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Building confidence
Self-confidence means feeling good about yourself, believing in your abilities and believing that other people value you.
Article by : SpunOut.ie
What is self-confidence?
Self-confidence means feeling good about yourself, believing in your abilities and believing that other people value you. It’s doesn’t mean boasting about how good you are at something…YOU have to believe in your own value rather than relying on impressing others.
Do you need a confidence boost?
- Do you worry about not being good enough to do stuff or sometimes feel useless?
- Do you compare yourself to others and think that they are better than you or can do things better than you?
- Do you concentrate on mistakes you make rather than being happy with what you achieve?
- Do you pay more attention to other people’s criticism than to the compliments they give you?
- Do you have no confidence in how you look?
- Are you afraid to give your opinion or disagree during discussions?
- Do you feel like you have little or nothing to offer?
If you said yes to some of the above questions, then it’s time to work on improving your confidence.
Improve your confidence:
Having confidence is about thinking positively. You need to replace negative feeling about yourself with a positive belief in who you are and what you can do.
- Counselling can help a lot in improving confidence. It can help you recognise your good qualities and gives an opportunity to talk about any problems you have. Speak to your doctor about counselling options that are available to you.
- Think positively- if someone gives you a compliment feel proud of it instead of blushing and not believing it. Speak positively as well: instead of saying "I can’t do that" say "I’m going to try and do that".
- Talk- share your feelings with others. Try to talk things through with friends or family.
- Think of at least one good thing about yourself that other people like or that makes you feel good. It could be something like being trustworthy, having a good sense of humour or something you’re good at in school or work.
- Plan something positive everyday, that you can look forward to and that gives you a sense of achievement. It could be going for a walk, doing artwork or writing a poem, cleaning your home, helping another person or playing a game of football.
- Don’t be critical of others ('slagging them off' or bitching) because you feel insecure about yourself. If you can be nice to other people then it’s more likely that people will think better of you and respect you more.
- Don’t get angry because you feel like no one listens to you or respects you. Instead try being assertive- have confidence in what you do and say but stay calm- don’t lose your temper! You can join an assertiveness course, which teaches how to express your opinions without being aggressive.
- And remember: you have to WANT to improve your confidence. Feeling better about yourself isn’t going to happen overnight. Sometimes you won’t even realise that your confidence is improving until you realise you’re doing something that would have terrified you before!
See the help section for supportive information and contacts details of support organisations.
