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What is self-confidence?
The term self-confidence is very common. However, the presence of the quality is not as common as the term is. Self-confidence is any human being’s trust in themselves, their capacities and their credibilities. Self-confidence is also often synonymized with an acute sense of self-worth. Having faith in yourself that you have the power to emerge resilient out of any situation, implies that you are confident. Most of us victims of low confidence, often wonder about how to build self-confidence and here are some pointers that will help you ease out the entire process. Having abundant faith in one’s abilities and character is not every man’s forte but that minimum amount of self-confidence is a prerequisite for anything you do in life.
Self-esteem and self-efficacy are allied concepts that also contribute to shaping up the self-confidence of an individual.
How to build self-confidence
Comparison is a big no-no!
Comparing yourself to others might prove to be detrimental to your self-confidence. Comparison is very natural among human beings but if you suffer from low confidence, it is likely to cause more damage. Comparing the way you look or the house you live in, to that of others can give rise to envy and then you begin to feel worse about yourself.
You can avoid these negative radiations within your mind and body by giving birth to positive thoughts, reminding yourself to be grateful for the blessings in life and also journaling them. Gratitude meditation can also be a very effective practice to rid your mind of all such negative thoughts and feelings.
Stand up for yourself!
“Don’t ever let someone tell you that you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. When people can’t do something themselves, they’re gonna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.”— This saying of Will Smith in the movie, The Pursuit of Happiness is ever-relevant in the context of standing up for yourself and voicing your own desires and ambitions. We often tend to be swayed away by the opinions of a variety of people surrounding us. And this is the end of every bright possibility that awaits us. So, never be afraid to dream of something big, think beyond boundaries and stand up for yourself. Never be ashamed of what you want, let others find it lame and stupid and meaningless. That should not make a difference to your thoughts.
Practice self-compassion and self-assessment
Being kind to yourself is a very important step on the road to becoming more confident. Failures and shortcomings are part and parcels of everyone’s life but the way you treat yourself while going through them is very crucial. Always try to be kind to yourself and embrace your failures just as much as your successes. This allows you to be more flexible emotionally and reduces the pain of failing, considerably.
Self-assessment is integral to building self-confidence. Having a clear understanding and idea of your capabilities, weaknesses and limitations is a gift that helps you to become more successful than people who do not possess the ability to assess themselves properly. For instance, a great mathematician might be a horrible singer or a magnificent actor might be a terrible doctor and vice versa. Some are also possessors of multiple gifts at the same time. Thus, having a clear idea of your abilities and what you can do best, is very necessary to improve your confidence. Remember, If Lata Mangeshkar had aspired to be a Sachin Tendulkar and vice versa, the world would never have witnessed the legendary works of these unearthly, unfathomable geniuses.
Exercise and take care of your diet
Exercising not just helps you maintain a fit body but also increases the strength of your memory, helps manage stress better and improves focus. So, exercising daily in any form is a fantastic idea to boost your self-confidence. Apart from that, remaining active also resists all negative thoughts and energies and keeps you productive all throughout the day.
When you consume a balanced diet filled with nutrients, proteins and vitamins, it strengthens you inwards and you feel healthy and happy. This helped to increase self-confidence and self-esteem.
Avoid negative company
The people you are mostly surrounded by play a huge role in affecting and to some extent, determining your level of self-confidence. People who are vehemently critical of everything you do and every bit you say, every song you sing or every dance you dance, are usually the people who impact your self-confidence negatively. They cannot accept the fact that you are a different individual and your ways of living life are different. There are even people who are hell-bent on insisting you to be what they want you to be, without actually acknowledging your own self. Try and stay away from such people. Surround yourself with positive, loving and wholesome individuals instead who infuse in you, the power to grow and blossom as you want to and in turn, increase your self-confidence.
A few words…
You might have heard a lot of people say that if it was not for their self-confidence, they could never have lived and seen the success that they did. That being said, people seldom actually speak on how to build self-confidence. But our major concern is that and thus, we have brought some really handy tips for you to refer to as and when you feel inconfident to face the world or your personal issues for that matter. We hope that these will be helpful in your journey to become more confident.
The Evolve App is now globally live. Download the Evolve App and get access to numerous journeys related to self-esteem and self-improvement like ‘handle criticism better’ and ‘increase your self-love’. The app also has more than 50 audios to help you work on yourself and increase your self-esteem rapidly. Download today without delay and try for free on Android and Apple.
Also Read:
- What Are The Causes of Low Self-Esteem?
- How To Detect Signs Of Low Self- Esteem In A Man
- What Is Self-Esteem – How To Improve It?
- Signs Of Low Self-esteem In Woman And How To Fix It
Damayanti Dubey is a final year English major at Loreto College, Kolkata. She is a writer by passion and loves to indulge in languages, especially English, Bengali, and Urdu. She aims at exploring all of their intricacies and nuances. Damayanti is a disciple of Padma Bhushan Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and is a national scholar of Indian classical music. She has always believed that a sound mind, free from the clutches of regressive and negative thoughts is the key to living a healthy life and makes efforts to promote mental wellness through the power of her words.
Damayanti believes in thinking beyond boundaries.