Arrogance vs Confidence: Round 1
I believe there is a giant misconception concerning Arrogance and Confidence. A respected friend of mine recently asked me, "why is every guy either extremely insecure or incredibly cocky?" Of course i had to ask which camp i fell under and she responded with very little hesitation. "you're not cocky...but you're pretty arrogant." I suppose there is a difference.
I won't use this time to debate which gender/sex is more insecure (women)* or argue that being cocky is just another form of insecurity (it is). What I rather think about is why confidence is so often confused with arrogance and vice-a-versa. I don't feel there is anything wrong with someone being cognizant of their own abilities. If anything, i think it is far worse if someone is unaware or oblivious to their abilities.
If someone is actually a unique/special person (must be nice for them) then why is it bad if they recognize it? It's nice to have a romantic image of that fantastic person saving the world while staying humble and crediting his lazy friend but we all know that lazy friend just sat there and talked about redwoods and astronauts.** In short, there is nothing wrong accepting that you are better than other people are some things. The potential for wrong-doing occurs with the actions you take with that knowledge.
If you know you are smarter than other people, then embrace it. Don't rub it in their faces. If you're blessed with good looks (again, must be nice), accept, appreciate them, and then move onto bettering yourself in other ways.
Yes, it's a fine line between arrogance and confidence...but there is a line.
*both women and men are insecure. women just slightly more so if only because men lack the energy to think of all the things women think about that increases insecurity. We can't possibly think about how our co-worker is still a size 4 (i mean, she works the same hours and it's just her genes and...is that the new Jacobs bag?!) AND what time the game starts Eastern Time. Just can't do it.
**inside joke, ask Tom K.
I won't use this time to debate which gender/sex is more insecure (women)* or argue that being cocky is just another form of insecurity (it is). What I rather think about is why confidence is so often confused with arrogance and vice-a-versa. I don't feel there is anything wrong with someone being cognizant of their own abilities. If anything, i think it is far worse if someone is unaware or oblivious to their abilities.
If someone is actually a unique/special person (must be nice for them) then why is it bad if they recognize it? It's nice to have a romantic image of that fantastic person saving the world while staying humble and crediting his lazy friend but we all know that lazy friend just sat there and talked about redwoods and astronauts.** In short, there is nothing wrong accepting that you are better than other people are some things. The potential for wrong-doing occurs with the actions you take with that knowledge.
If you know you are smarter than other people, then embrace it. Don't rub it in their faces. If you're blessed with good looks (again, must be nice), accept, appreciate them, and then move onto bettering yourself in other ways.
Yes, it's a fine line between arrogance and confidence...but there is a line.
*both women and men are insecure. women just slightly more so if only because men lack the energy to think of all the things women think about that increases insecurity. We can't possibly think about how our co-worker is still a size 4 (i mean, she works the same hours and it's just her genes and...is that the new Jacobs bag?!) AND what time the game starts Eastern Time. Just can't do it.
**inside joke, ask Tom K.
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