Confidence is about feelings of assurance from the belief in one’s ability
A confident person:
- is self-aware, knowing their strengths and weaknesses.
- is able to make decisions regardless of whether they will be unpopular, in other words they do what they believe is right no matter what.
- takes risks because they understand the value in learning from failure and they are prepared to fail even if it feels uncomfortable.
- can admit when they’ve made a mistake because again, they value learning more than they fear discomfort from being wrong or failure
- can accept compliments without feeling like a fraud or that the compliment is unfounded.
Many things can affect our confidence, other peoples judgement or criticism, stressful situations, financial troubles and comparing yourself to others to name a few.
Self-esteem is how we value and perceive ourselves at our core.
Signs of low self-esteem include:
- Feeling hopeless or worthless
- Blaming yourself unfairly
- Hating yourself
- Worrying about being unable to do things
Having low self-esteem can impact our day to day lives and can reduce our confidence which is why they are so interlinked.
Low self-esteem can make it difficult to make decisions and assert yourself, feel able to try new things, be resilient and practice self-care.
Perfectionism breeds low self-esteem because nothing you do will ever be good enough, but failure is something that happens not who we are.
Other ways to improve self-esteem include:
- Start replacing negative thoughts with positive ones (or more realistic ones)
- Forgive yourself
- Focus on your strengths, talents and abilities
- Learn to set personal boundaries and stand up for yourself
- Challenge your anxieties with facts
