Kanye West
Yesterday, while I was listening to some of Kanye’s older music, I was reminded of some of the thoughts I had when I watched the documentary about him.
The first thing that stood out to me was the unconditional love and support from his mother, Donda. In the documentary, Donda seemed to play a vital role in building Kanye’s unwavering confidence, constantly telling him that he was going to change the world, or that he was the best there ever was. Regardless of what your thoughts are on Kanye, or Donda, I believe there is value in having someone by your side, telling you that you’re the best, that you’re going to influence millions of people for the better. Now, don’t get it twisted, there is a need for balance and accountability, but being confidence seems to be a missing piece in some people’s lives, especially people around my age.
Another piece that stood out to me was when Kanye said something to the effect of, why would someone not believe in themselves, why would you not believe you are the best. This got my mind churning because what he said made sense to me. I feel like, sometimes, I live in a state of mind constantly focused on what I can do better, or what I am not doing well enough. There is little time wasted on building myself up, telling myself that I am going to influence millions of people. Everyone has different reasons as to why they are hard on themselves, or why they “hold themselves accountable” more often than they should, but I am here to tell you that it is vital to balance accountability with some encouragement.
There is a misconception around confidence because people who are arrogant and cocky are seen as confident. Arrogance is not Confidence. Arrogance wavers, Confidence doesn’t. Arrogance feels the need to tell everyone how good they are, it’s fueled by attention. Confidence is quiet, waiting for the right moment to show off the hard work that has been put in. Kanye was both arrogant and confident. He wavers because he feels the need to tell everyone how great he is, instead of letting his actions paint the picture. In defense of Kanye, his state of mind has also been influenced by his mothers passing, his battle with addiction, and countless other things I’m sure not a lot of people are aware of, but there are lessons to be learned from everyone.
There are a lot of things that you cannot change about yourself. You are custom made. Find confidence in the FACT that there is no else on Earth that is built like you or has experienced what you have. That is something to be proud of. I encourage you to find people who make you feel like Kanye West and some days you may have to be your own Donda West, constantly telling yourself that you are the best there ever was, and there’s no stopping you. Depending on where you’re at in life, it may take some time to build that confidence up. An easy way to start is looking yourself in the mirror, literally, and say out loud, I love you, you are the best. Boom.
With Love,
Luke
