Cultivating Confidence //
Have you ever had those butterflies in the pit of your
stomach?
Those little jitters that make you feel that you’ve just drank 10
cups of coffee, and now you feel like you’ve become your own little
earthquake?
If you’ve done anything of significance in your life, you probably
have. I remember the first time that I stepped on stage in front of our giant
youth conference - well, really - I remember the 15 minutes leading up to it
that I couldn’t get my hands to stop shaking. Even when I think about it now,
the butterflies come back and I find myself sitting in this state of paralysing
nervousness and absolute excitement. I kept saying to myself over and
over,
“I can’t do this.”
“I CAN do this."
“I CAN’T DO THIS.”
And so on and so on.
Until finally, the lights went black. And I had no choice but to
step on that stage, nerves or not, and it was time to go. And suddenly, the
nerves turned into adrenaline, and everything seemed to click into place.
For me, I’ve always struggled with these nerves. And to an extent,
I hope I never stop. I’ve learned
that the butterflies never go away - not if you actually value something. And
I hope we don't get numb to the opportunities that God graces us with - small,
big, whatever - because it's not about being comfortable.
“But,” you say. "I would like to step on stage and lead
without shaking the entire time.”
Ah yes. That takes a little something called CONFIDENCE.
So… What is confidence anyways?
To me, confidence is
knowing who you are and being comfortable in that. It’s trusting your
abilities - but also knowing that your abilities have been given to you.
So how do we cultivate this confidence, but also balance humility
at the same time?
1. Be prepared.
I think
this speaks for itself really - above all, I know that if I put in the
time and effort, and do the best I can to prepare, my nerves will
significantly decrease. Learn all you can - yes, God gives us the
ability, but we need to be practical.
2. Realise WHO you are in Christ, not WHAT you do for Him.
This one is really difficult for us creatives, because it’s so easy to get caught in having our identity and worth tied to the thing that we do. The problem with that is, we are only human - flawed, not perfect. We will mess up, we will have off days - but that doesn’t mean we are ANY less of a person, or that we’re any less than what God has called us to be. We must establish our worth according to God’s VALUE of you - and that’s not tied to anything you do… It’s tied to the fact that you are His kid. And He loves you.
3. Know your worth doesn’t come from the people around you.
This one ties into the one above, and is equally as important - your leaders, your team members… they’re all human, and they’re all going to mess up at some point. Know that it’s okay, and that your worth isn’t tied into their opinion at you.
4. QUIT COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS.
I’ll keep this as my last point, because I think it may be the most important, and the most prevalent hang up I see across teams. Your journey is not your friend’s journey. You may find yourself wondering why other people have been given opportunities in life when you feel like you’ve been overlooked. When you feel yourself slipping into this temptation - I find the best thing is to CELEBRATE each other’s victories - because in the end, I think you’d want them to do the same for you.
There’s a reason David didn’t take the armour, when everyone else was telling him to.
He knew it wouldn't look good on
Him.
Know that your journey is your journey - God has especially
designed it for YOU, so why would you want anyone else's?
xx - AJ
