Wondering if your friend is full of herself or just confident? Or maybe you’re genuinely interested in finding out whether what you possess is self-confidence. Distinguishing between narcissism can be quite a daunting task because they share so many similarities.
At first glance, a narcissist and a confident person both appear bold, poised and in control of their emotions. They might be asserting, self-sufficient, successful, and charismatic, which is why differentiating between the two is crucial. Read on for tips on how to identify the difference between confidence and narcissism.
1. A narcissist is often exploitative, while a confident person wants to see you win. The thing about confidence is that confident people believe in their abilities rather than believing others are weaker. They do not seek to bring you down. They want to operate in their own space while you work in yours, but a narcissist doesn’t care about you winning since your success often comes as a threat to their position. When left unchecked, a narcissistic person will do anything to trump someone’s success.
2. A confident person is happy to learn from mistakes and utilize them towards being a better person while a narcissist doesn’t like to accept blame. Narcissists often believe they are the fabric of life’s existence, and whatever they do has to be the right thing. If you find someone behaving like they have no faults and can do no wrong, they might be a narcissist.
3. A confident person is open to ideas from people, making them more accepting of people’s views on issues. A narcissist, on the other hand, is very shallow and narrow-minded. To a narcissist, their way is the one correct way to do things, and your opinions may never count.
4. A narcissist cares for and craves attention and confirmation that they are doing something right all the time. Meanwhile, a confident person doesn’t mind being told that they are wrong, or their idea on a topic could be flawed. A confident person takes constructive criticisms and uses it to better his/her personality.
Being confident is super awesome, and it is one character goal anyone should aspire to attain. In attempting to get confident, however, you should make sure that you are not becoming narcissistic, and if you notice traits of narcissism, check them!
