It’s important to have confidence.
Whether it be having confidence in a particular activity or simply having confidence in yourself at all times, nobody disputes how key it truly is.
However, some people take their confidence a bit too far.
This is when cockiness comes into the equation.
To be cocky is to be conceited or arrogant, especially in a bold manner. This can be a person’s natural way in which they act, or they can gain the trait when they discover something they’re very good at. An example of this could be someone finding out they’re really good at football, causing them to act in a way which makes sure everybody knows about it.
Now, there are sub-categories you can dive into when discussing cocky people. Some people are cocky and they know it.That’s their entire persona. Other people can be cocky, and simply not even realize they’re acting in such a way.
The latter group may simply think they’re being extremely self-confident. This is them not recognizing the line between cocky and confident. And that’s okay too. Almost all of us, at some point in our lives, struggle to find that line.
Maybe some people don’t realize what confidence even is. Confidence is defined as the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something (such as their own skills).
As you can see, the key difference between cockiness and confidence is very small. A cocky person is a person who is extremely confident in themselves and their abilities. Where they cross into cockiness is in how they display this confidence to the outside world.
Now, what exactly is the point of me writing this you ask? I know for a fact there are numerous occasions when I look back at my actions and realize “Wow Noah, you were real high and mighty back there.” That realization sucks.
While it sucks, it is still an extremely helpful realization for someone to have. For me, it allowed me to make adjustments to how I behave in certain situations. I truly hope other people will see this and respond in a similar way.
Just because someone is cocky, it doesn’t mean they’re a bad person. That’s far from the truth. Nobody is perfect and it’s not our job to judge another person. We can all be better versions of ourselves by distinguishing between being confident and being cocky.
If we can all do that, we can go a long way towards being the best versions of ourselves.