Self-confidence is defined as a feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities and judgement, and that you have a sense of control in your life. Studies have shown that confidence has various benefits:
● Linked to longer, healthier living
● Leads to higher happiness levels
● Aids not only mental but also physical health
● Achieve greater levels of success
Confidence plays a vital role in how we function. Without it, our self-esteem can drop and we can spiral into self-criticism, leading to persistent feelings of sadness, depression, anxiety, anger, shame, guilt, or suicidal thoughts. Low confidence also leads to not taking on new challenges as we doubt our abilities to manage them. This can lead to missed opportunities and avoidance of situations. To prevent this, here are some tips:
Practice self-care
○ Assess your needs on what you need to do to make yourself feel better about yourself.
○ Exercising regularly, sleeping well and developing a healthy diet can help you increase self-confidence by promoting a positive self-image.
Build positive relationships
○ Negative relationships can hurt you and impact your levels of confidence. Identify the quality of your relationships, and for those that aren’t serving you, keep your distance.
○ Find the “Radiators” in your life, who can boost your confidence and overall happiness; spend your time within their orbit.
Be proud of small achievements
○ Confidence comes from achieved goals, so set targets, even small ones to get started. Once you have the end in sight, track your progress and celebrate along the way.
○ Remember that success can come in any form and appreciate even the smallest ones, gaining more and more faith in your abilities.
Don’t compare yourself to others
○ Remember that everyone is different, everyone has their own unique abilities, including you.
○ Use others as friendly competition rather than comparison, strive to be the best version of yourself.
Listen to others
○ Listening gives you a chance to learn new things, especially from those more experienced or with a diverse perspective.
○ Gaining new knowledge and learning can help you boost your confidence.
Accept your mistakes
○ Don’t be afraid to be wrong, and instead learn from your mistake to become better.
○ Remember that everyone makes mistakes, it all depends on what they do from then onwards.
Practice self affirmations
○ Studies have shown that affirming yourself about your strengths, accomplishments and confidence reinforces these positive thoughts.
○ Some positive affirmations for confidence are:
- I let go of limiting beliefs and choose to trust myself
- I have the strength and courage to overcome any challenge
- I am worthy of accomplishing my goals
- I have unlimited potential
- I am fearless and confident in myself and all my abilities
- Today I face my day with confidence and endless courage
- Everything I need is within me, I am in control of my own life
- I deserve to become the best version of myself
- I believe in myself and my worth
- I am good enough and accept myself the way I am
Not all of these will “work” for you, so try them out, find the resonance, and start taking the steps to build your confidence.
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