Self-confidence isn’t something you are born with. It is something you build. You mold and make yourself confident with time and experience.
One cannot gain confidence overnight, it takes time. It is more of a process. However, it is always in you. Self-confidence plays a crucial role in one’s life. From attending events to meeting people, everything requires self-confidence.
A person who is not confident in his or her skin will feel depressed and defeated. They will always think they are not enough.
What is Self-Esteem?
Self-esteem and self-confidence are two sides of a coin, one cannot exist without other.
In simple words, self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. It depicts how comfortable you are with yourself and what opinion you form about yourself.
“One should know that self-confidence can be improved at any age”
There can be events when one feels low or hazy. There are situations when we feel that we are not good enough, or that we lack something. However, these are just short phases. You should know you are above such thoughts. Such thoughts should not affect your confidence.
Building Self-Confidence
The first thing that you should know is that self-confidence is not something one attains at the time of birth. A lot of factors influence a person’s self-confidence. It is a result of a lifetime of experiences.
Many people ask how to build confidence. Well, a person’s self-confidence largely depends on what happened to him/her during childhood. Sometimes the atmosphere of home or parenting issues hinders the growth of a person as an individual.
“Childhood plays a crucial role in building self-confidence”
However, one should know that self-confidence can be improved at any age. You neither have to be born with it nor need you to acquire it from someone else.
Why Do People Lack Self-Confidence?
There are plenty of reasons why one person is confident in himself or herself, and the other person lacks it.
Some commonly seen causes of low self-confidence include:
- Disturbed Childhood: Childhood plays a crucial role in building self-confidence. A childhood spent with very extremely strict parents can lead to low self-esteem. Similarly, if the culture of school and teachers was unhappy, chances are that the child would not gain much confidence in himself.
- Poor Results: Many times we see children not scoring well in exams. Such students do not feel confident in life. They always think they are incapable of scoring well. Moreover, many times parents are seen comparing their child’s marks with others, and that directly impacts the child’s self-confidence.
- Inferiority Complex: Some people throughout their lives compare themselves to the people above them. This comparison makes them feel lower than others. It never lets them feel confident with themselves.
- Mental Health Condition: A person with a mental health condition like depression or anxiety is likely to feel low self-esteem than others. They are always too ashamed of themselves.
8 Ways to Improve Self-Confidence:
- Talk to yourself with love: The first step towards feeling confident about yourself is giving yourself the respect you give others. Be supportive and kind to yourself and use positive affirmations.
- Stop comparing yourself to others: Everyone is different and has their own struggles. They might seem perfect to you, but they are not. They also have flaws but handle them with confidence. Accept yourself just the way you are, and it will increase confidence in you.
- Look for your qualities: Remind yourself how good you are. Write a list of good traits that you know you have. Once you sit down to write, you’ll realize how special you are.
- Create positive vibes: Everything that happens in your life should be taken positively. Failures should not make you lose your self-esteem. Stay positive whatever the situation is.
- Avoid ‘negative self-talk’: One of the hefty barriers in attaining self-confidence is criticizing oneself. Most of your negative self-talk is baseless. As soon as you feel a negative thought hits your mind, convert it into a positive one, and witness the change.
- Build positive relationships: The kind of people you surround yourself with influences your self-worth in many ways. If you surround yourself with people who continually try to pull you down or criticize you for your actions, it is time you move ahead without them. Surround yourself with people who push you towards success.
- Learn to say NO: Many times in people with low self-confidence it is seen that they are too scared to take a stand. They are too shy to refuse anyone. To improve self-confidence, you should learn to say no whenever required.
- Take care of your health: People with low self-esteem often neglect themselves because they feel they deserve the way they look. Well, it is not the case. If you want to increase self-confidence, improve your physical health. Eat well, exercise, get enough sleep, and meditate. Take care of your body, and you’ll start feeling confident within a few days.
Overall Outlook
Start making small improvements today, and over a while, you’ll see colossal changes in your confidence levels. Celebrate your little victories and feel confident enough to do anything that brings you joy.
