Self-confidence can be a difficult aspect of ourselves to build up. Not everyone automatically has a high level of confidence. From generally suffering from low self-esteem to having an incident that lowered your trust in yourself, it can often be difficult to raise our confidence levels.
Self-confidence can generally be referred to as a feeling of trust you have in your abilities, judgment, and qualities. Having a good level of self-assurance is not only good for your health, but it also benefits your psychological welfare.
Anchor Therapy is a counseling center in Hoboken, NJ with psychotherapists specialized in helping children, teens, adults, and couples with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma, and life transitions. Anchor Therapy is accepting new clients and is now providing in-person sessions and telehealth (video/phone) sessions to residents of New Jersey and New York.
For some people, confidence can be specific to a situation. For others, confidence can refer to a broad sense of belief and confidence in your ability to manage your life. For example, you may feel extremely confident in your ability to run a marathon, but not so confident in your ability to ace a biology exam. In other words, your confidence may be high in your areas of expertise but may lack in unfamiliar areas.
When you have a healthy level of self-reliance, you can become successful in both your personal and professional life. It can even enhance your motivation for achieving your aspirations and impact how you present yourself to the world.
Before we outline effective ways to build self-confidence, reflect on this question: What do you think you are capable of? The answer to this question can be extremely revealing, hinting at your level of self-confidence. Often, people tend to undermine themselves and their capabilities. You are capable of much more than you realize. Having confidence and believing in your skills are critical steps in fulfilling your goals.
It is important to note that there are clear distinctions between an individual who is confident and a person who lacks self-reliance.
Confident people:
Admit their mistakes and/or flaws
Accept responsibility for their actions
Remain open-minded
Think positively
Celebrate other people’s victories
Can laugh at themselves
Are good at making decisions
Are always committed to learning and evolving
Are willing to go through challenges
On the other hand, insecure people:
Are pessimistic
Blame others for their mistakes and/or actions
Are unable to make a decision
Conceal their flaws
Are judgmental or jealous of other people’s successes
Are closed-minded
Are fearful of change
Act like they know everything
Always make excuses for their mistakes and/or actions
If you are committed to building self-confidence, there are valuable tasks that you can practice every day.
This article can be helpful if you fall into one of the following categories:
You want a few effective methods to construct your self-confidence
You want to be a more confident individual
You are interested in learning more about self-confidence
To learn more about self-assurance, continue reading this article for some clear and concise tips!
Take Care of Your Body
If you are not taking care of your body, it can be hard to feel good about yourself. When you practice self-care, you have the peace of mind that you are doing something beneficial for your overall health. Naturally, you will feel more confident as a result of practicing self-care.
Self-care is defined as a process of taking care of yourself with behaviors that encourage good health. It looks different for everyone.
Some examples of self-confidence include:
Asking for help
Spending time alone
Setting boundaries
Forgiving yourself
Taking a step back
Putting yourself first
Staying at home
Saying “no”
Staying active
Getting organized
Resting for 7-8 hours each night
Eating well-balanced meals
Drinking enough water
Doing something that exercises your creativity
2. Practice Positive Self-Talk
We often teach others how to treat us by showing them how we treat ourselves. If you constantly undermine your capabilities and talk negatively about yourself, others may follow suit which will lower your self-confidence levels even further. Negative self-talk can even program your subconscious mind that you cannot handle specific situations or do not have certain skills. When you talk to yourself in an optimistic manner, you can generate a sense of self-compassion, tackle your self-doubt, and engage in new challenges.
A good plan when you are experiencing a negative thought is to replace it with a more positive, realistic statement.
Some dialogue reframes may include:
Instead of thinking “I am not smart enough to complete this task”, you can think “All I have to do is try my best.”
Instead of thinking “I always mess everything up”, think “I can learn something from my mistakes, and use those lessons when I try again.”
Instead of making a strong statement, such as “I hate working out”, use milder word choices. For example, you can state, “I am determined to find a form of movement that feels good for me.”
3. Reflect on Your Accomplishments
Unfortunately, we can often be our harshest critics. It is easy to be hard on yourself when you do not celebrate your wins. A helpful exercise can be to create a list of all the things that you are proud of in your life. Keep the list on hand, and update it whenever you have new achievements. When you are feeling low in confidence, refer to your list.
4. Create A Positive Support Group
Pay attention to how you feel when you hang out with certain friends or family members. Do you feel energized and inspired? Or do you feel upset and drained? Your support group can affect your thoughts and attitudes about yourself. If you feel less confident after hanging out with a certain person, it may be a sign to cut them out of your life or, at the very least, lessen the amount of time you spend with them.
5. Get A Hobby
Try to find an activity that you enjoy and are passionate about. When you work with your passion, you are prioritizing yourself and your interests. If you are interested in a specific topic or hobby, you will be more inspired and can build your skills more swiftly.
Struggling with self-confidence is something that everyone goes through at one point or another. Luckily, there are many effective methods you can employ to build your self-assurance back up again. There are cases where continuous self-confidence may be more serious, manifesting as depression or anxiety. If you are struggling to build self-confidence even after employing the previously mentioned tips, it is recommended that you talk to a licensed mental health counselor.
Victoria Scala
is the Social Media Manager at Anchor Therapy in Hoboken, New Jersey. She is currently an undergraduate student at the Honors College of Rutgers University-Newark, looking to study Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the graduate level. As a Social Media Manager at Anchor Therapy, Victoria is committed to producing content for and managing the office’s social media presence and blog.
