Author: Isha
Confidence is often defined as the self-assurance you have in your abilities. Building confidence is an ongoing and sometimes complex process, so there is no “formula” or “technique” to build confidence. Confidence and self-love is a personal journey and everyone’s abilities and ways of dealing with situations are unique.
I want to discuss the pressures and misconceptions related to gaining confidence, as it is easy to feel overwhelmed with ideas in the digital world we live in.
Confidence fluctuates
Confidence does not mean feeling comfortable in every situation you are in. It is almost impossible to be confident all the time. You will have days when you feel empowered and ready to take on new challenges and other days filled with self-doubt. The important side to this, is to not let the rough patches pull you down, rather use those times to learn, grow, and build your confidence.
One way to look at it is that confidence is like brushing your teeth. You brush your teeth every day to maintain your dental health. Similarly, confidence is something that needs to be maintained and worked on consistently. Sometimes, we are hard on ourselves by looking back on the odd bad days we have to define our confidence level. Since confidence is built over time, it is important to see the whole picture and look at both the good days and bad days.
Understand what healthy comparisons are
Comparing yourself to other people is often frowned upon, but sometimes we can’t help it. We are constantly surrounded by other people who accomplish things that we admire and want to work up to. Looking at someone and wanting to achieve similar things is normal and does not mean that you are “jealous and insecure.” The key difference is in the way you compare. For instance, looking at someone and saying, “Wow, I love that, I want to achieve that too” is a lot different than degrading or looking down on someone’s accomplishments due to jealousy.
Lastly, take it a day at a time
Confidence can come from simply completing your daily tasks to the best of your abilities. Sometimes we tend to think that confidence is a huge, overbearing power that people naturally have. However, many of us are confident but do not recognize it and devalue it. When you start to see how the small actions you take help you reach bigger goals, you will realize a new sense of confidence!
I wanted to make a post dedicated to this topic because it is something that I have struggled with over time.
From feeling pressured with academics and extracurriculars, to dealing with acne and body image issues, it took a long time for me to feel confident the way I am.
I hope that this post helps you see confidence in a new light! I encourage you to take risks like joining a new club or team in school and reaching out to people you don’t know. Meeting new people and building new skills has helped me explore different sides of me to become more confident!
