CONFIDENCE VS OVERCONFIDENCE BAROMETER

Few days ago, I was chatting with a friend regarding positivity, negativity, confidence and overconfidence. She made a statement which spurred my apatite for that chat when she said, "some people are overconfident ", and I immediately asked for more details of how she distinguished confidence from overconfidence. She indicated that, one close person who everyone was thinking would pass certain examinations disappointed them because that person failed lamentably due to lack of preparation. Prior to the examinations, the person was always reminded and adviced to study but yielded not and was always saying that he knew it and would pass. However, results which always shows, proved that he didn't study and failed, therefore my friend attributed this to his overconfidence in himself without working hard for it.

Overconfidence has many faces some of them includes :

• showing off,
• failing to take valid advice
• Pride
• Arrogance
• Know it all attitude
• Boastful
• Pompous

 

• Ingratitude
• Ignorance
• Judgemental
• Mocking others 
• Always Seeking validation or approvals from others 
• Loud and noisy
• Disrespectful behaviour 
• Don't like to be criticised

On the other side of this is confidence which includes :

• Humility
• Knowledgeable and always learning
• Authentic and real 
• Attentive and sensitivity to others
• Calm and relaxed
• Good listeners
• Accept objective criticisms
• Validation comes from within
• Admit their weaknesses and ask for help

Confidence is believing in your skills, abilities and knowledge with the right attitude. It grows with time through investing in your self, learning, reading relevant books, watching relevant videos, seeking guidance from mentors, coaches and those we look up to. Overconfidence can be checked and managed and it takes humility to listen and take proper counsel, it's never too late to uninstall the overconfidence software before it corrupts you completely. 

Overconfidence may ruin your career and make your life miserable therefore check yourself and guide against such. However, others maybe be with the view that overconfidence is good for risk taking , but remember the propensity of self deception is very high, for example, a person who thinks he is a great boxer and challenges an a great fighter to a boxing match. The person who was overconfident and who was mistaken about his actual boxing abilities with no proper training could end up getting knocked out in the fight as a result of his overconfidence. 

Similarly, an overconfident employee may think he could never be fired because of his previous good performance and yet keeps on committing misconducts which could result in his dismissal. For a teacher, that might mean ignoring that your lecture isn't clear. For a manager, it might mean that you overlook your employees' contribution, for driver ignoring speed limits and road safety ending up in avoidable accidents.

Equally, like indicated in the beginning, a student may think he has a photographic memory, detailed understanding of the subject and show overconfidence by perpetually absconding from classes, not taking notes, not studying thus ending up with poor results or failing the examinations.

Being real and honest always triumph over unrealistic and dishonest.It is said that, "too much of everything is not good". What side are you?  Remember, It's your choice! 

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

God bless you! 

THE CAPITAL WITHIN YOU

Whenever, young entrepreneurs want to start a business or any start up, the first question that pops up is, “do I have the needed capital to do this business?” I recall sometimes back, whenever I hear the words, “I need capital for business,” it is mostly associated to money only. That may sound familiar and it is not deniable, however, greater capital is not in money but within you-your right mindset!

Oxford Dictionary defines capital as wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organisation or available for a purpose such as starting a company or investing. It also defines it as people who possess wealth and use it to control a society economic activity, considered collectively. The key words are asset, people and wealth. However, my focus is people as capital currently known in the field of Human resources as Human Capital.

Different scholars have defined human capital differently and mostly agreed explanation refers to knowledge, skills and abilities of employees in the organisation (Michael Armstrong). From this, my observation is that human capital is you and what you possess within you which you can use to better your life and others. This is because every human being has a measure of intellectual capital which include, human capital itself, social capital (networks of social relationship) and organisational capital (institutionalised knowledge or explicitly knowledge) and every human being has a brain and their mind. This includes everyone, as I have seen people with no or very little education with skills of brick layering, carpentry, sewing, agriculture (selling tomatoes, vegetables, keeping animals and selling dairy products), sales, and other trades you may think of and they make real money surpassing even some educated colleagues in air-conditioned offices.

Human capital is not about:

Payroll, regulations, compensation, signing contracts, appointment letters, charging employees, fixing people with draconian rules and regulations, suffocating terms and conditions of services, civil service regulations and all those routine jobs.

Human Capital is about:

Your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitude, emotional intelligence, personal and professional values, a purpose driven life which is within you and make you distinct. It is not tangible but observable through results. In other explanation, it is your growth mindset and depending how you use your mind, it can make your life better or bitter. For instance, having a positive attitude towards life can help you achieve more than a negative mindset. 

Thomas Jefferson said, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong attitude.” Very true statement, you may give two people $1000 each, one with a right mental attitude or positive mind and other one with wrong mental attitude or negative mind and after some time, their spending will yield interesting results, the wrong mental attitude would first think of buying latest iPhone or any smartphone (consumption mentality) and show off to friends and the other one will invest and make more dollars (growth mentality). Dr Joseph Murphy in his book Miracles of the Mind noted that, “a man with a poverty-type mind finds himself in poverty-stricken conditions. Another man with a mind filled with ideas of wealth is surrounded by everything he needs."

It is imperative to remember that people are indisputably gifted with different talents, their capital cannot be compared to other assets, money, equipment or anything, the capital they possess cannot be owned by organisations only by themselves. Their capital never depreciates like other assets but it appreciates with proper developmental programmes and only this capital can make an individual or organisation to have a sustainable competitive advantage. We are in a global knowledge economy, using the “knowledge in people”, thus it is simply a “brain driven” economy. Put people capital first, value and treasure them, empathise and recognise them.

You are great, there is a tremendous dynamo within you and the capital is simply “Within You”, use it wisely and make your life better.