I watched an interview of actor Cillian Murphy a while back and in the interview he said to “believe your instincts. Instinct over Intellect. Always.” This advice has always been in the back of mind since.
Throughout your years, do you believe that Murphy’s words are relatively true? I’m very passionate about something. I don’t really want to reveal what it is in case it harbours bias towards my question but honestly I feel like I’m the only one that believes in my hard work. I actually don’t know how to describe it but i genuinely believe that I can do it.
I’m turning 18 soon so I know i’m young and far from maturity but is it so wrong for me to believe in my instinct and my passion? The people around me don’t really believe in me and often overlook me. As a high school grad of 2025, I also recently received my Uni results back and I was able to get in to a good school(university of sourthern california) but didn’t make the cut for the major I was passionate about. A bunch of different events and rejections has led me to this point where I don’t really believe in myself. I’m disciplined enough to have worked hard throughout high school and get into university in addition to setting expectations for myself but honestly, I have no confidence in my discipline beyond this bare minimum.
I believe I have the skills and potential to do it. But I don’t trust myself or have enough confidence that I have the discipline to do it, especially in the face of rejection. Sorry this is a really contradictory post I’m unsure of what i’m feeling as well.
TLDR: Do you have any stories from your life where intuition has brought you far beyond logic? How do you maintain self-confidence in the face of failure and rejection? How do you stay disciplined?
Comments
Confidence is nothing more than the belief that you are right. If you know that you are right, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Literally. It does not matter. Pursue that belief in yourself and your rectitude until you don’t believe it anymore – and that day might come. But if it does, don’t abandon your belief. Don’t abandon yourself. Learn and adjust your belief so that you can have confidence again. This is how successful people navigate their way through the world. When you know you are right that is all that matters.
Now, before you go all negative on me and start picking apart my statement with suggestions that people who think they are right do awful things to other people and sometimes it turns out that they are wrong. Again I must say that it doesn’t matter. You have one Life to live. When you get to the end of it, knowing that you did the best you could according to what you believed in is all that matters. I am presuming that you also believe that you shouldn’t hurt other people and that you should learn from other people. But don’t let other people destroy you or what you believe.