Becoming bulletproof

On confidence, success, and ... Christmas trivia

Hi friends,

Happy November. I hope you’re staying warm and safe and sane.

Vika and I just got back from taking the kids to Disneyland, a feat which I think can be accurately summed up in this photo of me on a Cars ride.

The topic of this month’s newsletter is confidence, in part because I’ve been reading The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, which is about the surprising ways confidence shapes our personal and professional lives.

Confidence, as they describe, is the key differentiator that separates those who take chances from those who hold back. And it’s often lacking, particularly in women, for a host of complicated reasons.

Takeaway 1: Confidence matters more than competence

One of the biggest mindblown moments for me was the relationship between confidence and competence.

Namely that confidence is equally, if not more, important than competence when it comes to success.

Meaning if you believe you’re good at something, you’ll actually perform better. And the inverse is al…