The Confidence Continuum: Why It’s Time to Rethink How You See Confidence
**FREE GUIDED VISUALISATION
You’ve probably heard it before.
“She’s so confident.”
“I wish I had his level of confidence.”
Maybe, you’ve even said it out loud...
“I’m just not a confident person.”
As if confidence is a fixed identity. As if you either have it… or you don’t.
But what if confidence isn’t a binary state?
What if it’s not something you are, but something you navigate?
That’s why this idea, the Confidence Continuum, matters more than ever.
Real confidence?
It’s not an identity.
It’s a continuum.
It stretches from deep self-doubt to quiet self-belief, and sometimes, if we’re not careful, into arrogance. Your confidence isn’t fixed. It flexes. It fluctuates. It’s contextual.
You might feel like an 8/10 when you’re leading a meeting.
But then you’re asked to speak at a conference - and suddenly, that number drops to a 5.
This isn’t a flaw.
It’s just how confidence actually works. And once you understand that, you stop chasing it as a personality trait—and start developing it like a skill.
Confidence Is a Continuum, Not an Identity
Psychologist Albert Bandura called it self-efficacy, your belief in your ability to succeed in a specific situation.
Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindset echoes this: your capacity to grow matters more than your current state.
Confidence isn’t about who you are. It’s about how you think in the moment.
And those thoughts?
They’re shaped by context, task novelty, emotional state, and past experience.
Take this:
-> Interviews? You’re an 8/10 - calm, articulate, competent.
-> Public speaking? A 6/10 - palms sweating, voice a little shaky.
-> Giving feedback to your team? Maybe a 7.5.
That’s normal.
Situational confidence is real, and dynamic.
The more important the outcome feels, the more likely your confidence will wobble.
That doesn’t mean you’re unconfident.
It means you’re human.
Why Reframing It as a Spectrum Changes Everything
When we think of confidence as an identity (“I’m just not confident”), we shut down the possibility of growth.
But when we see it as a state, a shifting response to circumstance, we gain power.
You stop asking “What’s wrong with me?” and start asking:
“What does this situation bring up for me?”
“What tools or reps do I need here?”
“What’s my dial at today, and how can I nudge it one notch forward?”
This mindset gives you room to build confidence, not just hope for it. And it gives you the language to separate your capability from your comfort.
If you’ve ever found yourself tangled in “I just don’t have it,” this blog breaks down 5 common myths about confidence that might be holding you back.)
The Dangers of Both Ends: Self-Doubt vs. Overconfidence
We often think of confidence as something you either have or you don’t. But in reality, it moves.
At one end of the spectrum, there’s self-doubt, that creeping sense of “what if I’m not good enough?” It can sound like imposter syndrome. Feel like hesitation. Sometimes it looks like perfectionism, over-preparing just to feel safe, or holding back even when you know you have something valuable to say.
At the other extreme, confidence can tip into something else entirely. Overconfidence. The kind that edges into arrogance or rigid certainty. It can shut down listening, reduce curiosity, or lead to risk-taking that’s more reckless than bold.
Neither extreme is helpful. And neither reflects true leadership.
What you’re aiming for isn’t a fixed level of confidence, but a dynamic balance, what psychologists often refer to as confident humility. It’s that space where you can back yourself and stay open to learning. Where you can speak up with conviction, while still knowing when to ask questions or take a step back.
Psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic puts it plainly:
“The best leaders are not those with the most confidence, but those with the right balance between confidence and competence.”
So, the goal isn’t to never feel doubt. It’s to recognise when your confidence is drifting, and have the awareness and tools to bring it back into balance.
The Role of Self-Awareness and Regulation
This is where confidence gets smarter.
It stops being about hype and starts being about awareness.
According to Dr. Susan David, Harvard psychologist and author of Emotional Agility, it’s not the presence of self-doubt that derails us, it’s how we relate to it.
In other words: the problem isn’t the thought, it’s when we over-identify with it.
You don’t need to eliminate every wobble. You just need to recognise it for what it is: a moment. A signal. Not a verdict.
So next time your confidence dips - pause.
Ask yourself:
Where am I on the confidence spectrum right now?
What’s fueling this feeling, or draining it?
What would a 7/10 version of me choose to do next?
You’re not chasing perfect self-belief. You’re practicing presence.
Because the real power isn’t in feeling totally fearless, it’s in learning how to stay steady, even when you’re not.
And this is where tools like thought reframing, breathwork, and journaling earn their place.
They help you create space between the thought and the response.
Between “I feel uncertain” and “I must not be good enough.”
That pause? That check-in?
That is the practice.
(^I’ve recorded a guided visualisation that will help you reset your nervous system and reconnect with the most grounded, capable version of you, the one who doesn’t chase confidence but embodies it. Listen to this before going into high-stakes situations)
How to Shift Along the Confidence Continuum
So how do you actually move along the spectrum?
Try this mini confidence audit:
Rate your current confidence levels (1–10) in areas that matter to you:
Presenting to senior stakeholders
Handling conflict
Making bold career decisions
Navigating uncertainty
Promoting yourself or your ideas
Then ask:
Where do I want to move the dial just one notch?
What would it look like to show up as 1 point more confident?
Contextual self-talk helps:
Instead of “I’m not confident,” try:
-> “Right now, I feel uncertain. But I can still take the next step.”
Detach identity from emotion.
Feeling nervous doesn’t mean you’re not capable.
Confidence isn’t something you either have or don’t.
It’s something you build, moment by moment: through reflection, through action, through how you speak to yourself when no one else is listening.
When you stop trying to “feel” confident and start training it like a skill, that’s when it sticks.
Quick Recap: What to Remember
Confidence isn’t fixed. It flexes depending on context.
It’s not who you are. It’s how you relate to discomfort.
Avoid the extremes. You’re aiming for confident humility, not self-doubt or arrogance.
Check in with yourself. Self-awareness builds self-trust.
Reframe the narrative. Confidence is something you do, not something you wait to feel.
So next time you catch yourself saying, “I’m just not confident,” pause.
What if that’s not the full story?
What if you’re just at a different point on the dial today - and tomorrow, with a small shift, that dial moves?
Confidence isn’t something you wait for.
It’s something you practice.
And the more you learn to meet yourself where you are, the easier it becomes to move forward -- with clarity, with conviction, and with the kind of confidence that lasts.
NEED A BIT MORE…
-
Because confidence is situational, not static.
Your confidence is influenced by context, novelty, perceived risk, emotional state, and even your sleep or stress levels.
Fluctuation isn’t failure. It’s feedback. It tells you where you need to grow. -
Confidence is your belief in your ability to do something specific.
Self-esteem is your overall sense of self-worth.
You can feel confident presenting at work and still struggle with low self-esteem, or vice versa. They’re related, but not the same. -
Absolutely.
The most sustainable confidence is built through congruent action, showing up as the version of you that’s one step braver, one step more grounded.
It’s not about pretending. It’s about practicing.
At Your Future Forward, I help you rewire performance from the inside out so that you can lead with resilience, confidence and clarity in your career, business and life. If you'd like to know more about creating your Performance Blueprint, drop me a line here.
Stay strong, stay balanced
Yvette x
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