How to Build Your Confidence

Why this topic?

Confidence is a skill that’s hard to master. We’ve all met those people whose confidence turns them into narcissists, and we have those who constantly doubt their skills. It’s important to find a healthy medium. Confidence allows us to be assured we have what we need to do well in any situation.

What is confidence?

According to psychologytoday.com,”Confidence is a belief in one’s self…” to handle life’s challenges. Confidence is essential, and there are many benefits to having confidence. It is also something that can be improved over time. Whether you’re a naturally confident person or not, there are ways to build it up and start feeling better about yourself.

What are some benefits of being confident?

Having confidence can help us when making first impressions, persuading others, and even help with stress. A teacher once told me that a confident person can sell the dumbest idea, while the greatest idea being presented by an under confident person will be pushed to the side. The more I thought about this, the more I realized it was true.

Under confidence:

Under confidence is when a person doesn’t believe in themselves enough. A few signs of under confidence include:

Weak introductions when meeting new people
- First impressions play a huge role when getting to know people. It’s important to have a confident voice, good posture, and clear voice when meeting someone new.
Being easily flustered
- Being flustered easily is one way to tell a person isn’t confident. Working around this is challenging. I overcame this by knowing my information inside and out, and taking a breath when I need a moment to think. This helps me get my thoughts together before answering any questions or elaborating on points.
Losing your energy
- We all have those off days. While this is completely normal and acceptable, it’s important to not let one bad day influence your entire week.

What steps should I take to be more confident?

Don’t fill your head with negativity
- Avoiding believing negative comments is one of the first ways to build confidence. As mentioned in a previous article, for each negative encounter a person has, they need five positive interactions for their mentality to be balanced again.. As humans, we need positive reassurance to thrive. There is a difference between accepting criticism and enforcing negative thoughts.
Write things down
- I can speak from experience when I say I don’t remember everything. Writing things down helps many people keep track of what they need to do. Having a list can help someone feel confident; it provides assurance, and a plan.
Be willing to learn
- There are so many things in this world to learn about. Being open to knowing new things can open doors. You’ll feel more comfortable knowing more information as opposed to lacking significant details.
Face your fears
- Facing your fears is one way to boost one’s perception of themself.. Knowing you can do something you’re afraid of will lead to a boost in your confidence.
Identify where you don’t feel confident and work on improving it there
- For example, if you’re not as confident about speaking in front of people, practice more. Over time, this will get easier and easier.
Don’t compare yourself with others
- This is something I need to work on. I see my peers excelling in areas I’m not and tend to compare myself to them. It recently occurred to me that comparing myself to others doesn’t do anything for me. It is unfair to compare yourself to different people who have had different experiences than you. We all have different backgrounds, different goals, and different ideas. It’s perfectly acceptable to not be amazing at every single thing you do. Someone else’s strengths may be your weakness. If you really want to learn more, talk to them and ask for advice.
Exercising
- This one seems like the oddball, but hear me out. As we all know, exercising is good for you. I’ll do another article about this. As you start working out and feeling better on the inside, it’ll automatically boost your confidence.

Overconfidence:

Overconfidence is when a person is too sure of themself. Around 60-70% of people believe they are better compared to their peers in certain aspects, but in reality, no more than 50% should be above average at certain things. There are three types of overconfidence that can be shown. These include the following:

Being overly sure of your skills
Unrealistic optimism
Assuming predictable abilities

Overconfidence can lead to tragic outcomes, especially when a person doesn’t realize that they are overestimating the situation. This has happened time and time again with life and death consequences. A few signs of overconfidence include