What is confidence?

Self-confidence is a feeling of trust in your abilities, qualities, and judgment, it also refers to a general sense of trust in your ability to control your life, or it might be more situation specific. For example, you might have high self-confidence in a particular area of expertise but feel less confident in other areas. It is research proven that people who are more confident tend to achieve more academically, because confidence can also play a role in the motivation to pursue your goals, your level of confidence even affects how you present yourself to others.

How to Be More Confident

Fortunately, there are several ways you can increase your self-confidence. Whether you lack confidence in one specific area or struggle to feel confident about anything, these nine confidence boosters can help.

ü Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Do you compare how you look to the other children in your class? Or maybe you compare your pocket money to that of your friend. Comparisons is a natural feeling but it isn't likely to help boost your self-confidence and may even have the opposite effect on you.

How do you build self-confidence when you notice that you are drawing comparisons? First, remind yourself that doing so isn’t helpful. Everyone is running their own race and life isn’t a competition. If you’re feeling envious of someone else’s life, it's also helpful to remember your own strengths and successes. Keep a gratitude jotter to better recall the areas in life where you are blessed and grateful for. This can help you focus on your own life instead of focusing on the lives of others.

Surround Yourself with Positive People

Take a moment and think about how your friends make you feel. Do they lift you up, or do they bring you down? Are they constantly judging you, or do they accept you for who you are? 

The friends you spend time with can influence your thoughts and attitudes about yourself, perhaps more than you realize. So, pay attention to how others make you feel. If you feel bad about yourself after hanging out with a particular friend, it may be time to say goodbye to that friendship.

Instead, surround yourself with friends and people who love you and want the best for you. Seek out others who are positive and can help build your confidence. Self-confidence and a positive attitude go hand-in-hand

Take Care of Your Body

This point for how to be more confident is based on the idea that it’s hard to feel good about yourself if you’re abusing your body. When you practice self-care, you know you're doing something positive for your mind, body, and spirit thus, you'll naturally feel more confident as a result.

Here are a few self-care practices linked to higher levels of self-confidence:7

Exercise: Regular physical activity improved participants’ body image. And when their body image improved, they felt more confident.

Meditation: More than just a relaxation practice, meditation can help boost self-confidence in several ways. For one, it helps you to recognize and accept yourself. Meditation also teaches you to stop negative self-talk and disconnect from unhelpful mental chatter interfering with your confidence.

Sleep: Good-quality sleep has been linked with positive personality traits, including optimism and self-esteem, has sleep helps to keep you relaxed for the next day.

Be Kind to Yourself

Self-compassion involves treating yourself with kindness when you make a mistake, fail, or experience a setback. It allows you to become more emotionally flexible and helps you better navigate challenging emotions, enhancing your connection to yourself and others.

So the next time you're in a challenging situation, recognize that being imperfect or falling short at times is a part of being human. Do your best to navigate these experiences with compassion toward yourself.

Practice Positive Self-Talk

Negative self-talk can limit your abilities and lessen your self-confidence by convincing your subconscious that you "can't handle" something or that it is "too hard" and you "shouldn't even try." Self-talk that is optimistic, on the other hand, can foster self-compassion and help you overcome self-doubt and take on new challenges.

The next time you begin to think that you have no business speaking up in a class discussion or session or that you are scared that your English language may not be fluent enough, remind yourself that your thoughts aren’t always accurate. Then find a way to turn those thoughts around into more positive self-talk.

Here are a few examples of ways to challenge pessimistic self-talk and re-frame your thoughts into a more positive way of thinking, increasing your self-confidence along the way:

"I can't handle this" or "This is impossible" becomes "I can do this" or "All I have to do is try."

"I can't do anything right" becomes "I can do better next time" or "At least I learned something."

"I hate talking in public" becomes "I like talking in public " and "Everyone has strengths and weaknesses."

Face Your Fears

Stop putting things off until you feel more self-confident like asking your teacher a question about an idea, you’re not clear about, or making a request about something you need. One of the best ways to build your confidence in these situations is by facing your fears head-on.

Practice facing some of your fears that stem from a lack of self-confidence. If you’re afraid you’ll embarrass yourself or think that you’re going to mess up, try anyway. A little self-doubt can even help improve performance. Tell yourself it’s just a question and see what happens after you ask.

You might learn that being a little anxious or making a few mistakes isn’t as bad as you thought. And each time you move forward, you gain more confidence in yourself. In the end, this can help prevent you from taking risks that will result in major negative consequences.

Know When to Say No.

Saying no to activities that tend to zap your self-confidence is okay. Certainly, you don't want to avoid doing anything that makes you feel uncomfortable because discomfort is often part of the personal growth process. At the same time, there's nothing wrong with knowing your boundaries and sticking to them.

Setting social and emotional boundaries enables you to feel safer psychologically. It can also help you feel more in control. Self-confidence is, in part, feeling like you have control over your life. Boundaries help establish this feeling of control.

The next time someone suggests doing something that you know will lower your self-confidence, respectfully decline. You don't have to avoid that activity forever either. Once you learn how to be more confident, you may feel strong enough to try it again without hurting the confidence you have in yourself.

BENEFITS OF SELF-CONFIDENCE.

Being confident in yourself just feels good. That said, having self-confidence can also bring many additional benefits at home, at school, and within your friendship circle. Here's a look at a few of the positive effects of learning how to be confident:

Better performance: Rather than waste time and energy worrying that you aren't good enough, you can devote your energy to your efforts. Ultimately, you'll perform better when you have more self-confidence.

Healthier friendships: Having self-confidence not only impacts how you feel about yourself, but it helps you better understand and love others. It also gives you the strength to walk away from a relationship if you're not getting what you want or deserve.

Openness to try new things: When you believe in yourself, you're more willing to try new things. Whether you apply for a promotion or sign up for a cooking class, putting yourself out there is a lot easier when you have confidence in yourself and your abilities.

Resilience: Believing in yourself can enhance your resilience or ability to bounce back from any challenges or adversities you face in life.

People will love to have you around them as friends and respect your decisions.

MAKE A PROMISE TODAY THAT YOU WOULD BE CONFIDENCE IN ALL YOUR DOINGS, TRY THIS PRACTICAL STEPS AND SEE YOURSELF IMPROVING GREATLY.

THANK YOU FOR READING.