Welcome to Lessons in… a new weekly email from The School of Life. Every Monday, we’ll be bringing you Articles, tools and ideas that aim to change the way you think about some of life’s most important – and most misunderstood – subjects. It’s the perfect way to start your week; a dose of wisdom to reflect on during the days ahead. A lack of confidence is often put down to something we call shyness. But beneath shyness, there may lie something more surprising, pernicious and poignant. We suffer from a suspicion of ourselves that gives us a sense that other people will always have good reasons to dislike us, to think ill of us, to question our motives and to mock us. We then become scared of the world, speak in a small voice, don’t dare to show our face at gatherings and are frightened of social occasions because we fear that we are ideal targets for ridicule and disdain. Our shy manner is the pre-emptive stance we adopt in the face of the blows we feel that other people want to land on us. Our shyness is rooted in a sense of unworthiness. The solution is not simply to urge us to be more ‘confident’. It is to help us to take stock of our feelings about ourselves that we have ascribed to an audience, that is, in reality, far more innocent and unconcerned than we ever imagine. We need to trace our self-hatred back to its origins, repatriate and localise it, and drain it of its power to infect our views of those we encounter. | Read on to discover some of the ways we can help you build up your confidence moving forward…and let 2025 be the year you transform yourself. | | | Changing our life takes time. There are, sadly, no quick fixes – and it can only occur if we sincerely and seriously devote ourselves to the task. To begin your journey to self-confidence, we’ve designed a solemn pledge, designed to help you assess your readiness for the voyage ahead.
Taken from our newest title, The Confidence Workbook, our Pledge is available to download for free. Click the link to download today.
| | | The difference between a successful and a disappointing life often comes down to a critical ingredient that we overlook at our peril: confidence. The Confidence Workbook is a book with an explicit and practical purpose: to take us through some exercises that will help us rediscover the confidence we all already have inside us but have neglected for too long out of habit, fear or misplaced modesty. This book demonstrates that confidence is not a gift of the gods but a faculty we are all endowed with and that can flourish with the right kind of practice and encouragement. Here are exercises – practical, entertaining and most of all useful – that flex our confident faculties and guide us to greater effectiveness in our relationships, in our working lives and in our approach to ourselves. | | | ‘Liking’ ourselves – having high self-esteem, as we tend to put it – is crucial to any feeling of well-being. But what exactly determines one’s level of self-esteem – and how can we go about raising our own? Watch our film to learn more. | | | For those seeking a more intensive programme of confidence-building, our four/five day Therapeutic Retreats are designed to offer a uniquely holistic approach to healing, mental wellness and self-transformation. Our Retreats run all year round, with upcoming retreats in London, Somerset and Mallorca. Click the link to book your place today. | | | At work as in life, the difference between success and failure comes down to the presence – or absence – of self-confidence. Our two hour confidence workshop aims to puncture some of the myths around confidence, and teach us the elements and benefits of self-belief. Running on the 29th of January virtually, and the 4th of February in person. | | | A subscription to The School of Life unlocks 1000s of essays, films, exercises and ideas, covering all of life’s most important topics – including How to Be Confident and How to Know Yourself. Click the link to find out how you can browse all of our ideas. | | | Follow us on social media: | | | |
