Self confidence implies mental strength. It lives in the soul. A person who has no faith in himself is the weakest type of a person. Such a person may be physically strong. But the smallest difficulty shakes him up. He is not able to face difficulties. Yet, if you have faith in yourself, you can change the direction of your life.

When you have tried to do something and you have been unsuccessful, nobody will call you a loser. However, the moment you lose your faith, your self-confidence, then you becomes a loser. You are dead even when you are alive if you lose faith… this means you do not have the will to work hard or to try. Faith in yourself gives you the inspiration to keep trying till you succeed. If you kept telling yourself, “oh I’ll never be able to do it,” then you will really never succeed. If you are filled with doubts and suspicions, disappointments and self questioning, how can you build up confidence?

Remember, God has given you so many gifts and abilities. It is up to see them, understand them, develop them and use them. Take for example, the well. Every well has water. But only if you dip into the well with confidence with a bucket can you fetch the water and make use of it. Your strength is just like the water. Everybody has the strength.

If you have been unsuccessful in your first attempt, never mind; try again. And even if you have been unsuccessful in your next attempt, don’t lose heart. Look at the small creature ant.

Look how hard she works. Watch her climb that wall with a small grain. Neither does she turn back. She forges ahead. Nothing can stop her. Rows of walls do not hinder her speed.

Learn from the ant, that you must keep trying, that you must keep going ahead. You have learnt in an earlier lesson that success and failure are things of the mind. Confronted by your self-confidence and perseverance, failures can come to an end. A little child has to try hundreds of times before it can finally stand up without aid. Not only does it stand, it even runs. It does not give up.

It is rare to meet with success at the very first attempt. And even if this does happen, it is coincidence. We must all be self-reliant. Our country should be self-reliant. Dust off the ashes of doubt from your mind and build up self-confidence.

Napoleon’s ships once attacked Nelson’s fleet. While the enemy was approaching, Nelson was playing tennis. When he completed the game, he started playing chess. ‘Don’t worry,’ he told his men. I will finish this game of chess and finish off the enemy as well.’ He was true to his word.

Self confidence brings with it certain other qualities as well. There is self-respect, extreme patience, generosity and courage. See with what confidence the lion stalks the jungle. No other animal can take away this confidence from the lion.

Only one word makes the difference between heroism and cowardice. That word is self- confidence. The hero has faith in himself. The coward does not.

Remove the words ‘failure’ and ‘impossible’ from your dictionary and march ahead.