Don't Have Confidence. Have Courage

Confidence is highly overrated. For real. Hear me out.

I've been a makeup artist for seventeen years. It has been a roller coaster. Some big choices along the way. Some crazy awesome opportunities that I'll always be grateful for. Some experiences I'd rather forget. But along this journey, I've learned a lot about what it means to pursue a creative life. So now, it's my time to give some things back.

In this inspirational series, each short video will focus on a word that's helped guide me, and another that can throw you off course. The words we use every day can affect our mood, choices, and they say a lot about us. And when things get rough, finding the right words to describe what you're feeling can help you be honest with yourself about what to do next. So avoid platitudes, click bait, and cheap phrases that don't really mean anything. Find some truth, take some action, and celebrate the little successes along the way.

In this very first episode, I talk about why "confidence" is overrated, and "courage" is the real key to success. It's something I learned about when I was training to be an actor. It's a strange space to be leaning about courage really because, in my case, I had some amazing teachers who continue to inspire me now as an adult, working in a totally different career, and I also had teachers who may very well have been sociopaths. Who can tell, but let's just say, some taught me about fear. Others taught me about empowerment. At this point in my life, I've discovered that fear and empowerment are both real, but only one will make it easier to start your day and work for your dreams. Empowerment is when you choose to be brave. It's when you choose to have courage It's when you choose to do things that scare you, even though you don't want to, because you know that at the end of the day, you are in control of your own life, and you can only ever take control through your actions. Think of it this way, if you choose to be confident, you're kinda choosing to be fearless. And when you already have a lot to do, or your job is hard, or you feel pressure from your family, judging your lack of confidence, judging your emotions is just am anxiety attack waiting to happen, or its at the very least draining you of much needed energy.

So instead of telling yourself to just be confident, instead of telling yourself "How I feel doesn't matter", try saying, "I don't feel very confident right now, but I am going to do this anyway, because it will be good for me." What a powerful thing to do for yourself! It's like a pep talk, but honest. Louise Hay said that a belief is a habitual thought. I take that to mean that if you think the same thought again and again, or choose the same words again and again, you're gonna believe them. I think we all get the farthest when we remember that our emotions do matter, but it's our words, our choices, and our actions that matter the most. So let's give our vocabulary a glow up.

This series is my gift to you. It's for all creatives, or anyone who just wants to enjoy their day to day life a little more.

As the world changes rapidly around us, we need to practice courage as much as possible. The things that scare us tell us a lot about what we really care about. So fight for them. When something comes up that will really help you, or really make you happy in the long run, don't wait until you're not scared anymore, Don't wait till you're ready. You got this.

-Andrew