CONFIDENCE; NOT OVERCONFIDENCE

CONFIDENCE; NOT OVERCONFIDENCE Harm of Excess CONFIDENCE is good, but over-confidence is bad. Confidence is very important in life for everyone. But when a person becomes over-confident, he takes such great risks as are beyond his capacity to deal with successfully. It is like fighting against the laws of nature. Why does a person become over-confident? The reason lies in overassessment of his capabilities. Sometimes people rate their competence too highly and plunge into situations that are beyond their control. One historical example is that of the wrong decision-making of Napoleon Bonaparte, the erstwhile Emperor of France. He used to say that the word ‘impossible’ was to be found only in the dictionary of fools. This was sheer over-confidence and led him into the ill-conceived attempt to invade Russia in the winter of 1812. The Russian army at that time was not very strong, but they had the advantage over the French army of being able to cope with the severity of their winter, whereas the severe cold of that region proved fatal for Napoleon’s army. The extreme cold accompanied by hailstorms caused most of the French soldiers to perish even before entering Moscow. The same happened with Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany. It was his belief that he was destined for success. He thought he was invincible. Deluded by this obsession, he invaded Russia in the winter of 1941. His army too was caught up in a hailstorm and was crushed at Stalingrad. Over-confidence generally leads people into misadventures, which can be fatal to both nation and individuals. In this world, no one is so strong as to court disaster with impunity. According to the divine scheme of life, any achievement is a result of two factors—one’s personal planning and support by the external world. The share of personal planning is less than fifty per cent while the share of outside factors is more than fifty per cent. It is this fact which makes over-confidence untenable in this world. People, thanks to their obsessions, take into account only their own planning, generally According to the divine scheme of life, any achievement is a result of two factors—one’s personal planning and support by the external world. The share of personal planning is less than fifty per cent while the share of outside factors is more than fifty per cent.