Have you stalled on the path to confidence?

I’m delivering a keynote on confidence tomorrow - Confidence Shift: it’s in the doing, not the wishing or the waiting - and sitting here on the flight I’m reminded that the path to confidence can feel a lot like discipline. And there’s no doubt it requires it. As they say in NZ, Do the mahi (work), get the treats.

And yet, this whole discipline thing feels a bit heavy, doesn’t it?

More stick than carrot.

Which is why this quote from Luciano Pavarotti leapt out at me while on the tarmac this morning:

“People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference.”

Rather than working up some discipline, maybe I should reconnect with devotion? A word that resonates with the heart more than the head - pulling on threads like love, faithfulness and loyalty.

What are we devoted to?

Maybe the heart of discipline is in fact devotion. Could this word help unlock the “why” for the journey ahead?

I think it’s worth asking. Because on the other side of confidence isn’t just a sense of levelling up, it’s an expansion of what’s possible.

What are you devoted to?