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OPTIMISM AND RESILIENCE

Confidence isn’t simply the absence of under-confidence. It’s an alchemy of positive traits that, when mixed, create something greater than the sum of its parts. To develop confidence, therefore, we must understand what’s in that mix. I mean fully understand – calculating what must be acquired, as well as what we simply need to comprehend and even what we can potentially dismiss as little more than a myth.

Certainly, there are some powerful illusions in the confidence mix. But there are also traits that cannot be ignored – probably the most important of which is optimism. Confident people not only hope for the best, they assume it. And it’s this – above all else – that allows them to act.

For me, pessimism (optimism’s ...

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