Student Confidence

krenmaster

krenmaster

Filing Flight Plan
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krenmaster
One thing I have noticed as a student is having trouble gaining confidence in the airplane. Confidence with judgment, flying, communications...etc. Having as much as two weeks between flights last semester (because of weather and the schools learning plan) as well as other problems that go on in flight training. Myself and many of my friends were not all that confident in our "piloting abilities". I wouldn't say we were unsafely un-confident, but it would affect our flying and how we took the post flight debrief from our instructors.

When my instructor and I would come back from a flight and I thought I performed below par, we would talk about it and he told me I was right on track and everything was just fine, for some reason I found it so hard to believe him. I thought he was just telling me that not to kill my spirit. I'm guessing my low confidence had a big effect on believing his words.

This might be a problem that mainly I have. I've never had a ton of confidence in the things I do, so flying wouldn't be any different.

Is this normal? Is there anything that student pilots can do to boost their confidence and feel as comfortable as possible in the airplane? How often to instructors tell their students that they are doing fine, when they are actually not doing fine?

What are your thoughts on this? Let me know, I might just be crazy and paranoid, who knows.

:blueplane:krenmaster
 
I'm going to look for and point out any positive trait in their performance. If it needs work, I'll tell them so. But, I'll precede with positive aspects. Usually, it's only the instructor who will see positive traits. The student (like anyone doing a self-evaluation) tends to be his or her own worst critic.
 
Don't feel bad, there are many students and pilots with confidence problems. Believe me...I've had to conquer a LOT so I know what you mean.

I've had CFIs tell me I was doing fine and right on schedule. I have yet to figure out whether they really knew, didn't want to talk about it, or were honest. "Doing Fine" has almost always been their response despite my concerns. I honestly don't think as a CFI they should say "you're doing fine" and leave it at that. I think they need to find out what is troubling their students and try to address those matters both on the ground and in flight. This can be as simple as emphasizing a concept on the ground or more practice in the air. I've noticed that many CFIs are so eager to rush off to home or to their next student, they don't take time to address important matters as confidence. What we as students also have to remember is confidence is very hard to teach and most of it is actually learned on our own. The hardest part about confidence is that most of it is gained by doing the actions that make you nervous in the first place. A good example is landings. Most students, although very eager, will be slightly unsure about their first solo. Once they make that first landing, all wheels attached, they realize, "hmm, that wasn't so bad." Thus confidence is gained. Do remember that having a little apprehension about flying is a good thing, it keeps us from flying into bad thunderstorms or taking off in unairworthy airplanes. Confidence is something you will have to earn the rest of your flying career, it will be hard at times, but once you attain it, the rewards are great.

One last thing, if you don't understand something, don't go on to the next level. Understanding a concept is a good step towards confidence.
 
krenmaster said:
When my instructor and I would come back from a flight and I thought I performed below par, we would talk about it and he told me I was right on track and everything was just fine, for some reason I found it so hard to believe him. I thought he was just telling me that not to kill my spirit. I'm guessing my low confidence had a big effect on believing his words.

This might be a problem that mainly I have. I've never had a ton of confidence in the things I do, so flying wouldn't be any different.
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I think is quite natural for you to assign ulterior motives to your CFI when he says you're on par. And yes, it is because of your level of confidence. Learning to fly ranks up there as one, if not the most, unnatural things you've ever done.

But it's not as bad as you may think. Even you said your friends have the same problem. So it's not just you. And I remember often thinking my CFI was merely patronizing me when he said I was doing fine.

If you still doubt your progress, go to your CFI to speak specifically on what you have posted here. Have him show you the marks of your progress. These are the notes he must keep for 3 years, it's his certificate on the line so he isn't going to lie or fudge in your training records.
 
I think your feelings are pretty normal, we have all been there. Just like landings, some day it will just click and you will feel much better.
 
I agree with what the others have said. As a student, you're not equipped (yet) to judge your own proficiency, and you have to put a lot of faith in the instructor's ability to do so. As you progress, you'll develop better judgment, and your instructor will transfer more and more of the decision-making load to you.

This is vitally important. A pilot must be confident in his own judgment, because judgment is the most important skill in aviation. Your ability to estimate your own capabilities will be honed and tested during your training.

Eventually every pilot comes to a moment where his internal voice says "this isn't a good idea" about a course of action. Pilots who listen to that voice (because they have confidence in their own judgment) live to fly again another day. Pilots who don't listen to that voice, or allow their judgment to be overruled, can end up scaring themselves silly, or worse.

Keep at it, and your judgment will improve!
 
As a student, I had similar feelings... I think CFIs often want to instill confidence primarily in their judgment, to keep students from psyching themselves out, which I agree is not always the most effective means of keeping the student on track... although it's not an entirely bad idea. I had one CFI who'd often say "you know how to do this- stop thinking about it and just do it" or words to that effect. He was usually right about that.

But if I doubted their assessment of a given flight, I'd say "yeah, but..." and try to be more specific about my dissatisfaction. Usually a little more discussion would leave me feeling a little more confident about my strong areas, and eager to take on the challenge of polishing up the other stuff on the next lesson.
My advice would be to do this, but also trust the instructor's judgment... if, for example, you've already tried a few crosswind landings and you still haven't mastered it yet, trust your instructor when he or she says "relax... you'll get it".
That's an obvious one (I've made around 100 or so xwind landings and still tell myself the next one should be better... perfection is more a journey than a destination, if you know what I mean), but the same rule of thumb applies to all nagging student doubts.

In a nutshell: if they say "all is well" and you doubt it, reveal more and ask them to explain more... if their response is logical, you can trust them. And they may need to hear more from you about what's wrong... most CFIs are not psychics. :D

If a CFI is going to mislead you, believe me, they will not give you false confidence, because they'll lose you-and your money- sooner that way. Then they might also wind up looking bad when you get into some sort of trouble or blow the checkride. An unscrupulous CFI will "milk" a student by saying "we need more review on that, etc"... but again: this is usually a legitimate claim, and if you doubt such a negative assessment, just ask for clarification.
 
krenmaster said:
One thing I have noticed as a student is having trouble gaining confidence in the airplane. Confidence with judgment, flying, communications...etc. Having as much as two weeks between flights last semester (because of weather and the schools learning plan) as well as other problems that go on in flight training. Myself and many of my friends were not all that confident in our "piloting abilities". I wouldn't say we were unsafely un-confident, but it would affect our flying and how we took the post flight debrief from our instructors.

When my instructor and I would come back from a flight and I thought I performed below par, we would talk about it and he told me I was right on track and everything was just fine, for some reason I found it so hard to believe him. I thought he was just telling me that not to kill my spirit. I'm guessing my low confidence had a big effect on believing his words.

This might be a problem that mainly I have. I've never had a ton of confidence in the things I do, so flying wouldn't be any different.

Is this normal? Is there anything that student pilots can do to boost their confidence and feel as comfortable as possible in the airplane? How often to instructors tell their students that they are doing fine, when they are actually not doing fine?

What are your thoughts on this? Let me know, I might just be crazy and paranoid, who knows.

:blueplane:krenmaster
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I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have the same problem and it is VERY hard to overcome. It has taken me 3 years and flying with several CFIs some whom did not know my flying skills before getting in the plane and several CFIs I was really close to telling me that I'm a good Pilot and I'm too hard on myself for me to finally believe it (and I still doubt a little now and then). It will make you a more cautious pilot then most, it will take you longer timewise to hit milestones (PPL, feeling comfotable with long XC's) But I will say the more you fly and gain confidence in your flying... the more that confidance will bleed into the rest of your life as welll.

The only advice I can offer is to find someother CFIs to fly with and ask for their oppinion. My club requires you fly every 60 days, I was over that and had to ride with a CFI so I borrowed Ted's instructor for 1/2hr. A few days later Ted told me Scott had commented that I was really good for a 200hr pilot. Not only did he think I was a good pilot but he thought enought about my flying to make that comment to someone else. That one helped me a lot and this was after I've had a good many other people including good freinds who are CFIs telling me I'm a good pilot and my greatest weakness is selfdoubt. (Oh and it also helped beating EdFred by .2 seconds to win the Wings Fly-B-Q Taxi contest... I still have the plaque at my desk)

Missa
 
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the difference between you and the CFI is that the CFI has been through this before. Unless they just got their ticket they've seen many other students and are used to the same issues you are having. I sometimes feel that instructing is about 75% confidence management. I have to keep the student from losing all hope but also limit them from becoming over confident.

And if the CFI is worth their salt, they will never ever lead you along by saying you are doing fine when you are not. Frank and honest evaluation is critical when learning a skill, particularly a skill which has the ability to really turn sour if you dont know what you are doing. Ive always figure that the student just was in the airplane and saw all the same thing I did so there is absolutely no sense in trying to convince them that they did something well that they in fact did not.
 
Flying is a confidence builder. Stay in there, and keep working at it. Your confidence will grow as you grow as a pilot. I think most of us have been in your shoes, so don't back down. You will find out a lot about yourself if you stick with it.
 
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TMetzinger said:
Eventually every pilot comes to a moment where his internal voice says "this isn't a good idea" about a course of action. Pilots who listen to that voice (because they have confidence in their own judgment) live to fly again another day. Pilots who don't listen to that voice, or allow their judgment to be overruled, can end up scaring themselves silly, or worse.

Keep at it, and your judgment will improve!
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My first takeoff after a twenty-seven year lay off, I turned onto the crosswind leg, and my internal voice said, "just let Tony take us back around and land this stupid thing, and life will go on." Needless to say, I didn't listen.
 
Your CFI knows how well you're doing better than you do. As a low-hour pilot, you are not going to be great, but it is not expected. Your CFI, having been a student and hopefully had other students before you, will be able to better judge your actual performance. My CFI keeps on telling me I'm doing well. I tend to have a mind of "Relentless Improvement", so even if I think I did a good landing, I'll want to figure out how I can make it better.

I have days when I come back and I'll think to myself "Well that sucked." We all have those with any skill set, especially when we're new at it. For me, the biggest confidence builder is doing something I didn't think I could do, and actually doing it. This dosen't mean taking risks, but just with your instructor in the plane, build confidence doing individual skills one at a time.

I haven't flown with a ton of pilots, but one thing I have noticed is that the ones who give off vibes of "good pilots" are the ones who have good skill, and accurate confidence in their skill, at least as best as I can perceive with my limited experience. Whether or not my perception equates to reality is another matter, but in other things I have frequently found that to be the case.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I haven't flown with a ton of pilots, but one thing I have noticed is that the ones who give off vibes of "good pilots" are the ones who have good skill, and accurate confidence in their skill, at least as best as I can perceive with my limited experience. Whether or not my perception equates to reality is another matter, but in other things I have frequently found that to be the case.
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Ted, I would add one more thing to that, which is that every pilot I've flown with who makes me comfortable (that he won't kill me!) is loose and relaxed. The flip side is that pilots who are tight on the controls and/or move them excessively make me nervous. I suppose that being a relaxed pilot also means that you're a confident one.

I may be overly sensitive to the issue of being relaxed, but that's likely because it is impossible to fly a helicopter well if you're not relaxed.
 
I agree, Bob, you said what I meant, just more understandable. :)

You can pick up on the energy that someone is giving off. If someone is not relaxed and comfortable, but is in control of the situation (i.e. a nervous pilot) it will tend to make the passengers nervous.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I agree, Bob, you said what I meant, just more understandable. :)

You can pick up on the energy that someone is giving off. If someone is not relaxed and comfortable, but is in control of the situation (i.e. a nervous pilot) it will tend to make the passengers nervous.
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Since I think you've told me that you think I'm a good pilot... there is something to be said about learning to "fake it till you make it"

I was lucky Mom was one of my early passengers and she was much better about my flying then about my driving. She didn't react in the plane that I could tell but she gave me the feedback about not talking to myself. I learned to talk to myself & the instructor in flight training but she really didn't like to listen to me critique my pattern on final. She told me if it wasn't for my outloud self dialoge she would have not know I thought I was messing up and "Shoot shoot shoot" on final was not comforting.
 
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Missa;283369 She told me if it wasn't for my outloud self dialoge she would have not know I thought I was messing up and "Shoot shoot shoot" on final was not comforting.[/quote said:
Hey you made it in and out of Mio and Jackson, so you must be doing something right :yes: Oh yeah and there was PHN too ;)

Krenmaster

We all learn at different rates and learn some things faster than others, so while you may not think you're up to speed on some issue you may be ahead on something else. It's when it all comes together you'll be ready to be on your own.

I remember my primary CFI telling me one day I'd be doing this or that and replying "Yeah right, when pigs fly I will". Well guess what? I guess pigs do fly. I somehow made it.

Enjoy the ride and keep on working. With that attitude, you will get there.

Dave :blueplane:
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Dave2 said:
Hey you made it in and out of Mio and Jackson, so you must be doing something right :yes: Oh yeah and there was PHN too ;)
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I still remember the Mio trip and the disscussion with Saganaw approach....

"Saganaw, this is the traffic you've been calling out and I have the other plane"

"Airplane calling Saganaw, where you headed"

" Mio, NXXXXX"

"Warrior XXX, Do you know you've got a friend?"

"Yep I know Melissa"

"What's going on in Mio today?!?!"

"Breakfast"

:rofl:

And I had to make it into Mio... I had to pee.
 
Ayyy....yeah, flying is a major mental game. If you are an unconfident person to begin with, flying will either cure you or kill you. The problem with a lack of confidence is when it leads to indescission, and flying more so than most other things will notr bode indecission well. Amazingly, it tolerates many physical mistakes very well, it's the calculated errors in thought that bite you. The good thing is that most students with confidence problems who think they are doing horribly, are not doing near so poorly as they think. What you have to be able to do, especially when solo, is to be able to compartmentalize and ignore that doubt, because doubt has no place in aviation. Make your decission, execute it, observe it, and modify as required. Don't question.
 
I'll interject one other thing I didn't see in a quick scan of the other posts. GO out and fly with another CFI.

I did that after six hours. It was quite different old 172N versus new 172SP, Class C versus "uncontrolled". It was an experince and the CFI was complimentary to me on where I was at this short time and my CFI based on how I did.

If may not have been true but sure helped me feel better about what I was doing.
 
Missa said:
Since I think you've told me that you think I'm a good pilot... there is something to be said about learning to "fake it till you make it"
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Your insecurity as a pilot is rather apparent, though, and that is truly your biggest enemy. I happen to be very laid back, as you know, but I recall flying with you wondering "Why is she nervous?" Granted, this was before I had any experience more than right seat time, but in retrospect, I still wonder.

Your skill is there, it's your confidence that's lacking.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Your insecurity as a pilot is rather apparent, though, and that is truly your biggest enemy. I happen to be very laid back, as you know, but I recall flying with you wondering "Why is she nervous?" Granted, this was before I had any experience more than right seat time, but in retrospect, I still wonder.

Your skill is there, it's your confidence that's lacking.
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Gee thanks... that's a good shot to the ego.... :p
 
A student pilot I mentored through her private had a similar issue with confidence. Later she went on to get her instrument rating, and later still she died when she took off as the sole pilot into marginal VFR and crashed in a large body of water.

I spoke with her former instructors and other flying partners, and they all indicated that she was a competent pilot technically but did not have a lot of confidence in herself. She preferred to fly with another pilot, and rarely exercised her IFR privileges, though she flew with safety pilots and instructors to remain proficient on instruments.

I wonder if her confidence issues played a part in the accident chain. Did she not file an instrument flight plan because she didn't want to be in the system or didn't want to work the hassles of getting a void time and release at the remote field with no remote communications? Once airborne VFR, did she decide to try and stay below the weather and close to the water because she wasn't on an IFR plan or didn't have confidence in her abilities in actual? I can spot the decisions that she made that I know I would have made differently, and I wonder if there is anything any of us who knew her could have done earlier to give her what she needed and didn't have on the day she reached into her bag of tricks/luck, found it empty, and died.

Henning is right that indecision can kill you as quickly as making a wrong decision. Lack of confidence can often resemble or lead to resignation, a very hazardous attitude.

I really don't want to know any more dead people. If you're a rated pilot and doubt your ability to be in command, please don't act as an aircraft commander until you've got the necessary confidence. Please a CFI, a professional pilot, or stay on the ground.

This is not directed at Missa, or anybody else. It's just a general plea for everyone to recognize that we deal with life and death when we make aeronautical decisions, as surely as a doctor with a patient on an operating table. Please be sure you are ready to make those decisions.
 
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Points well taken, Tim.

I had confidence issues for a long time in fixed-wing, and I think maybe that kept me from ever getting as proficient as I really wanted to.

Oddly, I never had confidence issues in helicopters, even as a student. The flip side is that even though I have hundreds more hours in fixed-wing, I am a far more proficient helicopter pilot than I ever was as an airplane pilot. Go figure...

Maybe the fact that I am a passionate flingwinger has something to do with it also.
 
Missa said:
Gee thanks... that's a good shot to the ego.... :p
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Actually it should be an ego boost, it's a point that you don't make me nervous, even when you make yourself nervous. :)
 
TMetzinger said:
A student pilot I mentored through her private had a similar issue with confidence. Later she went on to get her instrument rating, and later still she died when she took off as the sole pilot into marginal VFR and crashed in a large body of water.

I spoke with her former instructors and other flying partners, and they all indicated that she was a competent pilot technically but did not have a lot of confidence in herself. She preferred to fly with another pilot, and rarely exercised her IFR privileges, though she flew with safety pilots and instructors to remain proficient on instruments.

I wonder if her confidence issues played a part in the accident chain. Did she not file an instrument flight plan because she didn't want to be in the system or didn't want to work the hassles of getting a void time and release at the remote field with no remote communications? Once airborne VFR, did she decide to try and stay below the weather and close to the water because she wasn't on an IFR plan or didn't have confidence in her abilities in actual? I can spot the decisions that she made that I know I would have made differently, and I wonder if there is anything any of us who knew her could have done earlier to give her what she needed and didn't have on the day she reached into her bag of tricks/luck, found it empty, and died.

Henning is right that indecision can kill you as quickly as making a wrong decision. Lack of confidence can often resemble or lead to resignation, a very hazardous attitude.

I really don't want to know any more dead people. If you're a rated pilot and doubt your ability to be in command, please don't act as an aircraft commander until you've got the necessary confidence. Please a CFI, a professional pilot, or stay on the ground.

This is not directed at Missa, or anybody else. It's just a general plea for everyone to recognize that we deal with life and death when we make aeronautical decisions, as surely as a doctor with a patient on an operating table. Please be sure you are ready to make those decisions.
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Pretty harsh.

I just came away from a safety seminar at Daniel Webster University. They reminded me there that the FAA has identified 5 hazardous pilot attitudes.
  • invulnerability
  • anti-authority
  • impulsivity
  • macho
  • resignation
Notice that lack of confidence is not in the list. In fact, at least two of them are the opposite.

As a student, there seems to be a cycle of confidence. You begin with enthusiasm and some confidence. As the difficulty of flying dawns, the student begins to realize the learning curve is steep and to wonder whether he can shape up. Then, it starts to get easier as he commits the multitude of actions to memory and to habit. The student becomes confident again. It is at this point that the good instructor demands closer adherence to standards. Confidence levels go down again and then build again until the instructor is ready to move the student on to the next level. Commonly, the student thinks he isn't quite ready for this next step, but once accomplished, becomes inordinately proud. Flying is all about going up and down, isn't it.
 
Lack of confidence is why it took me 40 hours to solo (well, at least the first 30 hours of that or so - the other 10 were instructor changes just as I was about to solo). I still get a tiny bit nervous every time I go out to the airport, which is good though as it keeps me on my toes.

Just keep this in mind: Your CFI's job depends on you not screwing up, so you can bet he's going to make sure you know what you're doing. He won't send you out solo until he is confident that you can fly the plane safely.
 
I'm right there with you. I make a point to prod my CFI for a good debrief. I am not happy with the answer "you're doing fine" I flat out ask him to elaborate (what did I do well, what needs more work, am I really on track, how bad was that last landing and what did I miss, etc.) and follow up with "ok, what should I expect on the next lesson and what deficiencies will we be working on."

It's a 2 way street, your instructor may not know what kind of feedback you are looking for.
 
Tristan said:
The hardest part about confidence is that most of it is gained by doing the actions that make you nervous in the first place.
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Just added that to "Quote of the Day".... well stated, Tristan!
 
AuntPeggy said:
Pretty ...

Notice that lack of confidence is not in the list. In fact, at least two of them are the opposite.

As a student, there seems to be a cycle of confidence. You begin with enthusiasm and some confidence. As the difficulty of flying dawns, the student begins to realize the learning curve is steep and to wonder whether he can shape up. Then, it starts to get easier as he commits the multitude of actions to memory and to habit. The student becomes confident again. It is at this point that the good instructor demands closer adherence to standards. Confidence levels go down again and then build again until the instructor is ready to move the student on to the next level. Commonly, the student thinks he isn't quite ready for this next step, but once accomplished, becomes inordinately proud. Flying is all about going up and down, isn't it.
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Peggy,

I think you missed the earlier post in the thread where I said that a student pilot doesn't have the experience/judgment to evaluate his own performance, so a student shouldn't worry about confidence issues. This also applies to instrument students, commercial students, pretty much any situation where one is in the student role.

Everything I said was in relation to ACTING as Pilot in Command (where one is in the "master" role), and I stand by my statements. If you aren't confident to act as the pilot in command (either carrying passengers or solo), please address the issue.

Lack of confidence is similar to resignation in this case, as the pilot is not actively participating in the management of the flight risks. Whether the attitude is "there's nothing anyone can do" (resignation) or "I don't know if I'm up to this" (lack of confidence), the result is often the same.

Best wishes,
 
Flying, for most, or almost all, people is an entirely different activity from what one is used to. It is done in three dimensions, rather than two as in driving, riding a motorcyle, operating equipment, etc. It isn't a completely natural experience for the brain. And, on top of that, to the initiate there are so many aspects to master, not only the hands-on control of the airplane in 3-D but radios, navigation, rules and reg's, and so on. When I started, I was almost 30 yr. old and had never been on any airplane of any size or type. Not even an airliner. But I had years of bike riding [motorized and not], SCUBA diving, all sorts of things and while I wasn't arrogant about learning to fly, and I realized up front that I was in for a lot of practice and studying, it still caught me by surprise at how long it took me to feel both comfortable and confident piloting the aircraft. It definitely delayed my soloing. After my Private exam, I drove home very, very happy to be a "real" pilot now, but I was also amazed that the FAA would now allow me to carry passengers and make all my decisions about flying completely on my own. This feeling lasted a long time, and it was several hundred hours into my flying life until I really reached the point where I was felt totally comfortable flying. I wasn't scared to death or anything, but it took that long for me to feel completely natural. I know a couple of pilots with near a thousand hours with whom I fly now and then when they want some currency or help with some aspect of their flying, and both these guys actually shake sometimes in some scenarios. They aren't frightened out of their wits, but they are extremely nervous. So, it isn't just you.
 
AuntPeggy said:
Pretty harsh.

I just came away from a safety seminar at Daniel Webster University. They reminded me there that the FAA has identified 5 hazardous pilot attitudes.
  • invulnerability
  • anti-authority
  • impulsivity
  • macho
  • resignation
Notice that lack of confidence is not in the list.
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I think it is, but not under that name. "Resignation" is closely related to lack of confidence -- not feeling that you can make the right decision/take the right action. Usually lack of confidence manifests itself by avoiding getting into situations (i.e., choosing not to fly at all), but when a situation develops, the unconfident pilot is likely to let the situation take charge of him/her rather than the other way around. This pilot simply doesn't have the courage of of his/her convictions and fails to take timely, decisive action to prevent it from getting worse. For that reason, I encourage folks to develop their own knowledge and skill so they feel confident of their own ability to handle the situations that may face them.

In the case of the Student Pilot, it is the responsibility of the instructor to develop challenges for the trainee in a way that allows the trainee to successfully surmount them, building the trainee's confidence in his/her ability to meet challenges. Obviously, this requires a careful balance. The challenges must not be so easy that the trainee becomes overconfident, and not so hard that they promote the trainee's lack of confidence. The trainee must learn to make good decisions to avoid unnecessary risk while at the same time learning to deal with unavoidable adversity and defeat it. And that's not an easy task for an instructor.
 
Ron Levy said:
I think it is, but not under that name. "Resignation" is closely related to lack of confidence -- not feeling that you can make the right decision/take the right action. Usually lack of confidence manifests itself by avoiding getting into situations (i.e., choosing not to fly at all), but when a situation develops, the unconfident pilot is likely to let the situation take charge of him/her rather than the other way around. This pilot simply doesn't have the courage of of his/her convictions and fails to take timely, decisive action to prevent it from getting worse. For that reason, I encourage folks to develop their own knowledge and skill so they feel confident of their own ability to handle the situations that may face them.

In the case of the Student Pilot, it is the responsibility of the instructor to develop challenges for the trainee in a way that allows the trainee to successfully surmount them, building the trainee's confidence in his/her ability to meet challenges. Obviously, this requires a careful balance. The challenges must not be so easy that the trainee becomes overconfident, and not so hard that they promote the trainee's lack of confidence. The trainee must learn to make good decisions to avoid unnecessary risk while at the same time learning to deal with unavoidable adversity and defeat it. And that's not an easy task for an instructor.
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Actually, being someone who has suffered from a lack of confidance, I don't think it's the same. Resignation is seizing up in a situation and not doing anything to solve it. Just because I am not confident in the sucessful compleation of an endevor does not mean I will not put forth all effort to attempt sucess.

Often I have a "bad" feeling in the pit of my stomac before I go fly, specially if I'm doing something new. New airplane (or one I haven't flow in for a while), new destination, longer x-c then before, haven't flown in two months, etc. When the pit demon rears it's head, I assess all the factors and go through the motions of preparing for the fight even though I feel less then confident. If anyone thing shows up as off the norm, I'm much more likely to call off the filght then other people I have observed but if everything checks out I go forward. It's called courage in the face of uncertianty and I think that courage keeps a lack of confidace from turning to Resignation. My first flight from PA to MI was CAVU, it had to be... the pit deamon was rumbling as I had never flow that far before only the "long" x-c called for by the licence. Once I made that flight once, the second time there were clouds but a high enough ceiling ect. Flying is all about managing risk and that "lack of confidence" feeling in the pit of the stomac is just one more risk factor to be managed and the courage to make a go decision when everything says go except that feeling shows you hace the decision making capiblility that is the exact oppisite of resignation. Not having that feeling or learning to just ignore it instead of overcoming it is more likely to lead to resignation then making the consious choice to have courage in the face of that feeling when eveything checks out at 100%.

Missa
 
Missa said:
Actually, being someone who has suffered from a lack of confidance, I don't think it's the same. Resignation is seizing up in a situation and not doing anything to solve it. Just because I am not confident in the sucessful compleation of an endevor does not mean I will not put forth all effort to attempt sucess.

Missa
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That's the way I feel about it. If you don't feel confident, then that is good sense telling you to work out the issues. As you said,
1. Assess the factors.
2. Prepare for the flight.
3. Make a go/no go decision based upon the risk factors.
4. After to decide to go, never "give up". But have the courage to turn back.

I would add, that the original poster is a student. As such, he should be asking his instructor before the lesson, what criteria he is using to evaluate the student's achievement. He should be told whether the evaluation criteria will become tighter over time. He should always know what he should be learning next and told whether he is meeting expectations for his level of training.

What other methods should he be using to boost his confidence?
 
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