Building Self Confidence:
Developing the Skills You Need to be Confident
What Is Self Confidence?
An Introduction
Self-confidence is
an attitude that allows people to have positive, realistic
views of themselves and situations that involve them.
People who are self-confident show that they have control
over their lives and their abilities, no matter what happens.
They believe that they will be able to do what they set
their mind to with a positive outcome. Self-confident
people don't always expect to be able to do everything
by themselves; however, they have a healthy and practical
approach to everything that comes their way.
Self-confidence doesn't
necessarily enter into every aspect of a person's life.
For example, someone may exhibit self-confidence at home
but not at work, or during certain situations and not
others. Everyone has some areas of their life that they
feel more confident about than others. Areas that people
are specially trained in or have learned about are areas
that they will generally have the most confidence about.
For instance, someone who went to college and graduated
with a degree in mathematics will feel most confident
when discussing or using mathematics.
It's only natural to
feel uneasy about situations that you don't have total
control of or don't know much about. However, when you
have a lack of self-confidence, you rarely feel in control
of situations and often don't trust your own feelings
or knowledge.
There are many factors
that influence your ability to have confidence in yourself.
Surprisingly, lack of ability or knowledge doesn't seem
to be related to a lack of self-confidence. Often, people
who are self-confident may display those characteristics
no matter what the situation is and people who lack self-confidence
tend to show little self-confidence even in areas that
they excel.
There are many factors
involved in developing self-confidence. You need to have
a positive self-image. This is important to a fully developed
sense of self and gives you the ability to build confidence.
Another factor is how you view the world. A positive attitude
goes a long way towards feeling confident in many situations.
You also need to be able to rely on your own ideas and
beliefs rather than take on those of others. Many people
with low self-esteem or self-confidence place too much
importance on what others think. Learning to think for
yourself and being able to express those thoughts to others
is key to feeling good about yourself.
Another factor that
comes into play when dealing with self-confidence issues
is how you deal with mistakes that you make. When you
were a child your parents set the tone for how you treat
mistakes as an adult. Whether they yelled at you or took
over for you, if they didn't let you learn naturally from
your mistakes you may be handling them poorly as an adult.
Understanding that mistakes are a part of everyday life
for everyone is important in developing self-confidence.
The fear of making a mistake can cause you to freeze into
non-action.
Depression can actually
stem from a lack of self-confidence. When you consistently
feel self-critical about what you do and things in your
life it can lead to becoming depressed. Although depression
can have many roots, lacking self-confidence can contribute
to it.
Everyone feels unsure
or a lack of confidence from time to time. However, if
you have low self-confidence most of the time you can
take action to change it. There are strategies to help
you overcome your lack of self-confidence. This book will
show you ways to help you become a more confident person.
Building self-confidence
is a process that takes effort and commitment. Learning
about what causes a lack of self-confidence helps in taking
action to boost it.
Each chapter contains
useful information about particular aspects that affect
your self-confidence. Listen to the book as a whole or
take each chapter separately as you need it. At the end
of each chapter is an exercise to help you learn about
yourself and practice techniques to boost your self-confidence
level.
