Talent

[wavemage]

It all comes down to: talent

Comments

confidence

[wavemage]

well, confidence is certainly important. But not necessary, though most people in L.A. seem to think it is the most important thing in the world. There are plenty of very shy, very insecure, very successful people. They succeed because they have a talent in something (science, music, or whatever). Barbara Streisand is an example: she is a very talented singer, and so shy that she once had to give a performance with her back to the audience because she couldn't face them. But, you see this also helped a lot of the shy people identify with her, with that sort of struggle they also face in public. So it kinda worked.

So, you can succeed without confidence, but it will add so much to your life if you have it (or if you work towards building it). I think its necessary to be psychologically healthy.

A lot of the church-type people, especially the ones I grew up with, teach that confidence is a bad thing, that 'pride goes before a fall' and such. But what they really mean is arrogance, a sort of overconfidence that causes you to be an asshole, and to make mistakes cause you're not watching carefully enough. The teachers should really be careful about teaching the difference between confident self-esteem and outright arrogance.

Re: confidence

[wavemage]

oh and one more thing...confidence is also very attractive. A man without confidence isn't terribly sexy. A woman without confidence...well, it can works sometimes, like with Barbara, or with young girls it can be kind of cute/sweet at first, but it will eventually get old....