado rings hollow.
In the end, it’s all about doing things con fidelis (with faith).
To the class of 2020 and beyond, good luck in your chosen endeavors.
Believe in yourself. The most important person who will ever believe in you is you.
Believe in your plan. Dreams and goals are priceless. They provide direction and a beacon of hope in the tough times.
Believe in your preparation. Do the work and then do it again. Repeat.
Hard work is the magic.
Hard work builds confidence.
Try hard things and leap with confidence. Confidence leads to not only potential success but success with joy and accomplishment.
My tattoo design suggestion for all graduates in the Year of Our Lord 2020, and for all who are struggling through these hard and difficult times, is inscribed with two simple, indelible words:
Con Fidelis
With faith, all is possible.
THE COACH HAYS 