Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. – Helen Keller
Is this the image you came up with, reading the quote? Probably not, as this is the opposite of what the quote urges us to do.
What does that mean?
This is an interesting quote, mostly due to the differences in cultures. In the US, looking someone in the eye is a sign of confidence. To not do so, is to look weak or defeated. The same goes for how a person holds their head. Up is showing confidence, down is showing weakness or defeat.
In some cultures, heads are expected to be bowed to some extent (often related to the difference in station or power between the people). The same goes for eye contact. In other cultures eye contact is considered a challenge, and could result in unpleasantness.
This quote is about being firm in your resolve and confident in yourself. In the US, this quote says how to show that confidence. You may need to use different behaviors to make the same statement, but that is the basic point of today’s quote.
Why is having resolve and being confident important?
Without resolve, what will you do? Probably not much, right? You aren’t really all that sure you want to do it anyway, and it looks like hard work. Perhaps you’ll do it later. That doesn’t show much resolve, does it? People with a firm resolve tend to get things done, those without, not so much.
Without confidence, will you follow through? Will you complete the task? Or will you hesitate? Will you be distracted or worry so much that little gets done? If someone answered “well… I don’t know. It depends…” then they probably don’t have much confidence, right?
People with confidence know they can do things. People with resolve keep working at things until they are complete. Together, they are pretty much unstoppable, just like the author of today’s quote. Are you pretty much unstoppable, or do you do things in a half-hearted manner?
Where can I apply this in my life?
That very much depends on how motivated you are. If you are ready to do things, and make sure they get done, you are probably already doing it, at least in that aspect of your life. But what about all of the other aspects of your life?
For most of us, our lives are uneven in development. We might be confident in some situations, but timid in others. We might have the resolve to get some things done, but not others. Where you can use this quote in your life is anywhere you want or need more confidence of resolve.
That leads to a logical question, How does one build their confidence and resolve? That would depend on why you lack confidence or resolve, and may very well be different for each situation. Think about a few areas of your life where you lack confidence, resolve, or both.
For me, the primary reason for lack of confidence is a lack of knowledge on a topic. Generally, it is an unknown or new activity, and until I know more about it, I tend to lack confidence. My other major reason for lack of confidence is when I feel I’m being tested. My resolve tends to be directly related to my motivation. When I have a reason, things get done, otherwise they don’t.
How about you, what did you come up with as your main reasons for having a lack of confidence or resolve? Since we’re all going to have different reasons (hopefully not excuses), I can’t really help with any specific methods, other than by example.
In my cases, when I lack knowledge or when something is new or unknown, I do my homework. I look it up, I ask around, and gain confidence in this manner. I try to find things with which I am familiar which have some similarities, and use that to gain confidence as well. In the worst case, I just do it, and plan to learn from the experience, like skydiving.
For resolve, I’ve just always been kind of stubborn. If I get it in my head that I will do something, it will eventually get done. But when I have motivation, when I have a reason to make sure I follow through, I have a great deal of resolve.
I hope you will be able to find methods that help you move past the things that are holding back your confidence or resolve. Keep at it, as there will always be another part of your life where you could use a little more.
Keep after it, and your confidence, your resolve, and even your life will continue to improve.
From: Twitter, @FamousWomen
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/helenkelle162480.html
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