The Meaning of self-confidence is different for every individual and its embracement power also varies from person to person but the benefits and peace of soul are same for almost all the humans.
The meaning of ‘Self Confidence’ is sometimes misunderstood! Self-confidence doesn’t mean to embark on life with an attitude that we know everything nor that we are always right! It is not, but in actual it is overconfidence. Now coming to the point what self-confidence actually is?
Self-confidence, in my opinion, is spreading the wings to bridge the distance between accepting & loving yourself. It is about understanding yourself and giving it importance to a potential thought of constant grown and improvement within the self. It is about embracing self-worth & high self-esteem.
There are various tips on how to accomplish that, through a different perspective and it’s up to you to choose what you can relate to start understanding & accepting yourself by realizing your good qualities, learning from your failures, keeping positivity as a centre, highlighting optimistic approach and truly loving yourself.
Many of us when encountering challenging situations, we start having doubts about our capabilities and abilities to cater the issues, thus our self-esteem is at a low level and feeling confident is a true challenge! Here are few tips or ideas, for you to consider to help you build and understand different methods to achieve positive determination.
1. Accessing good memories
Imagine you’re feeling down or losing hope, a good memory can lift you up instantly! Think of good memories as credit in your self-esteem bank; they are deposits from times where you felt good about yourself. When you encounter a difficult situation, make a withdrawal from your positive memory bank, and you’ll get an instant feeling of encouragement. For, it’s a reminder and assurance of what you lack at this moment, it’s not wishing or hoping that you can handle or overcome a problem it’s a fact that you’ve done it before, and this will give you the amount of courage, positivity & assurance you need to keep on going in the right direction and to achieve it again.
2. Patience isn’t just a virtue it’s an asset
Learn to be patient with yourself & in managing your expectations. Start by putting down a plan of achievable milestones towards your goal, this will provide you with a time frame, and every time you achieve one, your self-confidence will increase. When you encounter barriers or obstacles, don’t lose control or never start blaming yourself, this will only result in hasty decisions and will lower your self-confidence.
Learn to be patient and instead of panicking take time off and study the situation using different lenses, considering various explanations of why this occurred? It will help you in opening new doors and trying new methods to achieve your goal. You’ll get an instant feeling of happiness and a boost of confidence to help you overcome this barrier, learning new techniques and you’ll have one more new memory to deposit in your bank!
3. Surround yourself with positive, energetic people
The negative environment where people are judgemental, emotionally abusive to each other is a toxic one, and it will have a negative and severe impact on your self-worth and lower your expectations. Imagine being surrounded by people always putting you down, not recognizing any of your achievements, telling you directly or indirectly you’re not good enough! This will limit your expectations and your belief in your capability to achieve your dreams! No matter how strong you might think you are, this will start subtly affecting you; meaning it will begin to creep slowly on your thoughts without realizing what’s going on, demolishing all positivity and self-motivation, putting you down and transforming you into a negative person.
Thus, your dreams and goals will start disappearing one by one with each obstacle or barrier you’ll encounter as you’ll reflect and analyze matters in a negative perspective resulting in an adverse outcome as a result. Creating a person with low self-esteem, no dreams, negative attitude and the reflection in eliminating and demolishing your self-confidence.
4. Dealing with unexpected problems or setbacks
When we face an unpleasant and unexpected situation or delays in our personal or professional life, we get anxious and freak out! Anxiety affects our clarity, creates emotional imbalance and our judgment. It puts us off track, we panic, our self-confidence is shaken, and fear starts taking over putting us in a negative mental state. If the problem isn’t a major one that requires your immediate attention and action, then set it aside and concentrate on finishing the task at hand so you’re not thrown off course and your focus isn’t affected.
This experience will empower you as you’ll learn to stay focused through stressful situations, take charge and control by staying on track & completing the task at hand and realizing your ability in positively overcoming stressful situations without searching for excuses & entering the blame game! It will boost your self-confidence and will build your mental capability in handling any future minor or major setbacks in a positive manner not throwing you off track, and this is one of the attributes of leaders.
5. Find your source of happiness, might it be in a relationship, a way of life or a spiritual connection
I’m sure you’ve read or heard it somewhere “ True happiness is an inner peaceful state of mind.” How does that translate into logical and straightforward terms? Happiness varies from one person to another; it’s a state of mind that is interchangeable and affected by extreme situations that sometimes if not most of the times out of our control as it involves interactions with others and we cannot control their actions nor know their true inner feelings! Real inner peace comes from satisfaction with ourselves, our achievements and expectations that makes us feel good about ourselves thus we have an energy boost and confidence to face anything and to chase after our dreams.
The question is how we can maintain that inner peace without outside influences affecting us? Simple, true happiness should base on your expectations and not what others expect of you. You shouldn’t depend on one source of joy, try to find many things that make you feel good about yourself, meaningful relationships, and involvement in community, passion & spirituality.
Most importantly, whatever you decide to do, do it because you believe in it and want to do it not to impress others, expect gratitude or appreciation from anyone nor out of peer or social pressure. These share essential factors for your well-being that will provide you with an inner state of peace regardless of outside influences.
It will provide you with a sense of worthiness, high self-esteem and resulting in robust self-confidence.
6. Invest in yourself and get prepared mentally
Facing different circumstances is all about knowledge, the more we know about a subject, the more we are capable of dealing with it. Knowledge is at your fingertips, take advantage of it! Learn, research and read about topics that interest you. It’s vital for your professional progress and most importantly emotional wellbeing.
Real preparation is like building your supercomputer, every piece of information is a chip and the more you know, the more chips you’ll have to access when needed. Once it’s finished, it will be your backup system, your source of knowledge & power to face any problem you might encounter. Preparation will empower you emotionally and give you a sense of safety and help you in visualizing situations, expected outcomes and eliminating tension and anxiety thus providing you a sense of empowerment that is enhanced by every situation you encounter as it will enable you to handle it positively. So regardless of the outcome, your self-confidence will not be intact as others will be impressed by your knowledge your interaction and this will enhance your self-esteem, encourage you to learn more, become your self-motivator and build & boost your self-confidence.
7. Create your support system
Find a mentor, someone you admire and can share and exchange with ideas in a safe environment where there is no judgment or negative feedback. A mentor isn’t a coach; it’s someone who is willing to share his or her knowledge with an open mind understanding that it’s a learning experience for both of you that will help you grow, flourish and reach your full potential.
Compliment this with a support group; you can have as many support groups as you need! Once you understand yourself better, accept your weaknesses and embrace your fears you will realize the importance of being with others that can understand and support you relating to your situation in a safe environment whereby exchanging stories, information, ideas and being able to express our worries, fears, and emotions positively.
The combination of both a mentor and support group and groups will help you overcome your fears, improve your self-worth, enhance your self-esteem you’re your emotional well-being state.