Sow the seeds of confidence and watch them grow

why you are the way you are and how you can become what you want to be.

And tomorrow only a vision
But today well lived makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope
Look well therefore to this day.
- Traditional Indian Poem

What you sow you reap is a time-honoured truism. If you plant an acorn in moist, fertile soil, it will grow into a mighty oak. It can't help it, it's genetically programmed that way.

Similarly, no matter what has gone before, if you plant the seeds of confidence in your consciousness through your intentions, thoughts, attitudes and beliefs, imaginings, actions and words, and keep them well nourished, confidence will grow.

The seeds – or causes – that have blossomed into the person you are include:

1. Your genetic inheritance and biochemistry (hormones etc). Scientists tell us that these account for around 25-35% of your character.
2. The environment in which you were raised, including people.
3. Your unique way of trying to make sense of it all, both at the time and now.

Confidence (or lack of it) is learned, mostly in the first few years of childhood. It began to take shape when you were weak and vulnerable, after which it became self-reinforcing. And anything which has been learned can be reappraised and replaced with new, superior learning.