The Delusion of Confidence on a Summer’s Day

On a cold winter’s day it is hard to imagine the warm sun on your back.

With a warm wind in your face it’s hard to imagine the winter again. And so it is with confidence, that magic ingredient that when not mixed with arrogance is a charmed concoction that brings the world along with you and unlocks doors.

The more I researched YO! the more and more confident I became. I put the limited money I had on the line, I went to Japan, I met people, I knew the food, the process, the systems, I found the suppliers.

If I’d gone on the Mastermind TV show my specialist subject would have been conveyor belts and sushi for the 21st Century and I could have won in the next three minutes. I truly believed this, deluded though I may have been.

I was confident because of the knowledge and the hard work I had put in.

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear do not sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Dale Carnegie

I used to dress practically, fleeces and trainers, but I did like shoes too and Patrick Cox, a British designer, was a favourite whom I could never afford.

One day I visited Harvey Nicholls, window-shopping really, it was above my pay grade then. I came across a pair of his in the sale, fifty bucks in yellow suede. I went for it and wore them out of the shop and as I walked down Knightsbridge towards Harrods, coming towards me was an elegant female creature of my dreams.

She looked down at my shoes and then caught my eye with a broad smile. Sadly I had not the courage then to take it further, but from that moment on I dressed to kill, well I started dressing up at least, Men forget to do that sometimes, women know.

Low Self Esteem And avoiding it
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  • Take Away

    Act as if

  • Make the best of yourself every day, have a plan for the day, treat people well, smile, dress becomingly.

  • I gave myself three months to research YO! Sushi and at the end of that period I knew a great deal about sushi and my potential market.

  • The more you know your subject the greater your confidence grows.

  • When you walk into a meeting with strangers and look and behave the part, people tend to accept you as you portray yourself.

  • People accept you the way you present yourself.

  • If you don’t know someone and you walk into a room and you are at a certain level, people accept you until they are proved wrong.

  • ‘Act as if’ until you become the person you are acting the part of.