Opinion Lack of confidence can make you a fossil

Self confidence is the only asset you need to advance. Let me narrate a real life experience. A client friend in Paris,after some important meeting,would suddenly not be seen for 2-3 months. I became despondent when I came to know he was undergoing therapy for stomach cancer. This top-class managing director,immensely knowledgeable,is a beautiful human being who maintains relationships with graciousness. He’d always address me “Crazy Creative.” At our next project development meeting,I wanted to wish him speedy recovery without mentioning his problem. I went to Brentanos,a Parisian literary fixture since 1895 which unfortunately closed doors in 2009,and picked up books on sociological and romantic aspects of living. After quite a while,he called me to reveal that the books I chose became his best mental curative medicine. That overwhelmed me. I knew he’s an avid reader but without knowing his taste I’d selected books for him in my creative way. The best part is 20 years on,he’s in perfect health. He’s had the courage to quit the job,start an enterprise which he’s running successfully. His remarkable self confidence continues unabated.

Being entrepreneurial is a state of mind,not about self employment. When you intrinsically have strong control over yourself,you’ll drive it,whether you work as an employee or start your own business. Your entrepreneurial grit can make your boss your subordinate. Years of experience doesn’t count in today’s fast-moving digital world,only specialised expertise matters. Don’t take your high post,big room,bigger staff,comforting corporate facilities as your achievement. When your intelligence,self confidence,curiosity and innovative,productive ability are under your grip,you have everything to rise,succeed and fatten your wallet. That’s your shelter in the institutional ladder’s open sky; you know you can go anywhere.

Mountaineering up a rope is difficult,creative escalation emanating from a huge self urge. Unconventional creative people are society’s deviants tugging at this alpinist’s rope. They choose to escape the institutional ladder in spite of societal pressure to conform. They perforce develop a bulldozer mentality to climb creatively while continuously producing emotion in high ground as writers,musicians,painters,philosophers or actors.

The creative person’s mountaineering mindset is at odds with institutional climbers. Frustration can diminish their creativity. If during creative execution you think your output will make you wealthy,you will suffer. Never take the success period of a creative alpinist as your benchmark. Pursuing the creative rope track from early years,your first priority is your artistic pursuit,not money,car,family,home,or holidays. Avoiding the comfort of possessions and family support,your devotion to master your creative talent will automatically bring you wealth when you’re true to your creative power.

Art legend Pablo Picasso was a Communist who knew that only rich non-Communists can buy his paintings. One of his marriages was with Olga Khokhlova,a ballerina who introduced him to Parisian high society life where his art sales boomed. Later he left her. Van Gogh’s alpinism was the opposite. A true genius,he sold only one painting for just 400 francs a few days before he committed suicide from frustration at age 37.

Several 20-25-year-olds today watch famous entertainers on TV and Internet,fall in love with them and want to take the creative route. They never analyse the entertainer’s trajectory,how struggling odds and competition he reached the top. Indian parents can be unrealistic too. They try achieving what they missed out in life by pressurising children with extra-curricular activities,the affluent even buying a piano. But when the child gets motivated to become a musician,the parents shatter his morale by reversing gear to make him a doctor or engineer.

For me,both the institutional or alpinist climb culminates in self confidence. No parent or godman can transmit this totally self-driven attitude. Domain expertise is the main source of confidence; arrogance and complacency comprise defence of a deficiency. Boxing World Champion Cassius Clay (Mohammad Ali)’s early practice demanded a 5-km run but he’d run 15 km. When his coach reprimanded him,he announced the extra 10 km was for becoming the greatest boxer on earth. He was just a teenager then; his self confidence allowed no interfere on his personal challenge.

Creative people come from both poor and rich families. The clear difference could be that author Charles Dickens started with an empty stomach without shelter,whereas Victor Hugo’s childhood was reasonably comfortable. But both had to climb the mountaineering rope to be recognised as being authentically creative. Society’s system can always disturb you to lose your confidence,you need powerful inner gumption to fight to build it. When success is yours,people will drum it out for you,but lack of confidence can make you a fossil,irrespective of the genius that’s inside you.

Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com