“Confidence is important, but if it is not based on a realistic appraisal of who you are, it is merely grandiose and smugness” – Robert Greene
Where do you draw the line between self-belief and self-delusion?
Between blindly believing you can do anything, and taking an honest account of your abilities?
This was a recent topic of discussion in our Path community, and here’s what I replied:
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The line is drawn at the truth.
Delusion of any kind (ie. thinking you are better or worse than you really are) is going to cloud your course of action.
As an example, let’s say you want to build a $10MM company:
Positive Delusion:
“There’s no way I can fail! That Alex Hormozi video said I’ll succeed as long as I don’t give up!”
Negative Delusion:
“I don’t know anything about business, there’s no way I’ll ever succeed.”
The Truth:
“I don’t know anything about business yet, but I can learn. I know it will be hard, and I might fail, but fxck it I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
Which one feels most likely to succeed?
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I’ll say that one more time:
Delusion of any kind — positive or negative — is going to cloud your course of action.
Seeing reality accurately is the first step to dealing with it productively.
I hope that helps 🙂
– T
P.S. Now that our DeepGame Forum is retired, The Path is our new community hub where I coach our members on a daily basis.
