5 Tips to Boost Your Confidence

Confidence helps us tackle life’s challenges with assurance. We’ve all felt confident while doing something, and we’ve also experienced moments of doubt. So, how do we build confidence?

Let’s dive into what confidence really is and why it’s so important. Can you actually learn it as a skill? We’ll explore these questions and offer some course suggestions to help you boost your self-confidence.

What is confidence? 

At its core, confidence is simply trusting in something. When we talk about self-confidence, we’re referring to believing in yourself and your own abilities or knowledge.

According to Goldsmiths University of London, self-confidence (or core self-evaluation) has two key parts: self-efficacy and locus of control.

Self-efficacy is your belief in your ability to succeed in specific situations. This belief can come from:

• Direct experience: Trying something new and succeeding.
• Observed experience: Seeing someone you admire succeed or fail.
• Social persuasion: Being told you’re good at something.

Locus of control is about believing you can influence the situations in your life. If you have an internal locus of control, you think your own efforts and decisions determine your success. If you have an external locus of control, you might believe that luck, circumstances, or fate are what decide your success.

As we discussed in our post on developing a growth mindset, people who focus on self-improvement tend to do better than those with a fixed mindset, who believe their abilities are set in stone.

Confidence vs. Arrogance

There’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance. Confidence means believing in your abilities and knowledge. Arrogance, however, involves thinking your abilities make you better than others. Confidence is about positively expressing your ability to succeed or influence situations, while arrogance is about boasting to others about those abilities.

Confidence vs. Self-Esteem

Confidence and self-esteem are related but not the same. Self-esteem is about how we feel about ourselves—whether we like who we are, how we view our strengths and weaknesses, and if we can forgive ourselves for mistakes. Confidence is more about believing in your own abilities. You might be confident in what you can do but still have issues with self-esteem.

Why Confidence Matters

Feeling confident can be incredibly rewarding, and there’s evidence that shows just how important it is. Here’s why having confidence is a big deal:

Confident People Tend to Live Longer

A study from Brandeis University and the University of Rochester found that people who are self-confident and resilient often enjoy longer, healthier lives. The research showed that having a strong sense of control, which is linked to confidence, can offset some of the health risks associated with lower education levels.

Confident People Are Happier

Research from 2003 found that people with higher self-esteem tend to be happier, more satisfied, and experience fewer negative moods. If you’re interested in boosting your confidence and managing stress, check out our course from Luleå University of Technology.

Confidence Boosts Physical and Mental Health

Having positive self-esteem is linked to better mental wellbeing and recovery from serious illnesses. So, confidence isn’t just good for your mood—it can also help you bounce back from health challenges.

Confidence and Success

While the exact connection isn’t always clear, there’s often a positive link between self-esteem and success. It might be that succeeding makes people feel more confident, or confident people may be more successful. Just like with growth mindsets, believing in your ability to persevere and work hard can definitely help you achieve your goals.

Is Confidence a Skill?

There’s some debate about whether confidence is a skill or just a natural trait. It might seem like something you’re either born with or not, but confidence isn’t set in stone. Instead, it’s about believing in your ability to succeed and your power to influence your life.

This idea ties in with the growth mindset concept—the belief that you can develop your basic qualities through effort. While things like intelligence and personality might stay relatively constant, you can definitely work on and build your confidence.

We know that self-esteem can be improved with effort, which suggests that confidence is something you can develop, much like a skill. However, some people think of confidence more as an emotion that can be managed rather than a skill you can build.

What Does a Lack of Confidence Look Like?

It’s not always easy to spot someone who lacks confidence. In fact, some people who seem self-assured might just be really good at faking it.

But there are some clear signs that someone might be struggling with confidence. Here are a few of the classic indicators:

• Anxiety: People with low self-esteem often feel anxious in new or unfamiliar situations. This anxiety can make them doubt their abilities, since confidence is largely about believing in yourself.
• Avoiding Challenges: If someone lacks confidence, they might shy away from trying new things because they don’t trust that they’ll succeed.
• Avoiding Social Situations: Meeting new people or even interacting with familiar faces can be daunting for those with low confidence. They might avoid social settings because they doubt their social skills.
• Neglecting Self-Care: Someone who feels down about themselves may also neglect their own well-being. This could show up as poor eating habits, skipping exercise, or being overly critical of themselves.
• Worrying About Others’ Opinions: People with low self-esteem often worry about how others see them. They may project their own negative feelings onto others, thinking everyone judges them as harshly as they judge themselves.

Also Read: 5 Essential Skills for Future Workplaces

How to Build Confidence: Five Top Tips

If you’re feeling low on confidence, there are several tried-and-true methods to help boost it. Many of these tips are backed by research and can make you feel better about yourself and your abilities. Here are our top five tips for building confidence:

1. Practice Self-Care
   Taking care of yourself can really boost your confidence. Regular exercise, good sleep, and a healthy diet all contribute to feeling better about yourself. Also, activities like mindfulness and gratitude can reduce stress and improve your mood.
2. Build Positive Relationships
   Spending time with negative people can drain your confidence. Instead, focus on building relationships with supportive and positive individuals. Their encouragement can help you feel more confident. For more on fostering positive relationships, check out our course on Building Trust and Growing Your Self-Confidence.
3. Develop a Growth Mindset
   Research shows that people with a growth mindset—believing you can develop your abilities through effort—tend to have higher self-esteem and resilience. Building a growth mindset can positively impact many areas of your life. Learn more in our course on Growth Mindsets and Career Success.
4. Challenge Yourself
   Setting and tackling challenges can help build confidence. While it’s normal to feel nervous about new things, taking on challenges can help you grow. Setting goals can also help you focus and make gradual progress.
5. Practice Self-Affirmations
   Affirmations can be powerful. By regularly reminding yourself of your strengths and positive traits, you reinforce your confidence. Studies show that self-affirmations can support your belief in yourself. Try these positive affirmations:

• “I choose to believe I am confident.”
• “I am confident and value myself.”
• “I am confident in my abilities.”
• “I let go of limiting beliefs and trust myself.”

These tips can help you build and maintain confidence, making you feel more assured in your daily life.

Examples of confidence

In our course from Goldsmiths University, we learned that boosting self-confidence starts with focusing on the positives—both in your own experiences and those you see in others. One effective way to do this is by changing any negative thoughts into positive ones.

Here are some examples of confident thinking:

• A confident person recognizes their strengths.
• They have a realistic view of their abilities and situations.
• They bounce back and stay resilient even when things get tough.

By adopting these positive thoughts, you can build your self-confidence and approach challenges with a stronger mindset.

How to speak with confidence 

Talking confidently, whether you’re chatting with someone new or presenting to a big group, can be challenging. But don’t worry—confidence in speaking is something you can definitely improve.

In our blog post about public speaking, we share some great tips to boost your confidence. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Change your mindset: Believe in yourself and your message.
• Learn breathing techniques: They can help calm your nerves.
• Research your topic: Knowing your stuff boosts confidence.
• Know your message: Be clear about what you want to say.
• Understand your audience: Tailor your message to their interests.
• Practice: The more you do it, the more confident you’ll become.
• Get constructive feedback: Use it to improve and grow.