Confidence has a tremendous impact on your life. It allows you to attack your goals and get what you want. Understanding what creates self-confidence and how to achieve a high level will have a positive impact on your life.

Before learning how to increase your confidence, you have to understand it. Self-confidence is understanding your value. Everybody is valuable and has certain capabilities. Self-value is believing in your capabilities. Understanding your value provides the confidence necessary to get the most out of your gifts.

A person’s self-esteem begins to develop between the ages of three and five. Unfortunately, while children are great at observing situations, they’re not great at interpreting them. Decisions we make at these young ages have a tremendous impact on our futures. For example, if you struggle in second-grade math, it creates the internal belief that you’re not smart. This lack of confidence in your intelligence can impact you into your studies in middle school and high school.

There are two different types of self-esteem; situational and character. Situational self-esteem is when a specific situation impacts your confidence. Character self-esteem is when it’s woven into the core of your personality. You’re going to feel times of uncertainty. The key is to understand who you are, the gifts you bring, and to create comfort in these uncertain times.

But how do you create comfort when you’re scared or nervous?

There’s no way to avoid being scared or nervous in uncertain times. It’s human nature to feel that way. However, you can make yourself more comfortable when you experience these feelings. Seeking discomfort will help you feel more at ease with nervousness. To take on discomfort and defeat these fears, take on scary opportunities and figure out the details later.

While purposefully getting into uncomfortable situations might seem like too much, you don’t have to dive in. Rather than overwhelming yourself with several uncomfortable situations, take one step at a time. Once you feel more comfortable with a previously-uncomfortable situation, take on another. Soon, you’ll find that you have far fewer feelings of discomfort when facing uncertainties.

Everybody has struggles or uncertainties in life so you shouldn’t be scared when you have these experiences. Life struggles will do one of two things to a person. They will either build their resiliency or destroy their confidence. Building your resiliency will allow you to be more confident in difficult situations, allowing you to accomplish your goals.

The thing that stands in the way of creating this resiliency is your inner critic. A person’s inner critic is an ego state that is usually created by an authority figure at a young age. This can be a parent or teacher that makes you feel as if you’re not good enough during your formative years. As you grow older, your inner critic, which lives in your subconscious, brings up memories of your childhood when you felt as though you were to blame for negative situations.

During the current global pandemic, many people are facing uncertain times. They may have lost their job or have less income than before. This is clearly not their fault but their inner critic is making them feel as though it is. When we no longer have what we’re used to, our inner critic tells us that it’s our fault. This can destroy your self-esteem. Understanding that it’s not your fault will help to avoid this situation.

Perfectionists usually have the loudest inner critics. At times, an inner critic can be good. It can keep you on track to achieve your goals. But at the same time, it can cause you to be too hard on yourself. This can create anxiety, stress, and even depression. These feelings can result in using coping mechanisms, such as overeating or excessive drinking. Knowing who you are and the gifts you have will allow you to avoid the need for coping mechanisms.

Now that you know what self-confidence is, you might be asking yourself how you can achieve it.

Here are five tips to building your self-esteem.

Identify Your Gifts

Everybody has certain gifts and understanding these gifts will build your self-esteem. However, it might not be that easy. Your inner critic could be getting in your way of identifying your gifts. If you find yourself in this situation, consider asking those close to you what gifts they see. They might have insight that is being blocked by your inner critic.

Uncover Your Lack of Confidence

If you feel discomfort in a particular area, there is probably something deep inside of your mind blocking your desired comfort. It might be a past memory from childhood in your subconscious. Go to someone that can help you uncover these blocks.

Keep Self-Promises

When you break promises you make to yourself, it creates an inner feeling that you can’t complete the task. Each time this occurs, it decreases your self-confidence. When you say you’re going to do something, make sure to follow through as this will provide the confidence that you can complete tasks and achieve goals.

Encourage Yourself

Listening to your inner critic can make it difficult to encourage yourself, but this is important. Remind yourself that you have special gifts and you are capable of anything. You can do this by placing sticky notes in strategic places around your house. Make sure they’re in places where you’ll see them throughout the day, such as on a door, wall, or bathroom mirror.

Reflect On Your Daily Successes

It’s easy to look at our faults and blame ourselves for not doing better. But it’s also important to reflect on our successes. Each night before bed, you should reflect on your day and congratulate yourself on what you have achieved. This could be completing a goal or taking on a difficult situation. Congratulating yourself on your daily successes will create confidence when taking on future tasks.

The confidence you have in yourself has a big impact on your life. You won’t achieve your goals unless you believe that you can. These five tips will help you increase your confidence and self-esteem to create a happier and more successful life.

If you’re looking to create a better overall mindset, book a free consultation through my website. You can also watch my weekly YouTube show, The Well-Balanced Mind, where I’ll provide insights into understanding your mind and behavior.

Do you find that you have anger, stress, or sadness and are looking for a change? Hypnotherapy might be a good fit for you. To schedule a consultation call, click here.