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What is self-confidence issues and questions	Self-confidence is good to have and we never have it enough. But what is self-confidence. Are there different types of self-confidence? Is someone living as an eremite in the desert or sailing alone round the world self-confident. Was Napoleon self-confident? Is it possible to have too much confidence and can therefore be dangerous? Is it possible to increase self-confidence? There are some other interesting questions which we decide not deal with; do we work to increase self-confidence or do we need self-confidence to achieve something.
approach	Initially we will try to broadly define two main concepts of personal identity which relate to the self-confidence i.e. “ipsum esse” and “persona” without precision or the exact context for the usage of the introduced terms. As we discuss the issues the approximation of the concepts will be achieved.
"you are" = ipsum esse who are you	Let’s assume you are perfectly happy and satisfied with what “you are”, in other words, in your pure existence as it is, i.e. “ipsum esse”, “being itself”. We will explore the concepts of “ipsum esse” more profoundly below. Has a dog capacity of “ipsum esse” or one has to assume capacity of self-reflection/insight?
self-insight is needed, one has to be conscious oneself	In order to assume your existence “as it is” you must be aware of your identity and the position in the society and in the environment, but why. If identity (ability to self-reflect) is not required then we will have to assume that a dog has an experience of “being”. Also a person (mentally disturbed) could have an illusory identity of being for example Napoleon and the corresponding self-confidence. We will not expect that a dog would have experience of being (what assumes counter-state of “Non-being” or possibility of the end of “Being”.)
self-observation you can't ignore the reality	It is essential that you see the reality, i.e. also the facts which are negative, for example you could be less intelligent than others more ugly and more criminal then others (observe that there is here an implicit comparison with “others”, it seems like a contradiction but it would be so if the implication of the comparison would be relevant for “being” but it is not so, though the awareness is assumed and is part of the identity.) The verb “you are” as a connotation of “ipsum esse” means that you are perfectly aware about your state and the state (characteristics) of others and able to describe it for yourself and others.
do you exist inside or outside is it you who defines you or your environment	You have to have capability to distinguish/differentiate yourself from others but without any influence neither positive nor negative on your mental state. Your “Being” as it is, beyond the judgments and is not related to the concept of “value”. This is characteristic of the soul in “ipsum esse” ("being itself"/"ground of being") (German Sein selbst). In other words you are in a state of subsistence: subsistence = an essential characteristic quality of something that exists, from “sub-sistere” sistere=stand, stand upright, stand firm. You are enough for yourself and act from within opposite to “support from”/”existence in” the external world (”existence=exi-sistere”) i.e. exi-sistere is irrelevant for “Being in itself”.
persona=mask Your social image	The other complementary concept (but not symmetric) which is more complex, often confused in the daily life, is “persona”, after the name of the mask used by Greek actors. The mask is characteristic and to some degree defines the role the actor is playing. It is like an avocado. (the core centre of “ipsum esse” and the persona as the skin) The ipsum esse is inside and the “presentation” is the “persona”. It is to the “persona” (presentation of yourself for others) that value is attached. You can be good, bad, ugly (negative value), tolerant (positive value) etc. You can be a “good person”, “good citizen” while at the same time you can be extremely negative and envious person however potentially never perceived as such (you play the role which is perceived as good and you hide your bad characteristics) You can behave in such a way that the perception of you is to your advantage. This may lead to benefits in your environment - you may be more appreciated, liked, etc. and an internal advantage i.e. you may feel that you are more important, even feel better than others. Sometimes one feels better than others, because of one considers that one is something special or one has something.
how Buddhists see it	We can use further examples to illustrate the “ipsum esse”/”persona” concepts An illustration of the concept is provided by Buddhists. The Buddhists belief that we are moving from “illusion” (all assumptions which do not correspond to the reality are illusions, called Maya) towards “true self” i.e. Ipsum esse (we could described it as a movement from believing that the “persona” is real – an illusion - , through gradual abandoning the belief that “persona” is “you” - and arriving at “Ipsum esse”).
persona/ego	Could we have a “true persona”? The “persona” is necessary but should not be confused with the “true self”. It is not a question of dismantling “persona” but to realizing that persona is a mask. Another concept associated with “persona” is ego (as defined by the new age movement) If a person believes that she/he is important because of a high standing amongst others then one may say that she/he has a big ego. (only “persona” can be important, Ipsum esse is neither important nor unimportant, the value is not part of the concept of “True Self”). The concepts of self-value, self-consciousness are related but we choose not discuss them here.
"persona" is not stable	It would be nice to have more self-confidence. But what is it, how one could get it?. The type of self-confidence that is based on the merits of “persona” is problematic in situations when the persona is challenged. One would need to stay in the group which attaches positive value to the persona you are projecting. Moving to another location, country, social group with another set of values may “destroy” the old persona, hence diminish self-confidence.
is my inner identity stable forever	Also un-reflected and unconscious self-confidence which is totally based on the “ipsum esse” is problematic when challenged by social constraints. Assuming you are born in one of the tribes in the Amazon (easy going, true to yourself, secure – for the sake of the argument it may be not fully the reality) and you move to London. You may very quickly start to feel inferior unless you have reflected and have insight about the life in London ahead of moving to London. (in reality you don’t have chance to have such insight if you never been in London)
for what do you need self-confidence	It seems that that “self-confidence” can be “inherited” but will it last forever and always. It seems not and it looks that the self-confidence has to be managed or developed again and again according to the needs and life circumstances and encounters with the new ideas challenging you. Self-confidence has to be actively maintained – but how?. If you go into the situation in order to confirm and test your “value”, you playing with high stakes, you may win but you may lose too. So you will get tense in any such situation and the chances to lose are greater than to win especially if you go into such activities like playing, music, doing some sports, presenting something for public – in short in the situation where you are using your body to perform and where bodily tension is a disadvantage. Writing a book, swimming or recording music in studio would not be a problem. So this way to maintain self-confidence is not very long-lasting, it is repetitive and has to be reinforced and when one level is mastered new goals are setup in order to get a new confirmation at a higher level.
relation between God's grace and self-confidence	An old schema for maintaining self-confidence is religion, and when effective then gives the energy to guarantee self-confidence. The core of the religious belief which supports pure being has to be based on “Grace” and not based on merits. “… the grace of God, an effect of predestination, is not preceded by any merits, but precedes all merit”, Thomas Aquinas. (just to follow the rules will not qualify for anything). But how can you be sure that the grace will be bestowed on you in order to be satisfied with your “pure being” . The grace and the self-confidence are not one can test. The Bible corroborates the advice not to test the self-confidence. “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” At one point one has to give up testing. The outcome of the testing is result, and this can be good or bad. This is pure logic and the issue is how long you should go on in testing. The logic tells us that we will never get only good results from an honest testing. (if one result is expected than it is not a test). At some point you have to give up testing
a danger of "un-checked" self-confidence	On could say that self-confidence is something which is “received” (not earned) in larger or smaller degree and which has to be managed in the confrontation with the social group and social order. If the mask is so “tight” that obstructs communication and the perception of the world then it can lead to the dangerous state. The “unrealistic self-confidence” based on the possibly false/unchecked image of the environment can lead into derailing.
it has to be emphasized that you are not "persona"	Problems can be encountered when in order to boost your confidence you start to rely on “persona” but forget that the “persona” is not fully “you”. As long as the “persona” is truly just something you project outwards you may be ok, but if you start to assume that you are the “persona” then the discrepancies will appear. The kings and now politicians try to avoid the close contact with the “reality” of the “normal people” as such close contact may expose a difference between image (which they try to project as their true self) and their behaviour in private. As long as they are aware of the difference, the same way actors are, there are no problems. An issue for most people is the degree that employees believe in the image, and integrate into their “persona” the illusion that the “bosses” care.
adjusting your life to your self-confidence	Until now it is all a little theoretical and if you live in the western culture you may ask yourself what are my option for being “someone”. We assume that if you are fully “happy” with yourself and you are sufficient for yourself and you feel good in a small group such as family then you are self-confident, you are as self-confident as you can be. But if you want to be someone “bigger” than the construction begins. The construction of persona has to proceed. You may succeed in your endeavor i.e. people will believe and reinforce your persona (image of you) or you may fail in construction of a persona needed i.e. people will not believe in your construct. The right persona is needed for your goals, for position, for carrier etc. But it is not you as “ipsum esse”. It is construction according to requirements of your current society. We may ask ourselves how to maintain self-confidence; the self-confidence is a feeling which may be reduced if you move to the unknown environment. You may need more self-confidence then needed to cope in the familiar “limited” environment. But is there a state in which the self-confidence would be sufficient for all possible live situations?