Confidence is an assurance that we can make it. It is the uncanny ability to crush the inner fear and draw power when you are on empty. The definition of "confidence is a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities." Oftentimes when we do have the determination to move forward and step out in faith, we do fail. Experiencing the ebbs and flows of life is part of the human experience. To be honest, finding Confidence is not easy. Some may have more confidence than others, but the bottom line confidence is a hard thing to develop and to keep. Confidence is a by-product of that "inner power that propels us to keep taking action, bypassing our fears and self-doubts," wrote best-selling author Agapi Stassinopoulos. Bypass your fear and find your confidence again with these 6 tips.
Take Risks
To build confidence, you have to take risks. You have to swallow your pride. This means to hold your breath and jump into uncharted waters. There will times that you will fail, but along the way those wins will boost your confidence. This can be starting a new job, forming a new relationship or going back to school. Confidence doesn't just happen Stassinopoulos shared. You have to step out. "We question ourselves and fill ourselves with negative input that paralyzes us, making ourselves feel like we've failed before we've even begun." Be brave and be you! Branch out and take a leap of faith.
Visualize Success
Picture what you want in life and see yourself victorious. If you can't see this anymore, passivity enters into our lives. This starts a chain reaction that ultimately breeds complacency. All of these elements have a negative impact. When we lose our passion, our confidence in what we are doing starts to fade. You might have to find other ways to dream again. What could you do to change this? Be honest with yourself, because your confidence is on the line. "Begin to notice when you feel excited or curious about something. That's a clue from your intuition about what to pursue," writer Lynn A. Robinson wrote. She added that we should go to our friends and family and ask them to take note of what we are good at. Sometimes we just don't know what we are capable of.
Never Alone
The one cool thing is that you are never alone! You can reach out to God, reconnect with your inner-self, ask for others to help you and find people who are struggling with the same thing. If you feel overwhelmed and don't have the strength to reach out to God or to anyone, the Bible reminds us in Isaiah 40:29 that we are strong. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Don't let isolation keep you in the dark. Reach out to a professional or to a life coach to help you. Believe in your own resources, as well as those of people you trust.
Accept Yourself
This is a piece of advice that Stassinopoulos hit on in her book Wake Up to the Joy of You. She said to step into radical self-acceptance and start appreciating yourself more. Yes, your flaws as well! "Start by reinforcing the positive, and refrain from focusing on the negative," she wrote. But there is more that you can do. Start to form a list of all your great attributes and use this to shine above those feeling of vulnerability.
Get Going
You have to depend on yourself for the most part when it comes to boosting your confidence. Take responsibility to get your life and confidence moving. Guess what? You can't wait until you have the ideal environment to get going. Why? Simply because that will never occur. "Map out the next thing you would like to do and take steps toward it, no matter how microscopic," she explained. Most people have failed many times. Remaining still will paralyze you from moving forward. By the way, it is never too late for you to achieve your life's dream. Be who God created you to be!
Self-confidence is something that everybody seeks to find. It is those who persevere and who remain steadfast that take the prize. Today, we need to grab hold of our confidence and plant our feet again, even if the ground is shaking all around us. May today be a new start for you.
Beliefnet.com
