SELF-CONFIDENCE

Evening Star, Issue 22276, 29 February 1936, Page 22

SELF-CONFIDENCE

HDW TO ATTAIN IT LECTURE BY MR SHAKESPEARE-BINKS Ninety per cent, of the people are lacking in complete self-confidence. This was the assertion made by Mr W. fehakespeare-Binks last night in the course of his lecture on ‘ Self Confidence: How You May Develop It.’ This might appear on the surface to ho rather a bold assertion, especially in this age of youth that is so sure of itself; yet when measured up to the standard required of the modern psychologist it may be that one in ten would he about the average. Not that the path to the attainment to tliis standard is strewn with difficulties. On the contrary, we have Mi Shakespearo-Binks’s assurance that the rules arc so simple that a child may understand them. What is required, however, is earnestness and enthusiasm.

Both earnestness and enthusiasm were displayed by the audience which, in -spite of the ’fact that it was the we’eklv shopping night, completely filled the Town Hall Concert Chamber last night. Question time at a ShakespeareBinks lecture is, on the whole, more interesting than question time in Parliament, though in the former case questioners are precluded from putting their questions from “ the floor of tho house ” ; they have to be written and placed in the box provided for the purpose. By this method the grain may be effectively separated from the chaff. One interesting question that was put last night was couched in these terms: “ You say you can guarantee that success will attend the effects of those who follow your system of psychology. What is your definition of success

This may be regarded as a very fair question; and it was so regarded by Mr Shakespeare-Binks, who answered that his definition was Success as a human being.” Man, he said, was not meant to be a failure, and he would not be a failure if he obeyed strictly the laws of Nature. And Nature had grave penalties for those who wilfully violated her laws, which included matters of vocational adjustment and of health. Nature worked very hard, said the lecturer, to keep us alive, but many of us gave her but little chance; we committed, quite a number of us, slow, unintentional suicide.

Coming to’ the subject matter of his lecture proper, Mr Shakespeare-Binks disputed the pronouncements of the school of modern psychology which laid it down that man was not possessed of free will. True, he said, very few exercised that free will, but nevertheless it existed and was there for the enlightened to make use of. The new psychology taught man how to Use it'properly, how to turn it to account so that it would always help him' in his development. He who was conversant with the technique of human analysis knew himself, and when he had attained to this knowledge he began to act, not by instinct like an animal, but with reason. Selfconfidence was thus engendered, and one was capable of running one's own life insteaa of having it run for one.

But, said Mr Shakespeare-Binks, human beings were shockingly short of self-confidence. Fear was rampant amongst the people, the fear was the cancer of the human mind. Yet every child, up to its fifth year, was selfconfident ; the only fears possessed by an infant were aroused by loud noises or the danger of falling. Nature, therefore, gave us a clean bill, so far us fear was concerned, when we came into the world, and it was largely the fault of parents, guardians, teachers, and the like, that self-confidence was lost in the case of nine-tenths of the human race.

Children, said Mr Shakespearc-Binks, should be allowed to express themselves. To suppress them in this was wrong. Too many parents imposed their will upon their _ children, punishing them into “ obedience,’’ rvhich too often meant stunting their imaginaton, ruining their will power, and preparing them to be weak, timid, poorspirited men and women, recruits to the mighty army of leaners. Children should be taught to make their own decisions, said the lecturer. _ Instead of a little girl, for instance, being compelled to ask what frock she should put on, she should be allowed to use her own judgment, to exercise her selfexpression in the matter. Yes, said Mr Shakespeare-Binks, parents were largely responsible for any lack of self-confidence in their children. They demanded that the young people should he subordinate to parental will while they were under the parental roof, and then expected them to act with Adfilt judgment and self-confidence when they went out into the world. The parents who checked a child by terror committed a grievous moral wrong. The key to self-confidence, however, was, self-knowledge and the knowledge of other people, said the lecturer. He loved the iconoclast, he said. The iconoclast might lie rash, premature, sometimes imprudent, hut at the same time he was individual; he was himself. And. after all, the world respected selfconfidence in a person and had only pity for those devoid of that quality. “ Dare to speak out the things that you want to sav,” said Mr Shake-speare-Binks; “ do the things you want to do in the way you think yon can do them best. Run your own life, oi else someone else will run it for you. No man whom the world has acclaimed as great has ever stopped to wonder what other people would think if he did such-and-such a thing. These men acted upon inspiration: they had confidence in their own ability to conquer, and they conquered.” Psychology. or human analysis, taught that if we do certain things we may expect certain results, said Mr Shakespearc-Binks. It showed exactly how to set the gauge. It was all very easy, though; just a matter of common sense and experience: a matter of cause and effect. Everything in the universe was the result of this law of cause and effect. Many people, good, religions people, thought that if they wanted anything very badly they must pray for it. Prayer was good, said the lecturer, but prayer was not just getting down on one's knees and asking for favours; it was getting on to one’s feet and doing something. The word “ can’t,” said the lecturer, was a myth whose real name is “ won’t.” The only limitation to human endeavour was that which man put upon himself. ” Think only the best and most, constructive thoughts,’ he continued, “ turn i a deaf ear and close your eyes to all negative suggestions; avoid pessimists, atheists, and other negative thinkers as you would the plague: call no man your superior, look upon the man ahead of yon merely as your predecessor; and above all dare to be yourself.” This afternoon Mr ShakespeareBinks lectured on the subject of ‘Success Always Easier Than Failure: Why?” To-night, in the Mam Town Hall, lie will speak on ‘ The One Greatest Asset of Every Successful Man.’ Prior fo this lecture the™ will be an organ recital by Mr Axel Newton fiom ,7.30 to 8 o'clock. To-morrow (Sunday),

there will also be two lectures in the Town Hall Concert Chamber. In the afternoon the subject will be 1 The Greatest Thine in the World,’ and in the evening 1 Happiness in Love, Marriage, and Home.’ Mr ShakespeareBiuks’s final lecture in Dunedin will be delivered on Monday evening in the Town Hall Concert Chamber, this being preceded by an afternoon lecture.