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Self-confidence is an important skill for people to have. In my
article last week about self-advocacy,
I wrote about advocating for myself regarding a personal matter. In order to do that, I needed to be sufficiently confident in my ability to communicate and share relevant information. Therefore, self-confidence is another part of self-advocacy. In this article, I will share tips and strategies for developing self-confidence.
As with self-advocacy, it is important to define what self-confidence means. According to
this definition of confidence,
it means “believing in yourself”. Confidence projects an assurance that who you are and what you have to say matters. As the confidence article points out, some aspects of confidence include standing up for yourself assertively, encouraging others, accepting who you are and identifying ways to achieve success. I will now discuss my tips for increasing self-confidence.
In developing self-confidence over the years, I have found some strategies to be particularly beneficial. Recognize, first of all, that you can only control how you respond to situations without knowing how other people will react. Consequently, it can help to plan a respectful response in the event you are met with resistance. Secondly, be clear and concise in expressing your viewpoints. Since feelings can change on a whim, I recommend focusing on the facts of a situation when possible instead of opinions. Finally, it is important to respect others. Doing so demonstrates self-assurance and an ability to communicate collaboratively with others. Self-confidence resources may also be helpful for my readers.
There are a variety of self-confidence resources available online. For those who learn best visually, I suggest the
video: “5 Great Steps to Building Self-Confidence”.
The presenter focused on the value of making other people feel important, which results in positive self-esteem. I also suggest the
video: “How to Build Self-Confidence”.
The focus in that video is on accepting yourself and improving confidence as needed through skill-building. For self-improvement strategies, I recommend this article from
“The New York Times: “Practical Ways to Improve Your Confidence (and Why You Should)”.
Several of the many recommendations contained in the article include a willingness to get out of your comfort zone to try new things, focus on success and be honest with others about yourself. I encourage readers to learn more about this subject and, ideally, improve self-confidence.
Two questions for readers: What methods have you used to improve your self-confidence? What strategies do you plan to use in the future for self-confidence improvement? I will return next week with another article.
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