Competence Versus Confidence

One of the most rewarding types of sessions for the professional hypnotist to conduct is helping clients overcome unhealthy fears. These may be fears related to test taking, public speaking, driving and so on.

One important consideration is that fear can and does have a useful function. Like pain sensations, it can alert us to trouble or potential danger and motivate the individual towards corrective action.

Usually the client in the hypnosis counseling situation has the ability to successfully meet the threatening situation and needs help in overcoming a faulty subconscious belief system. For example, Joe knows a lot about a topic he has been asked to present on for his co-workers, yet his subconscious mind sends out a fear signal about getting up to speak and he becomes flustered and disorganized as a result. This is a fear that would be acceptable to remove.

However, any ethical hypnotist is careful to evaluate whether it would be safe to diminish or eliminate a particular fear since confidence does not always equal competence. A person who wants to skydive without proper training first is hopefully held back by fear.

There are more than a few thoughtful individuals out there who are troubled by some of the New Age philosophies that espouse the idea that all you have to do is vividly imagine your desired goal as being already accomplished and it will be fulfilled. This is largely nonsense and can be dangerous if carried to extremes.

There is nothing wrong with clearly defining a goal that creates a true sense of motivation and passion in your life-in fact it is to be commended. However, chances are that it will take some concerted effort on your part to make it happen as well as the right kind of guidance.

The growth mindset mentioned in the previous chapter will help here. Believe that if you apply yourself, your potential is probably greater than you ever imagined. However, this also involves admitting that you are not yet where you want to be in life.

And successful people seldom do it on their own, they usually have found solid teachers, mentors and role models to help lead the way since there is no point in reinventing the wheel. The feedback of a trusted guide will also let you know whether being confident in a given situation is warranted.

Note: this article is an excerpt from the author's e-book The Five Keys to True Self-Confidence, available athttp://www.njhypno.com/id73.html