It’s important to be in the right kind of environment, and around the right kind of people. You want to be around people who have a good feel for the future, will entertain improbable plans, are optimistic, are smart in a creative way, and have a very high idea flux. These sorts of people tend to think without the constraints most people have, not have a lot of filters, and not care too much what other people think.

→ Sam Altman, Idea Generation

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Ben & I have Jason Khalipa on this week's episode of Chasing Excellence. He mentioned something during our conversation that's stuck with me, something he called "earned confidence."

The idea: That as we develop ourselves, as we get small wins & learn, we begin to trust ourselves more. We begin to feel we can climb another rung of the ladder. We're ready to throw a few more pounds on the bar.

The increased confidence we get from taking action allows us to consider more, or better, or heavier.

The tricky part is the earning.

Because to act in a way that will earn us confidence, we have to take a chance - a chance it won't work, that we'll look foolish, that we'll recognize we're not ready. The risk is necessary. No risk, no challenge. No challenge, no confidence.

So to earn confidence, we must take action. But to take the kind of action that builds confidence, we must have something else. Something I'll call "unearned confidence."

Unearned confidence is a sense that we're capable, but for which we have no proof. It's being ready even though we're not ready.

When I think about the successful people I know, the change-makers & the rule-breakers, it's their unearned confidence that allows them to shine. It's the faith they have in themselves that opens them up to the actions that build earned confidence.

Without this faith, there's just another person standing on the sidelines, hoping their chance might materialize.

So, where does unearned confidence come from?

It comes from permission.

Permission born of our upbringing. Permission born of whatever privilege has been afforded us by culture. Permission born of experience.

But also, & most importantly, permission born of the influences we open ourselves up to - the people we spend time with, the books we read, the direction we point our finite attention.

Because here's the thing: Permission is contagious.

When we surround ourselves with people permitting themselves to act on unearned confidence, we do the same. They are like a river's current & all we have to do is step into the water. Under their influence, we can't help but shed our self-limitations, our small-idea mindset, & our fear of standing tall.

It's not until we permit ourselves to have enough unearned confidence to act that we will earn the kind of confidence that ultimately pushes us forward.

It's why some people, some brands, some ideas have so much momentum behind them. It's because with each step up the ladder, with increased earned confidence, comes more permission. More permission creates more unearned confidence, which opens them up to take the kind of actions that lead to genuine confidence. Then the cycle starts again.

Let's not get distracted by the confidence, because it's an output. Let's focus instead on the inputs.

Focus on the influences that give rise to the permission. Optimize for that.

The rest will take care of itself.

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