5 Ways to Be More Confident
The higher our self-confidence, the higher our motivation to act.
Plus, self-confidence helps increase the chances of success when we do act. That's because when we expect to fail, we are more likely to do so
1. Know Your Worth
We are all worthy. Yet some of us have a deeply rooted belief that we're worthless. Maybe we feel like we're disposable, unlovable, or just not good in some way. But that's not true.
Perhaps you learned this from overly critical parents, from bullying kids at school, or from a culture that suggested that your gender, race, or other features made you less worthy than others.
Early messages about our worth are internalized and become the basis for our beliefs about ourselves. So, the longer we've had negative self-beliefs, the harder they are to override. It may require ongoing efforts to replace internal monologues of "I'm not worthy," with "I am worthy," or "I have just as much worth as anyone else." Using positive affirmations like these can be a good way to retrain your brain to believe you have worth.
2. Know Your Good Qualities
This goes beyond simply having worth and involves recognizing that there are things about you that are good, maybe even great.
Indeed, we all have good qualities. But if we spend our mental energy thinking about the qualities that we lack, we often have little time left to think about the good qualities that we have. If this is something you struggle with, you might benefit from making a list of all your positive qualities (things like humor, determination, creativity, etc...) Then it's just a matter of shifting your mindset to try to focus on these good qualities.
3. Know Your Strengths
By knowing what these things are, we can put ourselves in situations where we thrive. When we use our strengths, we can end up feeling more confident because we regularly experience being good at something. This reminds us that we are indeed good at things and have reasons to be confident in our skills. So, make a list of your strengths and see if you can find ways to use your strengths more often.
4. Be Nice to Yourself
To be more confident, we may also need to develop a more positive attitude towards ourselves.
Many of us have a cruel inner critic, always putting us down for doing the smallest things wrong or for failing to be perfect. If this sounds like you, it can be helpful to start talking back to your inner critic.
5. Do Your Best
By doing our best, we have a locked and loaded response to our inner critic. Any time we hear those inner monologues starting to put us down, we can respond with, "I did my best." And that is all we can do.
When we do our best (while not striving for perfection and telling ourselves we could do more), we may be able to give ourselves a bit more of a break and perhaps be more self-accepting.
Source; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-happiness/202201/5-ways-be-more-confident
Reflection on this article;
- Confidence is a result of identifying our own strengths and putting it to use.
- Confidence is also having the ability to be nice to ourselves and reframe any failure as a learning opportunity.
#Confidence #Strength #SelfWorth #MentalHealth
@comfortableNight4463 How confident would you say you are? What can you do to improve your confidence?
@comfortableNight4463
I really liked this read! As someone who struggled with confidence issues in the past and even sometimes still, I think developing habits and mindsets to increase self-confidence is super important for everyone. Like the article says, lack of confidence can reflect a mindset which focuses on the negatives and shortcomings of who you are. But I noticed that changing my mindset to a more positive and grateful one you begin to focus more on the gifts and blessings you have!
@sunnyWriting4806 I agree! Ever since I started finding gratitude in the little things every morning, my attitude towards life has totally shifted including my confidence. Thanks for sharing your opinion.
@comfortableNight4463 I would say that I'm not really confident at all and it sucks. I've struggled with confidence my whole life and it's seeped into my professional life too. I've had professors write my confidence needs to improve in their recommendation letters to grad school programs. It's hard to be confident when you compare yourself to everyone else and you never feel good enough. I'm definitely working on it though! Always room for improvement!
@fruityPond7887 I definitely relate! I'm so glad to hear that you're working on it. You got this!
@comfortableNight4463 Thank you! You too! You should be proud of everything you've accomplished and that you will accomplish 💖 It's always easier said than done though, I know
@fruityPond7887 Exactly. Its always easier to beat ourselves up about our disappointments than it is to be proud of ourselves for our accomplishments. But we can definitely work on it. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
