Why is the first step the hardest?

The first step is hardest because you typically lack confidence when starting something new. Fear of incompetence can prevent you from acting. You must overcome this initial fear to begin building competence and kick off the loop.

How can I start the confidence/competence loop if I have no confidence?

You put the fear aside and take the first concrete step. It doesn't have to be perfect, just an action. This initial action builds a small amount of competence, which then gives you a little confidence to take the next step. Force the beginning.

Does this loop apply to all challenges?

Yes, the confidence/competence loop applies to anything challenging, whether it's a new certification, a fitness goal, or a complex work project. The principle remains: action builds skill, skill builds belief, and belief fuels further action. It's a universal mechanism for growth.

The In-Between

How The Confidence Competence Loop Can Benefit You

Q: What is the confidence/competence loop?

It's the self-reinforcing cycle between believing you can do something (confidence) and having the ability to do it (competence). When you believe, you act. Action builds skill, which increases confidence, driving more action. It's how you improve.

You want to achieve something, but fear holds you back. You lack the confidence to start, so you never gain the competence. This is a trap. Break the cycle; competence and confidence feed each other. This is how you start.

The takeaways

01Understand confidence is believing you can do something; competence is the ability to do it.
02Recognize the confidence/competence loop: belief drives action, action builds skill, skill boosts belief.
03Identify the initial hurdle: fear prevents taking the first step towards competence.
04Prioritize action over fear, especially at the beginning of a new endeavor.
05Take that first step to build initial competence; it will spark the loop.
06Use the loop to propel yourself towards achieving your objectives.

This blog post is a transcription from the video at the bottom of the post.

What is the confidence/competence loop? I’m Christian Espinosa with Alpine Security, and that’s the topic of this video, competence, confidence, and the loop that ties those two together. So confidence is our belief we can do something. Competence is the ability we can do something. The confidence/competence loop means if we believe we can do something, we’ll actually take action to do it, which increases our competence, which then increases our confidence, which allows us to take more action.

So it’s sort of like the chicken and egg scenario because, without the initial confidence, we’re not likely to take a step to gain the competence. Without the confidence, we sort of step back in fear and we’re afraid we are not going to be competent. So we don’t take the action that’s required to become competent. That’s where the confidence/comes into play. The hardest part for most people is getting up over that initial fear.

Initially, when we start some sort of endeavor like the Security+ certification or anything in life that’s a challenge, we don’t have the confidence yet. So we have to get over the fear or put the fear aside and take the first step or the first action to build some competence, which will then increase our confidence. Once we get this cycle going, that will propel us forward to achieve the objective.

I’m really curious about your experience with the confidence/competence loop. Please note your experience if you’d like as a comment to this video. Also, please subscribe to our channel. You can click on the little bell as well to get notified when we have cool videos come out, actually notifies you when we have any video come out. So you can decide if they’re cool or not, but you’ll get notified when a new video comes out. Thanks for watching, and I hope this video helps you take that first step to become competent and then confident and spiral forward to achieve your goals.

“Without initial confidence, you won't take the step to gain competence; without competence, you can't build confidence. It's a loop that you must start.”

Frequently asked