Increase Your Confidence by Increasing Your Bank Account

The Aura of Wealth

What do you need to find and keep an attractive partner?

Confidence.

What do you need when embarking on the journey less traveled?

Confidence.

What do you need to overcome hardship and obstacles?

Confidence.

What do you need to feel content and peace in the present moment?

Confidence.

There are many methods to increase your confidence, and I’ve tried them all.

I’ve used affirmations. I’ve healed trauma. I tried yoga and meditation. I’d do something every day that used to scare me. I’d develop a skill to ground my identity. I’d stand up for myself or others. I’d do the right thing (by my standards and values). I’d hold myself accountable.

Every strategy has worked — some more than others. But one hidden technique that I accidentally stumbled upon is making more money.

Let me explain.

The Biology of Confidence

“Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change.” — Nathaniel Braden

One critical concept from the above quote from Braden, the author of The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, is self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is the confidence in one’s basic competence to survive and thrive. Self-efficacy builds confidence, and confidence builds self-efficacy.

If that definition isn’t clear enough (because it wasn’t to me when I first read it), let’s try this one:

Efficacy means effectiveness. And self is explainable. So essentially, it means self-effectiveness.

“Effective to what?” you might ask.

To our goals and the goals of others.

Our effectiveness determines our value (self-esteem/confidence); our value (in the context of this article) is expressed in salary or income. In other words, the more valuable we are, the more money we’ll receive.

Money then becomes a measure of value. Higher value = higher pay (vice versa).

For example, Lebron James is the highest-paid player on the Los Angeles Lakers. The team and organization deemed him the most valuable player, so ownership gifted him with the wealthiest contract.

How do you think Lebron’s income influences his self-belief?

How do you think this increased self-belief affects his certainty to accomplish goals in other areas of his life — health, family, parenting, relationships, business, etc.?

But you don’t need to be making $95 million a year like Lebron to experience the benefits of making more money.

The Aura of Wealth

I got a new job two weeks ago and have been working 15 hour days to learn the ropes. I’ve already made more money in two weeks than I have in four. And I can make $6,000 — $8,000 per month depending on how many hours I work.

$6,000 would be more than double what I’ve made in any other month. Knowing the company is willing to pay me that much and that I’m on track to living a comfortable life shoots euphoria through every cell in my body.

I’ve lived paycheck-to-paycheck for nearly every month of my life. The work I’ve put into myself to finally “make it” has literally and figuratively paid off.

The biggest reward is the peace and calm and love I feel within myself. I’ve noticed the same benefits of increasing your bankroll in the loved ones that surround me.

I met my best friend during my senior year of high school. We’ve been inseparable ever since.

We’ve had many firsts together. We went to our first rave and music festival together. We’ve tried Ecstacy together. We got our first house together — the house we live in as I write this article. I can hear him talking to his girlfriend in the master bedroom next to mine as we speak (rather creepy, I know).

The point is: I know this man more than anyone — more than his parents, his brother, and his girlfriend.

He significantly changed once he finished his degree and became a registered nurse. He’s currently making $100,000+ a year working part-time. He drives the newest Tesla and is a member of a luxurious country club.

He’s much more centered and relaxed and extroverted and confident than the 17-year old I met in history class.

His confidence is felt and undeniable when he walks into a room. I doubt whether he would have met his girlfriend — his person, the love of his life if it weren’t for his confidence.

I worked at Starbucks for six years and worked at a mom-and-pop coffee shop for two years. In my eight years as a barista, I was always able to distinguish the wealth of a customer by their demeanor.

The wealthiest had an aura and energy and vibe that was grounded like a tree within a tornado. That centeredness, that present consciousness is a manifestation of confidence — for certainty releases the gusts of the soul.

Final Thoughts

The first step to increase your confidence via your income is to set a financial goal.

But, before we can even accomplish this step, we have to understand one thing:

It’s OK to have financial desires.

Mainstream media and spiritual gurus will tell you money won’t make you happy, and you shouldn’t have financial goals.

They’re right to an extent. I don’t recommend attaching your entire value as a person based on your yearly salary. But denying your desires and the lack of freedom and joy you experience due to “insufficient funds” isn’t healthy either.

Learn to be of the physical world but not run by it. It’s acceptable to have material desires but not be controlled by them.

Also, every human is different. The amount of money one wants to make will vary depending on their lifestyle and other aspirations.

The ideal income for individuals is $95,000 a year for life satisfaction and $60,000 — $75,000 a year for emotional well-being, according to psychologists at Purdue University.

But perhaps you enjoy seeing your bank account increase. Seeing the numbers grow gives you purpose and excitement. For you, it isn’t about the money per se, but the joy of the process and actualizing your potential via financial prosperity.

I resonate with Purdue’s research and findings. I’ve never cared to make a lot of money, and my lifestyle is minimalist at best. I never eat out because I’m a health freak, I don’t like vacations because I’m a homebody, and I finally got a bed after sleeping on the floor for years (don’t judge). So, I’ll be happy with $60,000 — $75,000 a year. If I make more, great; If I don’t, great.

I can work over 40 hours a week at my current job to make my target income. And I will do that, but I want to make a portion or most of that money from writing because the work I do currently is less than glamourous.

I’ve been consistently writing almost every day for one year. I haven’t had tremendous success and honestly doubted my ability to make a living from my passion.

But these past two weeks have increased my confidence which has increased my motivation and creative output. I just wrote this article after working an 8-hour shift.

I genuinely believe I will make a full-time income from writing. A conviction I didn’t have two weeks ago.

But I digress.

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