Self-confidence is your attitude toward yourself and your capabilities, which impacts how you show up and interact with others.
When you’re confident in what makes you, YOU, you’re able to trust, acknowledge, and accept all parts of yourself, i.e., your strengths, weaknesses, assets, and liabilities. However, the more you minimize or disregard aspects of yourself, the higher the potential for you to be hard on yourself, which can surface as self-criticism, judgment, projection, or “impostor syndrome.”
Boost your self-confidence with awareness.
Confidence levels are dynamic and can change depending on your beliefs, circumstances, and the sway others have over you. Self-awareness empowers you to discern the real from the perceived and enables you to be more objective in your approach, limiting the need for external validation.
When you understand your feelings, you can manage your thoughts and emotions before reacting or jumping into action. As a result, you can be more calm, direct, and honest in your communication while being open to different perspectives and feedback.
How you talk and treat yourself impacts your ability to communicate with confidence.
The Cleveland Clinic shared that how we think and feel about ourselves affects how we relate to others and the world around us. They highlighted:
“A positive self-image can boost our physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being. On the other hand, a negative self-image can decrease our satisfaction and ability to function in these areas.”
Several other factors, such as your self-worth, self-esteem, and self-image, create patterns and habits around how you talk and treat yourself. For example, your self-worth and self-esteem equate to acceptance of who you are and want to be and how well you respect yourself and perceive your value. Your self-image is your mental picture of all your characteristics combined.
When you lose confidence in yourself, you give away your power to someone else.
By identifying and addressing the root causes of why you’re feeling the way you do, you can free yourself from behaviors and instinctual reactions that no longer serve you. Becoming more self-aware and attuned to your state of mind is in YOUR control. Many assessments provide insight and strategies to support your journey, like the Enneagram, EQ-i 2.0, and MBTI®.
To boost your confidence and communicate more effectively, remember:
There’s only one of YOU.
One of your most significant prospects for advancement is reinforcing your strengths, so embrace what distinguishes you from the rest. When you’re energized and passionate about what you’re doing, you can separate the results of your work from who you are as an individual. This detachment leads to the pure enjoyment of the work, regardless of the situation, so you’re not relying on things going a certain way.
Limit the influence others have on you.
If you’ve lost sight of what’s meaningful and relevant, stop what you’re doing and assess how and where you’re allocating your energy. You can’t communicate or be effective when you’re unmotivated, overwhelmed, exhausted, or stressed. Instead, take a moment to reclaim your authority and increase your confidence to shine.
A healthy mindset is crucial.
It’s easy to ignore or gloss over what you’re feeling and disregard your body’s warning signs when it needs a break. Cultivating a healthier way of being means having a more mindful approach to communicating and treating yourself with kindness and compassion. By remaining present, you can tune in to what you know, listen to your gut, and balance out your instinctual tendencies.
Think small, accomplish big.
There are plenty of hypotheses that tell us “life is a journey to be enjoyed” and “change takes time.” We need about 2.5 years to master change, so be patient, honor the experience, and treat yourself like a good friend. Instead of tackling everything initially, focus on one thing at a time, and keep moving forward. As Johann von Goethe stated, “Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success.”
Courage and confidence come from within YOU.
Our thoughts, feelings, and actions are all interconnected. As a lifelong student, certified professional coach, and consultant, activating the best in others through self-leadership, interpersonal relations, and team dynamics are passions of mine. My approach is personalized and customized, tapping into various assessments, disciplines, modalities, and techniques. To learn more, schedule a call with me.