Did Richard Branson know how successful he’d be when he woke up one morning in 1970 and decided to start Virgin? Did he know just how far the Virgin brand would reach and did he ever imagine being so respected and successful?

How about Bill Gates? Did he know he’d be a pivotal leader and innovator in the IT world, and that he’d see his dream of a PC on every desk and in every home come true. Did he know how successful he’d become and how much he’d be able to do with that success?

I doubt it very much. I’d bet that they started off with an idea that made sense to them, even a germ of an idea, something that excited them and made them want to do something about it.

I’d bet that they didn’t know if their idea would work out or where it would take them. I’d bet that they were just doing what felt right and best at the time, applying all of their strengths to deliver on their ideas.

I’d bet that they knew they were going out of their comfort zone but didn’t let that influence their decisions and what they did or didn’t do.

I’d bet that they didn’t get everything right. They would have made mistakes along the way that might have thrown them or cast doubt on things. Nevertheless, they rolled with the punches and kept on going.

So, which comes first – confidence or success? There’s no doubt in my mind that confidence comes first, and it’s confidence that I’ve just been describing.

True self-confidence brings personal success with it

Being truly confident leads you to success, a success that actually means something to you and has a personal relevance, rather than the hollow kind of success that comes from simply doing what you think you ought to be doing and ignoring what really matters.

By the way, there are cases where success comes before confidence. It’s called getting lucky.