Confident or Conceited? The Art of Being Powerful and Respected

A common quality that women seem to target in on, both in life and business, is confidence. Yet, few have mastered confidence in its entirety. There are all sorts of talk, stereotyping, and taboo around “confident women,” and an eluded fear of being “over-confident.” The “over-confident” woman is often perceived as too b*tchy, whereas the woman who doesn’t exercise her voice and opinions at all is perceived as “a push–over.”

So where’s the line? How are these terms even defined? And more importantly, how can you master the art of confidence with authenticity, ease, and respect?

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The Fine Line.

For starters, there’s a fine line between confidence and conceit, but a line none the less.  It’s an invisible boundary that has to be tested in order to be reached.  This line of status requires an incredible amount of self-reflection and healing in order to be reeled.  It takes an immense amount of personal work to be a confident and powerful woman, because if it came easy, everyone would own it.  

Here’s the difference- conceit, is formed through bottomless insecurity.  Conceit gains its momentum from outside power in order to feel validation.  There is no air of content within oneself, it’s all about opinions, materials, and stats.  None of which has to do with you as a person. Conceit comes from over-boasting in an attempt to self-validate when no one feeds that hit for you.  When one exercises this overall fear of not feeling validated and desperately seeking it, authentic energy becomes blocked.  No one can get to know the real you, your energy, or your power, when you are constantly putting on a false display of it.  This presentation comes off as abrasive in tone, irritating, and incredibly insecure.

Confidence, on the other hand, has a more natural flow of energy and perception.  Confidence stems from being self-aware and content with who you are, despite outside praise or judgment. Confidence, when it’s truly embraced, is radiant because it magnifies unshakable power and security balanced with a deep empathetic thread.  Those who are confident with themselves, can see where others may need extra guidance to reach the next level for themselves. 

When you are truly confident, you don’t come from a place of desperation; therefore, you can encourage another to succeed without fearing that it will take away from your own success.  Confident people are beautiful because they are unknowingly illuminating personal power within the way they carry themselves, and within the way they carry others.

How To Tap Into Your Confidence.

Honestly, confidence isn’t something we are born with. It’s something learned and unique to each individual person. We all have areas that we feel more confident in than others and this is what you want to pay close attention to.  The empowered feeling you get in your areas of heightened confidence should be harvested in order to be transferred over to the areas where you feel less confident. This will prevent your self-esteem from diminishing while you learn, grow, and make mistakes within those weaker areas.

Collaboration is a powerful tool to use, because remember confidence is energy, and energy exchanges between two people can be essential in shifting your own confidence levels.  Tap into each other’s strengths to raise up the weaknesses.

Understanding your own patterns and insecurities, that we all have, is a fundamental strategy to use when claiming your confidence.  If you know your own insecurities, where they formed from, and how you can change your reactional patterns to them, then you’re unstoppable.  Think about it, no one’s opinion can sting when you’re already aware and taking away the defensiveness.  The more you bring your insecurities into light to heal them, the more power you take away from them and, in turn, give back to yourself.  So many people avoid their insecurities because they don’t want to feel uncomfortable; but the more they are avoided, the larger they will grow, and the uglier they become.  So start getting real with them!

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