noun
- the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust.
- the state of feeling certain about the truth of something.
- a feeling of self assurance arising of one's own abilities or qualities.
According to a Psychology Today article, confidence is a belief in oneself, the conviction that one has the ability to meet life's challenges and to succeed—and the willingness to act accordingly. Being confident requires a realistic sense of one’s capabilities and feeling secure in that knowledge. Projecting confidence helps people gain credibility, make a strong first impression, deal with pressure, and tackle personal and professional challenges. It’s also an attractive trait, as confidence helps put others at ease.
Not feeling very confident?
No worries!
Confidence is not an innate ability that one is born with.
Nope.
It's an ability that anyone can acquire and improve over time.
You may not be confident at all in any area, or, you may be confident in one area and not another.
That's totally normal.
Building confidence in an area requires lots of small steps as you work towards your goal It also requires lots, and lots of practice.
You may not succeed 100% of the time, but you will get better and better at it.
People take one look at me and immediately assume that I'm an extremely confident woman and have always been so.
Not true.
I was a super shy and introverted kid with buck teeth and freckles. Fodder for bullies my entire childhood and adolescence. My parents were no help at all. They just worked hard and told me to figure out how to deal with it.
Lucky for me, we moved a lot. So after an especially traumatic freshman and sophomore years in one high school, we moved to a different district and I decided to completely re-vamp my image and be more assertive. It wasn't easy! It was one smile, one conversation and one day at a time.
I was slowly learning to love who I was.
Every day I had to do a lot of positive self talk and tell myself that I mattered, I was worth it and I was beautiful. I found that the more I said these things, the more I began believing them and the more confident I became.
If you want to Pursue Confidence, start today with something small.
A smile.
A wave.
Walking a little taller.
Telling yourself that you're beautiful.
Keep doing it, day after day, regardless of how you feel. Learn to love who you are.
Soon, you will look back on your life find that you have slowly become more confident.