Kanye West and Pitbull…

…does Pitbull have a last name or is his last name Bull? Is it Mr. Bull?

Anyway, what I want to bring your attention to today is the fact that Kanye and Pitbull could, in fact, be two of the most significant self-help gurus of our time. And many of us could be well served by being a bit more like them.

I feel at this point like many of you may be about to stop reading and so I should probably take a moment and make it clear that I am not a fan of either of these entertainers.

I’m still confused by how the best rhyme Kanye can come up with for “trash” is “spaz.” And I don’t allow Pitbull’s songs to be played in the car with my kids because his crushingly misogynistic lyrics are made no more acceptable by the fact they’re set to a good beat.

However, what I’m talking about here is not their musical talents or their gifts as poets.

I almost wrote that entire line with a straight face.

What I’m talking about here is their confidence.

Their in-your-face, I-don’t-give-two-f&$#s, I-got-this confidence.

At this point Kanye’s confidence is legendary. It’s almost become an entity all on its own – a sidekick of sorts.

In recent interviews with Rolling Stone magazine and on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show he has said:

“For me to be saying I’m not a genius I’d be lying to you and to myself.”

“I am a creative genius and there’s just no other way to word it.”

And just in case there was any grey area left:

“I am a God.”

 Pitbull may not be quite as infamously vocal about his belief in his amazingness, but anyone who has the pleasure of watching him perform live or on an awards show will have seen his confidence oozing around the stage.

Pitbull’s raging self-confidence is most evident in the ENORMOUS disconnect between what he clearly perceives as his level of sex appeal and his ACTUAL sex appeal (for anyone unfamiliar with Pitbull, in the picture to the right he is NOT the one in the red t-shirt).

Despite being – in reality – a small, pasty, unattractive balding man who, without his money and fame, no woman (or man) would ever even accept a free drink from, he perceives himself as an Adonis and I find that truly inspiring.

Their overwhelming bravado results in a sort of Emperor’s New Clothes moment for many of us:

“Is Kanye really a musical genius and I’m just not hearing it?”

“Is Pitbull really a hot Latin stud and I’m just not seeing it?”

Their confidence – in the absence of any substance to actually back it up – leads us to questions ourselves.

I love it!

We all need to do more of this.

I can’t tell you how many clients come to me saying, “I have no energy – it’s because I’m lazy.”

Or, “I can’t stop eating junk food – I’m so weak.”

Or, “I read lots about nutrition but I think I’m just too stupid to understand it all.”

It makes me want to scream!

From now on, whenever one of the lines above starts creeping into your head, I want you to think about Kanye and Pitbull – our self-confidence North stars. What would they say to themselves in this situation?

My wise and wonderful yoga teacher once told me, “What you perceive is what you receive.”

When you tell yourself (and others) that you’re “lazy” and “weak” and “stupid” you eventually believe it as truth and you begin to act in a way that reinforces it. You second guess yourself, you apologize for things you do not need to apologize for, you become shy and – worst of all – you stop pursuing the things that you once dreamed of doing.

But when you believe that you’re brilliant and strong and sexy – when you believe that you’re a god – you act in ways that reinforce that. You play big, you go after your dreams, you ignore the haters – you become a huge international Grammy-winning artist despite having almost no musical talent whatsoever.

I think Kanye himself said it best, “Believe in your flyness, conquer your shyness.”