Having the right amount of confidence is great for you. Too little of it and you might find it hard to fulfil your goals, have positive relationships, and do well at work. Too much of it and it can end up biting you on the behind.
As the BBC points out, a bit of overconfidence can be useful. “Success often comes from taking risks and stretching ourselves to the limits of our abilities or beyond. If you display confidence in yourself, you inspire confidence in others. You are more likely to be believed, trusted, and promoted if you express your views confidently.”
However, too much overconfidence is harmful. As the iconic Dunning-Kruger effect notes, people who overestimate their abilities the most tend to be the worst when they actually have to do something.
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According to the BBC, your personality has a big impact on your misplaced confidence. If you tend to have more narcissistic tendencies, you’re more likely to have an overly inflated sense of self-worth and confidence. What’s more, broadly speaking, men also tend to display more overconfidence than women.
The issue with being way too confident about your abilities is that it can hurt you and others around you. For instance, if you have to face a grizzly bear or land a plane, an honest assessment of your skills is best. Don’t get in a fight when you can avoid it. And don’t claim that you can land a plane when someone else might be more knowledgeable than you.
Meanwhile, Verywell Mind explains that too much confidence can lead to missed opportunities. For example, if you think that a project is beneath your abilities, it can end up harming your career. On the other hand, being overconfident can mean that you take on too much work when you don’t have the right skills.
Furthermore, excessive confidence can alienate your friends (they’ll think you’re arrogant), result in relationship issues (individuals with over-the-top self-esteem tend to blame their partners more), and put you in awkward situations at work.
As WebMD points out, the most common signs of narcissism include:
- A sense of entitlement and demanding special treatment
- Manipulative and controlling behavior
- The constant need for admiration, praise, and recognition, often bragging or exaggerating one’s accomplishments
- A lack of empathy and avoiding taking responsibility for one’s own behavior
- Arrogance and the belief in being superior to others
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Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. But how you react to being wrong says a ton about your values and character. The healthy thing to do is to admit to having messed up, apologize, and (if you can!) laugh it off. People see you as more down-to-earth if you’re not afraid of admitting your flaws.
Besides, when you’re humble, you show everyone that you’re open-minded and focus on growth, instead of protecting your ego. And mistakes can be great opportunities to grow and learn something new.
On the other hand, if you double down when you’re wrong or try to pretend you never messed up in the first place, you’re going to push a lot of people away.
During a previous interview, Bored Panda got in touch with redditor ShadowAlchemy, the founder of the entire ‘Confidently Incorrect’ community. They told us that they had decided to create the subreddit “on a whim,” after seeing a video of Conan interviewing Jennifer Garner.
“I scrolled through the comments and saw someone who thought stuff like that would make a great community of its own. It was super late at night when I saw that, so I made a subreddit really quick for no reason, posted a video or two, then went to bed.”
They had no idea that the sub would soon go viral.
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