The Biggest Factor in Success: Confidence

I've often wondered, how come some incredibly brilliant people have not succeeded in business, or in other areas, while some folks who aren't particularly bright do fantastically well. What gives?

Ecclesiastes said that the race isn't always won by the swift (or something to that effect), and essentially, money does not always go to the wise. But that always sounded like a flukey thing, not something you or I could understand.

But I've been thinking about it recently, and more than brains, CONFIDENCE is the key factor in success.

Let's face it. Most people who succeed in business do so with an element of luck. After all, you could have everything planned out, and your idea goes bust. Or, you could have a lousy plan but hit it big anyway. For instance, one fellow bought a building years ago and it was a loser. Tried getting rid of it, but couldn't. A while later it became a hot neighborhood and the guy started making money hand over fist. People who don't know the whole story might think that the guy was a genius for buying the building so many years earlier. Little do they know that he would have sold for a loss, but couldn't find a buyer. So perhaps the guy was an idiot.

Granted, that might be an exceptional story, but the bottom line remains that pretty much every business has some element of luck, of right-place-right-time, of things going unexpectedly well in some area.

But it's the confident people who are willing to put themselves out there and take chances. A guy could have tremendous brilliance, but if he can't pull the trigger on anything, he'll get nowhere. Whereas a guy who's not so bright but is willing to keep going at it has a better chance to hit it big. I know people who struggled for years but kept trying new things, and eventually one thing stuck and they succeeded.

Unfortunately confidence really can't be taught. But those who have it will have it much easier.