Confidence is King

December 8, 2011 at 10:10 pm · Filed under Life

Today marks the day of the 31st anniversary of John Lennon’s tragic murder. My, how time flies. Lennon was always my favorite Beatle because he struck me as the intellectual (while Paul seemed like the upbeat optimist, George – the mystic and Ringo – the goofball). They were running a documentary on cable tonight to commemorate Lennon and the group and one thing that really stood out to me was his take on their pre-famous climb to the top. He said in their hearts they knew they were the best in the world; it was just that the rest of the world hadn’t yet found out. Clearly supreme talent, opportunity and hard work contributed to their long-lived success, but this was the first time I heard an interview where confidence played an important part. It’s like when I recently watched an up-and-coming local band play to a near-empty room, but sing every song with genuine excitement and sincere heart. They weren’t playing for the one or two claps or barflies who sat engrossed in their oblivious conversation; they were playing for the sheer love of music and the confidence that one day they would be playing for bigger and bigger crowds and the awareness that every experience on the way counts. Although, sometimes confidence can go in overdrive as with the (imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of -flattery) Oasis, who not only were reminiscent of the Beatles but in some instances claimed to be equal to or better than them. Lennon himself made a similar mistake by announcing they were more popular than Jesus in the 1966 interview with the London Evening Standard.

The attitude of confidence doesn’t just play an integral role in music. “Fake it ‘til you make it” has been a favorite saying of mine since I first heard it so long ago. So many people do it, or have done it – even big shot CEO’s at some point or another probably sat through a meeting clueless but persisted with an air of confidence (whether that be a guise or the real thing is probably yet to be discovered). This is probably most true in the case of the con artist types like Steven Jay Russell  who managed to talk his way into high-powered financial corporate positions without any real education or experience and talked his way out of prison, or Frank Abegnale, Jr. who impersonated everything from airline pilots to doctors untouchable by the FBI – and all before he was even 21.  That kind of confidence, whether used for bad or good is invaluable.

It’s like that person that walks in and lights up the room. They just appear to be so happy to be alive and people want to be near them for the sheer contagiousness of it. That sort of confidence and je ne sais quoi is what stars are of made of and I don’t mean the fake, processed, talentless reality star-quality famous we tend to have more of today. Other performers like David Letterman, who have been performing publicly for over decades, have admitted to nervously vomiting before several shows (not just in the beginning of his career) and even offended some audience members when he actually did so live during an episode. And how about Dave Chapelle, who in his interview with James Lipton, said that being booed at the Apollo was the best thing that ever happened to him because it gave him the chance to experience his worst fear of failure and that week he was booked in every hot comedy club in New York because there was no other where to go but up. Confidence in yourself and your abilities can go a long way as we see with arguably one of the most famous bands in history. And even more importantly, confidence to pick yourself back up when you fall. R.I.P., John Lennon – some may have found you overbearing or not understood you, but you will always be a role model to me.

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