We all know the story of the Chicken and the Egg. Courage and confidence are also closely linked to each other, but which one comes first? Is it confidence that drives you to take the courage to achieve things? Or is it courage that drives you to be confident enough to make things happen?

What do you think? Does it start with courage or with confidence or with both?

In reality why do we do things? Do we do things just because we are courageous or do we do things because our abilities, skills, trust and faith in ourselves give us the confidence?

For me it can be both. My inner belief in my goals and the WHY behind them certainly drives my actions. There are times when I just feel the drive and passion to achieve something and I don’t really know whether or not I can, but I know that I will find a way. Here courage takes the main role and enables me to leave my comfort zone and just go for it. On the other hand there are often also times where my abilities, skills and competencies etc. give me the level of confidence needed to take the courage and to do things because I know I can, because I am confident. At times both factors play a role and there is a grey area of courage and confidence. It is like they are somehow “dancing” with each other, they some how come together thereby driving me to create and to make things happen.

A while ago I had the pleasure to conduct a short interview with Betrand Piccard about courage. (http://takethecourage.com/bertrand-piccard/). He sees confidence even more important than courage: “...because when you are trusting the inner resources that you have inside of you, you don’t need to be afraid any more, you don’t need courage any more. You just do it, because you know that each time a human being is pulled outside of his comfort zone, it is a stimulation for more creativity, for more skills, for more solutions, for more competencies and qualities...“.

One thing is certain: No matter whether things start with confidence or courage, both impact each other. Our confidence increases when we take the courage to achieve something and vice versa. It comes with practice and daily usage. Every day a step further, every day being a bit more brave, a bit more confident. It is up to us to choose the size of the daily “dose”.

Take the courage to observe and to become aware of how courage and confidence influence your actions and to find out how best to “dance” with them to enable yourself to move forward.