Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
The
bothersome aspect of confidence is how effortless and uncomplicated it appears
in those who possess it:
- The self-assured coworker who never hesitates to speak up and provide their opinions during meetings.
- The self-assured spouse enters dinner parties with
ease and strikes up conversations with strangers right away.
Additionally,
even while some people may come out as innately more confident, at least in
some circumstances, it is always feasible to boost your own self-assurance.
Learning to
be more confident involves a variety of elements, of course. But one of the
largest barriers to confidence I've seen in my work as a psychologist—and one
that most people seem to overlook—is this:
The
remaining sections of this essay will examine three limiting ideas that could
be preventing you from becoming more confident. You'll be well on your way to
replacing them with healthier, more self-assured beliefs if you can learn to
recognize them.
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
Ø To behave
confidently, I must first feel confident.
Not at all,
no.
You really
have it backward completely:
It is
blatantly false that you need to feel more confident to do something you'd
like to feel more confident about:
·
Want to bring up that dangerous proposal at your team
meeting for the first time? Although it would be wonderful if you had
confidence when pitching it, you can still execute it regardless of how you
feel.
·
Want to submit your first YouTube video but are
worried about how others would react? Although it would be wonderful if you
were sure that everyone will enjoy it, that has nothing to do with your ability
to click the "Publish" button.
Doing
difficult tasks is undoubtedly difficult! However, just because something is
challenging doesn't imply that you won't be able to complete it.
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
Ø Although it's
wonderful to have confidence, acting doesn't require it.
In any case,
you won't be able to start doing difficult things unless you accept the
notion that you can do difficult things even when you don't feel ready.
However,
here's the catch.
You might
read that and conclude, "Yes, that's true." This false belief won't
be able to keep me from moving forward any longer. However, until your brain
receives confirmation, or until it witnesses your new belief in action, it
won't truly accept it or believe it.
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.

Ø Beliefs are
changed by deeds, not by words.
And the
confidence that you can accomplish challenging tasks even when you don't feel
prepared won't surface until you demonstrate to yourself that it is true by
your actions.
Make your
acts more daring if you want to feel more certain.
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
Ø I'm too
concerned about what other people think.
I have spent
a lot of time with anxious people, especially those who are socially anxious,
as a psychologist with a focus on anxiety.
Contrary to
popular belief, the cause of worry is frequently not dread of what others may
think. The dread that truly paralyzes people is the worry of having excessive
social anxiety.
ConThree limiting notions that undermine your confidencefidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
Ø I'm not as
self-assured as people believe.
Combining
the first two limiting beliefs, the third limiting thought prevents people
from feeling confident. Let's recap
• The
initial limiting thought preventing you from acting confidently was, "I
need to feel confident to act confident."
• I worry
too much about what other people think was the second limiting belief.
Ø Not having
anxiety is the issue. Your lack of confidence is caused by your fear
of anxiousness.
The idea
that it's completely unnecessary to care about what other people think has
permeated our culture.
Nonsense!
Fundamentally
social creatures, humans are. Our ability to establish intricate social
connections and cooperate gives us a distinct competitive advantage. We excel
in comprehending (and feeling) what other people are thinking and feeling,
which is why we are so good at complex social connections. Simply put, empathy
It's totally
natural for the majority of non-psychopaths to care about and worry about what
other people might think of you!
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
Ø The idea that
you shouldn't worry about what others may think is what's truly preventing you
from being confident.
Here's an
illustration:
• Your
partner inquires about your plans for dinner on your date night.
• You've
been hankering after Indian food. However, you are aware that your spouse
dislikes Indian food, leading you to consider saying "Italian"
instead.
• You're
feeling anxious right now, but it's not that horrible. Your confidence is
severely destroyed by what comes next.
• God, why
am I always so indecisive?! You ask yourself, fearing that your
spouse won't like Indian if you propose it. I wish I had the self-assurance to
just decide.
• You'll
start to feel anxious and unsure of yourself at this point. The cause is that
you've elevated your lack of assurance to an existential degree...
• You
initially merely had some mild apprehension and doubt. But now that your
limiting belief—that you shouldn't feel anxious—has been activated, you've formed
an opinion about your moral character and your personality.
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
Ø The most
crucial thing you can do if you lack social confidence is to forgive yourself
for caring about what other people think.
You have no
control over whether you first experience some anxiety or indecision, but you
do have influence over what happens next. Do you judge your character and worth
as a person harshly or do you accept that caring about other people's opinions
is common and that it's okay to choose despite feeling a bit uncertain or
anxious?
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
The ability
to accept some early fear as entirely normal and healthy is the key to having
social confidence.
ConfidencThree limiting notions that undermine your confidencee. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
The
notion that confidence is relative is the third limiting premise on your
confidence:
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
Ø Because how
confident you think you are depending on what other people think.
This is
frequently referred to as imposter syndrome. But here's what the majority of
people misunderstand about imposter syndrome:
A few brief
instances
• Even
though you're confident that you've prepared well for your department's monthly
presentation, you worry that people will "see through you" and
conclude that you're not as skilled as the other project managers.
• Although
you feel you are qualified for the position, you are scared the interviewer
will think you lack confidence.
• You enter
the dinner party feeling confident at first, but as you take in everyone's
accomplishments and aspirations, you start to feel self-conscious and fear that
you won't fit in.
Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.
One thing unites all of these instances:
Your lack of confidence isn't the true issue; rather, it's that you rely on your assessment of your confidence's viability on outside circumstances.
The answer
is to fight the need to measure your self-confidence by other people and
external standards. Allow yourself to make the decision as to what confidence
actually is.
Three limiting notions that undermine your confidence