Took many decades to arrive at this, fresh in my mind. But I feel right about sharing it, and also as an important self reminder, as I can easily cross the line myself, making me perhaps unwisely arrogant.
There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and its wisdom.
“Comparison confuses Confidence”
Comparison confuses confidence. You can walk into a room feeling fine but walk out convinced it was never any good, and nothing actually changed except who you stood next to or what you concieved. Confidence built on where you rank or compared to is always borrowed, because there will always be someone further along, and the moment you find them, the whole thing collapses. Real confidence is quieter than that. It comes from knowing what you were trying to do and whether you did it, from being honest about the gap between where you are now and where you were six months ago. That measure belongs to you. Nobody else can change it.
