Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 187 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

The 10 Principles of Self-Confidence

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 187 of our Trek, and yesterday we learned the 10 habits to create a better day. Today we will expand this concept as we hike the trail of 10 Principles for Gaining Self-Confidence. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It was a bit of a windy day, and the large wind chimes provided us nature’s music throughout the entire day. Our workload continues very full this week, so it has left little time for focusing on our 2016 business plans so far. As the Christmas holiday approaches, we hope that we will see a bit of a slowdown, and we will take advantage of those opportunities. We will be watching our four Marietta grandkids on Saturday evening while Elizabeth and Nat attend his company Christmas dinner. I also have the privilege of speaking again at Putnam Congregational Church this Sunday, so I am preparing for that as well.

Time to head out on our trek for today as we hike the Self-Confidence trail and search for the 10 principles that we can apply to our lives that will allow us to gain confidence and esteem. Self-confidence is manifested as an opposite of arrogance, which is usually a result of low self-esteem.

As we begin today, consider this quote from Malcolm Forbes, “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” This quote can be linked to a Bible verse that I have used a couple of times in the past week, which is Psalm 139:14, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Another verse that should help us to gain confidence is Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” 

As we meditate on these two verses, it is not arrogance that we should gain but a humble thankfulness to God for who we are in His sight.

Let us focus today on...

The 10 Principles of Self-Confidence

 

1. The importance of self-confidence in our lives cannot be overstated.

It is, after all, a lack of self-confidence that causes our lives to be tossed to and fro by the sway of culture. From the very beginning, we see the harmful effects of low self-confidence on our decision-making process while the fear of rejection becomes an all too common presence in our lives. It causes many to adopt the values of the group and engage in otherwise undesired behavior.

Simply put, the need for love, belonging, and acceptance becomes stronger than the internal compass within us. And many unhealthy life choices begin to emerge.

In adolescence, this need for acceptance begins to show itself in substance-abuse, underage-drinking, dangerous sexual practices, or mischievous behavior. As we get older, some of these habits remain, but new ones also begin to emerge.

The desire to find acceptance by impressing those around me with my possessions begins to motivate aspects of my life. And whether it be a certain home-size, vehicle-model, fashion trend, or latest technology, many of our purchases are made with a simple desire to keep up with the neighbors and not be regarded as “falling behind.” Our need to impress and be accepted becomes more important than wise spending habits.

2. Self-confidence redirects our life.

It begins to realign our desires with the unique heart inside us.