The first time I saw the words irrational confidence together was in a book called Overachievement.
It was written by a sports psychologist who has coached and studied peak performers.
He said that one trait they all share is what he calls irrational confidence.
As soon as I saw the words, it struck me as an interesting pairing.
I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of logic and emotion.
As if there was some "rational" amount of confidence…but who gets to decide how much confidence is appropriate?
As if there was some "rational" amount of confidence…but who gets to decide how much confidence is appropriate?
Wouldn't it make sense to dial your confidence to 11?
It makes sense to grant yourself as much confidence and belief as you can.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
I believe if we believed we could not fail, we'd be bolder in our actions.
Fortune favors the bold.
There's a great book called The Luck Factor that explores this idea.
They found people who believe they are lucky tend to put themselves in situations where Luck can pay off.
They enter contests and buy raffle tickets. They take chances.
It seems that irrational confidence pays off in the same way.
We see it in sports, from Mike Tyson to Michael Jordan.
In business, from Elon Musk to Richard Branson.
Every big accomplishment starts with an irrational confidence of success.
What could we do if we dialed our confidence-o-meter to 11?
Go ahead. Nobody can stop you.