The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

June 30Childlike Confidence

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.

Ralph Waldo Emerson—Self-Reliance (1841)

Do you believe in your work?

Childlike belief—as though there's not a doubt that this is what you should be doing, not a care about what others are saying, and barely a notice of what others are doing. Remember when you could act that way?

Emerson acknowledged that we all possess this ability even if somewhere along the way we dismissed it:

Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being.

Today, even if just for a moment, think as you did as a child—would that child keep doing what you're doing? If not, well? If yes, then release the brakes and go for it.

Challenge Question

1. What is one thing you can rekindle with childlike confidence?