The Hierarchy of Confidence

The Confidence Pyramid

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid has always been intriguing to me. If you don’t know what this concept is - it breaks down the stages of growth in humans. It’s a theory that classifies the needs of human society split between deficiency needs and growth needs.

I’ve mentioned this in some of my podcast episodes, as well as taking the concepts to heart when really thinking about what I need, personally, in the next evolution of becoming myself.

As my work with “helping women be the most confident they can be” has evolved, and the more I speak to podcast guests and other women about everything confidence, the more my own concept of a “Confidence Hierarchy” comes into focus from the blurry ether.

So what is a Confidence Hierarchy? Modeled after Maslow’s pyramid - it has the basic concept of self at the core, but at the bottom, survival in the form of self preservation is the baseline. Confidence is on the next tier and comes only after self preservation is maintained, or at least mostly satisfied. Recklessness will not lead to confidence if consequences are too severe.

All decisions and actions must pass the benchmark of self-preservation before moving to a more complex form. Only then can actions be performed with confidence of self preservation. This is redundant, but deems repeating - most actions can not be performed confidently without self preservation in mind. Of course, there are some outliers, and also some mental health conditions that do not adhere to this substruct, but if at any time your actions or decisions endanger your well being or sense of self, your confidence level drops back down to the baseline and must pass the test of self preservation again before truly being able to move up the pyramid to confidence and empowerment.

Let’s see an example:

The confidence an athlete has at the peak of their performance is empowerment. They are performing at the very best they have ever performed and that empowers them to continue to perform. If that athlete were to sustain an injury, their confidence level to perform would be wary. They would not perform at peak, but rather with limitations or hesitations in order to preserve what was left of their physical health. As they begin to heal, they move from self preservation into confidence as they slowly return to a rigorous training and competing level. Eventually feeling empowered to perform at their peak level again.

So, how does someone surpass the levels of confidence so they can improve their stance enough to achieve empowerment?

Each individual must choose their empowerment through recognition of past achievements and continue achieving at high levels towards their new or evolved accomplishments. Only when you are comfortable enough in your own abilities will you be able to achieve a truly empowered state. Self-empowerment is the highest form of confidence and no one else can get there for you. No one can hand you self-empowerment. Others can empower you to a position of achievement but it is only through your own actions that you rise up to and maintain the levels handed to you. This is where imposter syndrome can easily knock you down the pyramid, if you let it. If you don’t believe you’re worthy of the position or stature you hold, you will not possess the confidence to maintain it.

How do you move from Self-Preservation to Confidence?

Self-preservation is a form of survival. In order to survive you must continue to live or exist in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstance. This is the base of the triangle. Much like Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, the self-preservation or survival tier of the pyramid will only really get you through life at a basic level. There is little fulfillment at this level; you are merely existing and sustaining life. When in self-preservation mode, you take no risks, so there is not a great deal to be confident about. This is when it’s important to reach into your past and pull from your achievements. Keep a running list of your accomplishments so you can pull yourself out of survival mode and into a steady confidence state.

How do you move from Confidence to Empowerment?

If your list of accomplishments, practice, and past practice leads you to confidence, it is repetition that leads to empowerment. When you feel you have truly mastered a skill, you have reached empowerment. When you can do something through muscle memory, without much thought at all, that is reaching the level of empowerment. You fall from empowerment when a variable changes in your practice. The weather changes, the technology, a new opponent challenges you, or something in your physiology is not at peak level. When your muscle memory is questioned, this is when your empowerment can faulter. Your confidence can be shaken. This is when it’s important to fall back to your list of achievements to boost you back into a place of feeling the highest levels of confidence - empowerment.

So what is your empowerment area? What do you feel Confident or Empowered to do? Has your confidence in that area ever been questioned? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Do you love podcasts? I discuss this concept on my podcast: Chaos Queens: