Self Confidence

Confidence is defined as a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances. Self confidence is defined in a very similar manner as confidence in oneself and in one's powers and abilities. Do you have a feeling or consciousness of your own powers and abilities?

Most of us will say yes, but many of us are lying, at least to a point. Are you where you want to be in life? Do you do the work you really think you should be doing? There are people who can answer both of these questions in the affirmative, but many of us cannot. For those of us who cannot, I know self confidence plays a role in us not being where we want to be or in not doing what we want to do.

How many times have you found a job you thought you would love, but failed to apply because you weren't qualified? How many times have you asked your boss for a raise and made the case for why you deserved one? How many times have you picked up extra tasks at work, not because anyone asked you or because you would be noticed, but because you could learn something new or knew you could do a great job? How many times have you continued to go after a goal when others said it was unreachable? How many times have you done something you thought was impossible? How many times have you given up?

If you are lucky, you will have people around you who have confidence in you, even when your confidence wanes. But, we can't count on this. We need to have the utmost confidence in our powers and abilities. I truly believe we are capable of doing anything. There are always going to be struggles and missteps, but these shouldn't affect our self confidence. Take the struggles and missteps as they come, learn from them and continue to move forward. We have to keep pushing towards our goals and not let the doubts creep in. It will take a lot of hard work, but we'll get there.

You just have to believe in yourself.

Easier said than done, right?

Not if you work on supplanting the doubts with encouragement and belief. When the doubts start to creep in, work on quieting them with encouragement to yourself. Train your mind to know you can do anything and once you start to believe, the doubting thoughts will occur less and less. Be bold. Be confident. Believe you can do anything. Have confidence in yourself and in your powers and abilities.