Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSpend Time AlonePractice SpiritualityUse Positive Self-TalkCultivate a Healthy LifestyleStop Self-ComparisonsSet Small GoalsSeek Uplifting PeopleConsider Professional HelpFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Spend Time Alone
Practice Spirituality
Use Positive Self-Talk
Cultivate a Healthy Lifestyle
Stop Self-Comparisons
Set Small Goals
Seek Uplifting People
Consider Professional Help
Frequently Asked Questions
Self-confidence is the level of belief in your ability or skills to perform a given role or function. Disappointments, abuse, neglect, or physical or mental illness can diminish self-esteem, which in turn can affect your confidence in certain situations.Social anxietyerodes your sense of capability as well.
Verywell / Shideh Ghandeharizah
Spend Time With Yourself
Self-reflection is essential to understanding who you are and why you think the way you do.Set aside time to assess your strengths, weaknesses, and core values, and write down your insights. Dissect the challenges that threaten your self-confidence so that you can face them one step at a time.
Adopt or Maintain a Spiritual Practice
There is a positive correlation between nurturing your spiritual self—your sense of “purpose, innerness, interconnection, and transcendence”—and life satisfaction and self-esteem. Rituals such as yoga, meditation, prayer, and chanting help you calm your mind, see yourself and your situation more clearly, and connect you to your higher self. Maintaining a daily spiritual exercise also gives you practice in consistency, which can increase your self-confidence.
Psychologists say that self-talk plays a key role in our actions, emotional reactions, and goal progression.Much of our self-talk—positive and negative—happens without our really thinking about it.
Use Affirming StatementsWhen automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) come to mind, counter them with affirming statements such as:“I will learn” instead of “I’ll never understand”“I will try” instead of “It’s too hard for me”“I know how to do it better next time” instead of “I’m such a failure”
Use Affirming Statements
When automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) come to mind, counter them with affirming statements such as:“I will learn” instead of “I’ll never understand”“I will try” instead of “It’s too hard for me”“I know how to do it better next time” instead of “I’m such a failure”
When automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) come to mind, counter them with affirming statements such as:
A 2017 study suggests that physical activity and healthy eating help improveself-esteemand self-efficacy.Wholesome foods and exercise flood your body with nutrients andendorphins(chemicals that manage pain and relieve stress) that can elevate your mood. These lifestyle behaviors help make you more physically and mentally fit to tackle life’s tasks.
What Is Self-Efficacy?Self-efficacy refers to a person’s confidence in their ability to control their own beliefs, behavior, and social environment.
What Is Self-Efficacy?
Self-efficacy refers to a person’s confidence in their ability to control their own beliefs, behavior, and social environment.
Cut Out Self-Comparison
Comparing yourself to others, particularly on social media, can diminish your self-esteem and self-confidence, fostering anxiety and depression.It’s okay to acknowledge that you aren’t perfect, but keep in mind that nobody else is either.
You are the only you that will ever exist.
Seek Uplifting Relationships
The late motivational speaker Jim Rohn said that we are the average of our five closest acquaintances. Connect with people who will encourage and inspire you to improve in the areas you feel weak. Set boundaries with those who bring you down.
Sometimes, we have deep-seated mental blocks that are hard to overcome on our own. A licensed therapist or counselor can teach you strategies to help you enhance your self-efficacy. They may also be able to help you uncover underlying issues such asgeneralized anxiety disorder(GAD) that could be limiting your self-confidence.
Types of Mental Health Therapy
Summary
A Word From Verywell
Your level of self-confidence can vary in different situations and can ebb and flow over time. However, if you’re experiencing persistent self-confidence issues, reach out to your doctor or a mental health professional right away. Together, you can come up with a plan to face this challenge. Remember: You’ve got this.
Learn MoreWhat Is Depression?
Learn MoreWhat Is Self-Serving Bias?
Raising or influencing children to believe in themselves is a worthwhile goal with lifetime benefits. Show them unconditional love every day. Give the child in your life responsibilities according to their abilities and offer tactful feedback. Allow them to make mistakes and learn from them. Be sure to model self-confidence as well.
14 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The University of Queensland.Self-esteem and self-confidence.National Social Anxiety Center.Self esteem archives.Hays K, Thomas O, Maynard I, Bawden M.The role of confidence in world-class sport performance. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2009;27(11):1185-1199. doi:10.1080/02640410903089798Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J.The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context. Front Psychol. 2017;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034Villani D, Sorgente A, Iannello P, Antonietti A.The role of spirituality and religiosity in subjective well-being of individuals with different religious status. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01525National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Yoga: what you need to know.Brinthaupt TM.Individual differences in self-talk frequency: social isolation and cognitive disruption. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01088Chahar Mahali S, Beshai S, Feeney JR, Mishra S.Associations of negative cognitions, emotional regulation, and depression symptoms across four continents: International support for the cognitive model of depression. BMC Psychiatry. 2020;20(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2423-xKnox E, Muros JJ.Association of lifestyle behaviours with self-esteem through health-related quality of life in Spanish adolescents. Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(5):621-628. doi: 10.1007/s00431-017-2886-zAmerican Psychological Association.Teaching tip sheet: Self-efficacy.Lee JK.The effects of social comparison orientation on psychological well-being in social networking sites: Serial mediation of perceived social support and self-esteem. Curr Psychol. 2020. doi: 10.1007%2Fs12144-020-01114-3Artino AR.Academic self-efficacy: from educational theory to instructional practice. Perspect Med Educ. 2012;1(2):76-85. doi: 10.1007/s40037-012-0012-5What is generalized anxiety disorder?Verywell Health.Park K, Yang TC.The long-term effects of self-esteem on depression: the roles of alcohol and substance uses during young adulthood. Sociol Q. 2017;58(3):429-446. doi:10.1080/00380253.2017.1331718
14 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The University of Queensland.Self-esteem and self-confidence.National Social Anxiety Center.Self esteem archives.Hays K, Thomas O, Maynard I, Bawden M.The role of confidence in world-class sport performance. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2009;27(11):1185-1199. doi:10.1080/02640410903089798Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J.The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context. Front Psychol. 2017;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034Villani D, Sorgente A, Iannello P, Antonietti A.The role of spirituality and religiosity in subjective well-being of individuals with different religious status. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01525National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Yoga: what you need to know.Brinthaupt TM.Individual differences in self-talk frequency: social isolation and cognitive disruption. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01088Chahar Mahali S, Beshai S, Feeney JR, Mishra S.Associations of negative cognitions, emotional regulation, and depression symptoms across four continents: International support for the cognitive model of depression. BMC Psychiatry. 2020;20(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2423-xKnox E, Muros JJ.Association of lifestyle behaviours with self-esteem through health-related quality of life in Spanish adolescents. Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(5):621-628. doi: 10.1007/s00431-017-2886-zAmerican Psychological Association.Teaching tip sheet: Self-efficacy.Lee JK.The effects of social comparison orientation on psychological well-being in social networking sites: Serial mediation of perceived social support and self-esteem. Curr Psychol. 2020. doi: 10.1007%2Fs12144-020-01114-3Artino AR.Academic self-efficacy: from educational theory to instructional practice. Perspect Med Educ. 2012;1(2):76-85. doi: 10.1007/s40037-012-0012-5What is generalized anxiety disorder?Verywell Health.Park K, Yang TC.The long-term effects of self-esteem on depression: the roles of alcohol and substance uses during young adulthood. Sociol Q. 2017;58(3):429-446. doi:10.1080/00380253.2017.1331718
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
The University of Queensland.Self-esteem and self-confidence.National Social Anxiety Center.Self esteem archives.Hays K, Thomas O, Maynard I, Bawden M.The role of confidence in world-class sport performance. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2009;27(11):1185-1199. doi:10.1080/02640410903089798Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J.The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context. Front Psychol. 2017;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034Villani D, Sorgente A, Iannello P, Antonietti A.The role of spirituality and religiosity in subjective well-being of individuals with different religious status. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01525National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Yoga: what you need to know.Brinthaupt TM.Individual differences in self-talk frequency: social isolation and cognitive disruption. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01088Chahar Mahali S, Beshai S, Feeney JR, Mishra S.Associations of negative cognitions, emotional regulation, and depression symptoms across four continents: International support for the cognitive model of depression. BMC Psychiatry. 2020;20(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2423-xKnox E, Muros JJ.Association of lifestyle behaviours with self-esteem through health-related quality of life in Spanish adolescents. Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(5):621-628. doi: 10.1007/s00431-017-2886-zAmerican Psychological Association.Teaching tip sheet: Self-efficacy.Lee JK.The effects of social comparison orientation on psychological well-being in social networking sites: Serial mediation of perceived social support and self-esteem. Curr Psychol. 2020. doi: 10.1007%2Fs12144-020-01114-3Artino AR.Academic self-efficacy: from educational theory to instructional practice. Perspect Med Educ. 2012;1(2):76-85. doi: 10.1007/s40037-012-0012-5What is generalized anxiety disorder?Verywell Health.Park K, Yang TC.The long-term effects of self-esteem on depression: the roles of alcohol and substance uses during young adulthood. Sociol Q. 2017;58(3):429-446. doi:10.1080/00380253.2017.1331718
The University of Queensland.Self-esteem and self-confidence.
National Social Anxiety Center.Self esteem archives.
Hays K, Thomas O, Maynard I, Bawden M.The role of confidence in world-class sport performance. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2009;27(11):1185-1199. doi:10.1080/02640410903089798
Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J.The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context. Front Psychol. 2017;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034
Villani D, Sorgente A, Iannello P, Antonietti A.The role of spirituality and religiosity in subjective well-being of individuals with different religious status. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01525
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Yoga: what you need to know.
Brinthaupt TM.Individual differences in self-talk frequency: social isolation and cognitive disruption. Front Psychol. 2019;0. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01088
Chahar Mahali S, Beshai S, Feeney JR, Mishra S.Associations of negative cognitions, emotional regulation, and depression symptoms across four continents: International support for the cognitive model of depression. BMC Psychiatry. 2020;20(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2423-x
Knox E, Muros JJ.Association of lifestyle behaviours with self-esteem through health-related quality of life in Spanish adolescents. Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(5):621-628. doi: 10.1007/s00431-017-2886-z
American Psychological Association.Teaching tip sheet: Self-efficacy.
Lee JK.The effects of social comparison orientation on psychological well-being in social networking sites: Serial mediation of perceived social support and self-esteem. Curr Psychol. 2020. doi: 10.1007%2Fs12144-020-01114-3
Artino AR.Academic self-efficacy: from educational theory to instructional practice. Perspect Med Educ. 2012;1(2):76-85. doi: 10.1007/s40037-012-0012-5
What is generalized anxiety disorder?Verywell Health.
Park K, Yang TC.The long-term effects of self-esteem on depression: the roles of alcohol and substance uses during young adulthood. Sociol Q. 2017;58(3):429-446. doi:10.1080/00380253.2017.1331718
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