Choosing Confidence

Here's the thing with confidence that most people fail to realize; it's just a choice. It's a choice that one makes on a day to day basis and eventually, through consistency and patience, that person begins to radiate a sense of self-assurance through knowing and owning all of one's "self" (the good and the "bad"). This powerful state of confidence gains momentum through the accumulation of personal wins and victories in the external world. True Confidence is the end-result of the battle won with one's inner (and outer) demons. It's the inward path of self-love and self-acceptance that radiates outwards and reveals to us what the concept of "confidence" appears as in a personality. Simply put, it's all an energy. A way of being which over time, translates into a way of living. But where does confidence begin? How can you begin to create more of this magnetic/charismatic energy in your life?

The good news about confidence is this: you can start choosing it RIGHT NOW.

Regardless of where you currently are in your life or of how many accomplishments you may or may not have, you must recognize that becoming more confident begins with a simple decision; A decision to back yourself up no matter what. A decision to truly love yourself every day and a decision to believe in your inherent worthiness. Something you need to know right here and now is that YOU ARE WORTHY and DESERVING of everything that you desire. There's nothing wrong with you! You've just been using your mind in the improper way and believing a false narrative about yourself which in turn, keeps you stuck in loops of self-doubt and self-sabotage. I don't know about you, but I think it's time for you break-up with doubt and personal limitations once and for all.  

DOUBT just like confidence, is a choice. Although, it may not feel like a choice because it has become so automatic for you, it is still a choice nonetheless. Whenever you believe in your own limitations and continue creating those thought patterns of constriction and fear, you're basically affirming to yourself that you don't deserve the best this life has to offer... which is total BS by the way. In order to break free from the doubt-program, you've got to learn to stop giving it your attention. What I mean by this is you've got to put an end to BELIEVING in the doubt itself and recognize it is simply a PROGRAM. Doubt is NOT YOU. You are not doubt. You are not insecure. You are not fearful. Those are just the programs operating in the background of your mind. You are not them. You ARE the awareness within. You are the one who's WITNESSING the doubt and DECIDING to let it dictate your life. Anytime you engage in the doubt-program you make it stronger. By going with those thoughts of deep insecurity you essentially make them REAL. 

This is what is so wild and profound about the mind. Without stepping in and becoming the deliberate creator of our lives, our mind will simply operate on autopilot and only create the reality that it has been programmed and conditioned to create. This means if you've got a lot of false programs about your own self-worth; if your parents didn't validate you at the core of your being, if the "education" system / society caused you to question yourself, or if you experienced any trauma in regards to your self-image, then most likely you're going to have a strong doubt-program operating in the mind. In order to break free from these false programs you've got to first realize they are not you. Plain and simple. Understanding this key fact will begin the process of liberation and awakening in the most profound way. After all, if you're not your thoughts, if you're not your programming, then Who Are You?

Gaining this new perspective over your mind, over your doubts, and negative beliefs, is done through creating a consistent meditation practice. By learning to create inner stillness you'll find that the real "you" is quite naturally full of love, confidence, and inner peace. The real you exists within the doorway of the heart which is opened through creating a deeper sense of calm and clarity within your being. After all, the call of the heart and soul comes through a gentle whisper... if the mind is drowning out this whisper through constant chatter and noise, you'll be unable to distinguish the real you from the false you; the soul from the ego. But let's get back to the topic of confidence shall we?

Confidence is your natural state of being. You did not come to this world doubting yourself and your natural gifts. You did not come here with fear. You did not come here with trauma. You came here as bright glowing ball of light. A care-free and innocent child who knew the secret to life was love, joy, and harmony. You knew who you were and what you loved from the moment you arrived on this Earth. However, over time the world taught you otherwise. Through experiences with pain, trauma, fear, and control systems, you learned to close off the heart and deny your true self; the real you. You learned to create programs in your mind that essentially were built to keep you "safe". Whenever you experienced pain or samskaras (heart wounds), you learned to pull away from the deeper part of yourself and create an identity revolving around the avoidance of pain. In order words, you created a self-structure that keeps you protected from ever experiencing that pain again. However, by creating this self-structure you in essence, keep the pain locked away inside yourself though living in a state of constant avoidance and self-denial. Simply put, this is why we created the doubt-program. By doubting ourselves, by playing small, by creating excuses as to why we can't live our dreams, we essentially keep ourselves in a loop of avoidance from inner and outer pain. Creating more confidence in your life means purifying the pain that you've been avoiding deep inside your being. It means coming face to face with the beliefs of doubt and fear within yourself. By choosing confidence you are making the choice to live your life with an open heart, to allow yourself to literally BE yourself with no filter, no limitations, and no protective armor; and this is what you're really afraid of...

It's safe to say that doubt is just a safety net. Although it's a total bummer to live with doubt and to deny our deeper power, it oddly keeps us smothered in our bizarre comfort zone. People love the comfort zone. Even if the comfort zone is totally lame, boring, and empty of passion, most people would rather live in their little bubble than face potential rejection from others. But here's the thing, a life spent in this form of spiritual confinement is far more painful to your soul than a life of being bold, taking risks, and living your truth. It all comes down to a simple decision; to keep allowing doubt to dictate your life through the avoidance of pain, or to finally face your pain, purify your heart, and become all that you were born to be. That is what it means to choose confidence. To soften so deeply into your heart that confidence arises naturally. You don't need to play a character, you don't need to pretend to be something you're not, you don't need to try harder or assert more will-power, you simply have to BE. To be comfortable simply BEING and allowing yourself to BE yourself. It really is that easy. To drop the guard of doubt, to drop the need to defend yourself, to finally shine your light the way you did as a child without hiding yourself in any way. That is the key to confidence. You may experience rejection, you may experience fear and judgement from others and that's perfectly okay! Use those moments to purify your heart even further; use it to go so deep within that you connect to the unlimited source of love within you. Seeking love from others is an empty egoic pursuit anyways. You'll never have enough external validation to feel whole and complete on the inside... this is just a fact of life. However, if you learn to love and approve of yourself first, all else will fall into place; you'll naturally attract those who are drawn to your light and repulse those who simply don't resonate with your own inner awesomeness. Either way, it's a win-win situation. Don't you want to be surrounded by those who think you're a total bad-ass and support your growth rather than those who feel threatened by your light and try to tear you down? It's a simple choice.

The more you choose confidence, which is to say, the more you choose inner peace and self-acceptance, the easier life becomes. You don't realize how much energy is wrapped up in defending your wounds until you finally decide to hell with it, and simply drop your defenses. Suddenly you're filled with a surge of inspiration and passion like no other, because you realize that all that matters is expressing your personal truth, embodying divine love, and being of service in a way that lights your soul on fire. All else is just a distraction. All else is just chasing shadows.

Make a daily practice of dissolving the ego and softening into the present moment. Through the sacred power of your breath and the embodiment of inner stillness, you'll find all the confidence you'll ever need. 

What are you waiting for? Make the choice right now to be confident. To accept yourself fully. To take action from this inner place of knowing who you are and what you believe in. The more you shed the layers of your false self the more confident you become. As you soften deeper and deeper into grace you'll realize that you already are all that you seek. There's no more need to search externally for wholeness... it has been within you all along! As you take the leap into the purification process and dissolve all forms of doubt and constriction, taking action toward your dream life will be so much easier. Without attaching your sense of worth to external conditions you become free to live your life with unconditional love, truth, and happiness; which ironically acts as a magnet for success and opportunity. People will feel your inner radiance shining throughout your being and they will think to themselves "How do I get a piece of that?" This is the true key to success. To believe in yourself and your "product" with so much faith that the universe and god simply take care of the details for you. The more you find your flow, the more you manifest and ironically the more you manifest, the more you create a new momentum of confidence. Life begins to affirm to you that you do indeed "know what you're doing" and this is when life becomes the ultimate mirror of self-respect and self-love shining back to you the powerful external images of your own inherent worthiness. You'll get to this point in divine timing and when you do, you'll smile in satisfaction, realizing the secret to a successful and confident lifestyle was buried within you all along. 

Much Love Family,

~ Austin