Young Philosopher's Society

Anupreet Kaur 

“Confidence is Key” Also known as the most common quote of all time. This quote is used so often, on social media messages, articles, public speeches and so forth, that we come to forget its true meaning. Confidence is something that comes with time and experience but it is also something that comes with practice. If we never attempt to move outside of our comfort zones, how will we fulfill our aspirations? Along with other issues, most of our lives are consumed by fear. Whether that be fear of death or public speaking. By letting our fears limit us, we are stunting our potential. Now, this feeling is very human and it is more common than we can ever imagine. Because in reality, everyone feels like this at one point of their life or another. 

The way to overcome this feeling…is to fake it. Although it may seem bizarre, pretending is an effective way to trick our brain to overcome its hesitancy 

To reiterate, our minds are often ruled by fear and one of the hardest things to do is to convince our brains to move outside our comfort zones. But the only way we can really overpower the mind is to imitate the traits we want. For example, public speaking is a skill that is most critical in almost all areas of the real world but it can also be the most challenging skill to master. That’s why it is wise to master this skill early on through a variety of outlets such as school presentations. 

When I go up to the front of my class for a presentation, I like to pretend like I know exactly what I’m doing, that I am more than confident to be speaking in front of 25 people. Faking my confidence for that temporary time makes me a bit more confident in the next presentation. So much so that I get more and more confident in my abilities to present without reading notes off of my phone. 

It’s all worth it in the end when I feel a sense of achievement and pride. 

It may seem like this is a way of undermining your success, “Don’t discredit your abilities” but the saying “Fake it till you make it” has always implied that on those days that you don’t feel the best or the stronger or even the most confident, it is important to recognize that all of it roots from your mind. The mind that can be influenced by you. It may work for some and may not work for others but in the end, it is just another way to extend your limits. 

When we have a set point of success, our consciousness may try to prevent us reaching that point feelings of insecurity, overthinking, fear may arise- We must do what we need to in order to tell our brains that we in fact can achieve success. The act of “faking it till you make it” will look different for everyone and is applicable in a variety of ways. On the surface level of this mindset, it is basically the act of imitating a desired behavior, as previously mentioned. 

When we apply this technique through confidence, passerbyers can sense the strong will. Even though you are internally pretending to be confident, people on the outside simply see a person who seems self assured and composed. It is another way to feel more assured when you look at yourself from an outsider’s perspective.

At the end of the day, confidence is something that grows with time, patients and a little bit of hard work. They say that 90 percent of life is confidence, yet no one can tell if it’s real or not. Everyone around us deals with insecurities and it’s not wrong to pretend to feel good every once in a while. As life goes on we must test our limits and capabilities.