Need Some Confidence? Take a Risk!

Cliff Representation In My Dorm Room

I was crouching on the edge of the cliff. My toes were curled up tightly, gripping the rock so hard they were white. My arms were wrapped around my knees as I rocked slowly forward and backward.

My brother ran up next to me, “C’mon man, it’s not that far down.”

He leapt from the rock. I watched him fall and he hit the water like a pencil, disappearing cleanly beneath the surface. Surfacing, he shouted at me again about jumping in.

I just sat nervously on the edge of the cliff, toes gripping the hard rock, refusing to let go.

Every excuse in the book told me to not make the jump. There were snakes in the water. I could always just jump later. This is just too risky! My brain was good at making excuses up there on that ledge.

In the end, I let my fears get the best of me. I decided to not take the risk. I crawled down from the rock, angry at the situation and at myself.

All that night the thought of taking the leap stayed with me, and the next morning I got up early. I put on my bathing suit and headed down to the cliff. I walked straight down to river, waded across, climbed to the top of the ledge, and jumped off.

I didn’t give fear a chance to stop me, and that’s why I made the leap. If I had allowed myself to ponder the situation again, all the excuses would have flooded back to stop me.

For the rest of the trip, I jumped off the rock with everyone else. We even found a much larger cliff down the stream. It was nearly twice as high as the first, but I was unafraid and leapt off without showing any fear.

What I learned from that camping trip was that in order to gain confidence I needed to conquer fear. Once I showed your brain that conquering fear was okay, it was much more likely to let me take a risk again in the future. It’s why I was able to jump off the second rock no problem.

If you need courage, go conquer fear. Teach your brain that courage should be rewarded and that cowardice won’t be allowed.

Conquer your fear in one area of your life and you’re brain will apply the lesson to many areas. Convincing myself to jump off a cliff has helped me conquer fears related to public speaking, traveling, and introducing myself to strangers. My brain has learned that even though it is afraid, it’s okay to keep moving forward.

What’s one area of your life where you could use more confidence? Is it possible to show courage in that area in order to grow and gain that confidence?

Let me know in the comments below.