Confidence Building Measures - A Complete Guide

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Confidence is defined as having a positive impression of oneself and faith in one's ability to accomplish things. In other words, it is simply believing in oneself. Self-confidence stems from the notion that one can survive and prosper in a variety of scenarios, including personal relationships, social interactions, family life, school and professional life.

We usually lose trust in ourselves as a result of negative experiences or when we are put down by people telling us that we can’t do something. It is not uncommon to give in to the negativity and start believing that to be true. But thinking this way doesn’t help in the least and is even counter-productive to accomplishing things.

Instead, one has to learn to look at oneself and understand one’s strengths and weaknesses. Many people avoid doing so for fear of being disappointed by what they might find. If someone wants to improve their self-confidence, though, they might want to start with the reality of thinking and learning about who they are.

See also:

• 13 courses to boost confidence in your professional life

• 15+ courses on self-esteem to become the best version of yourself

• How to improve mental health of students

To begin with, answer the following questions for yourself:

• Do you have faith in yourself?

• Do you believe you have the ability to accomplish your goals?

• Do you believe you are as competent and valuable as other people?

If you responded a 'No' to all or most of the above questions, you may need to work on your self-confidence. But fret not, for this is not unusual. Many people suffer from poor self-confidence even though they appear to be self-assured. This article will help you to understand how to overcome your self-doubts and how to boost your self-confidence through confidence-building measures.

See also: How to build confidence and self-esteem

What confidence looks like

The below examples show what self-confidence can look like:

• Feeling good about oneself; believing that you are worthwhile despite your flaws.

• Recognizing and embracing the real self, including one’s strengths and weaknesses.

• Taking pride in who you are irrespective of past mistakes, and in the sort of work one does or doesn't do, and so on.

• Being bold and strong enough to stand up and speak out for oneself.

See also: How to develop your personality

What confidence is not?

It's useful to know what self-confidence isn't in order to better comprehend what it is. Self-confidence is not:

• Believing that you are flawless, or that you should be perfect.

• Being selfish and thinking you are superior to others.

• Having unreasonable expectations and standards for oneself.

Understanding the different levels of self-confidence

The level of self-confidence in any individual can be understood in the context of three broad levels-

• Overconfidence

• Lack of confidence

• Optimal self-confidence.

Overconfidence can be defined as an overestimation of one's real ability to do a task effectively, a perception that one's behaviour is superior to most others, or having an exaggerated assurance of the veracity of one's views. Overconfident people tend not to take suggestions and think that they are the only person capable of doing something, only to find it not to be the case. For example, a person who feels they have a good photographic memory and a good grasp of a subject may demonstrate arrogance by refusing to prepare for an exam, resulting in poor performance on the test due to a lack of preparation.

See also:

• How to reduce exam stress

• How to learn faster

On the other hand, lack of confidence or a low confidence level is often the reason why a person with high aptitude in a given area is unable to complete their tasks. Such an individual would fear taking chances, will be hesitant to push himself, and will be reluctant to attempt new things. Even if they are intelligent, persons with low self-confidence will put themselves in the dark. For example, when someone praises them, they start analyzing it instead of graciously accepting it. Taking up confidence-building measures can help one rectify this.

When an individual has optimal self-confidence they make quick and confident judgments, knowing that they have done their best with the information that they have. Such people feel content to be surrounded by other people and get emotional support from them. As such, these individuals come to believe in themselves. Having optimal self-confidence allows them to become so sure of their abilities that they work hard to obtain their goals and ambitions. To attain a high level of performance, individuals can adopt different types of confidence-building measures.

See also: Skill development courses after 10th

Confidence building measures

There are various types of confidence-building measures to boost one’s self-esteem. These techniques may be used in any scenario where one lacks confidence, whether it's in a specific area or in general. Here are a few confidence-building measures examples.

• Stop comparing yourself with others: Inform yourself that making comparisons isn't useful when you see yourself doing so. Life is not really a competition, and everybody is running their own individual race.

• Be assertive: Assertiveness entails adhering to your values and standing up for what you believe in. Do this more often in situations where you feel your own voice is going unheard.
  
  See also: 15+ courses on assertiveness to help you present yourself more strongly
  

• Find yourself a role model: Find someone you wish to follow that you see on a frequent basis. Observe how they act when they are confident—what do they say and when, how do they move, how do they speak? How do they behave when presented with a problem or a blunder?
  
  See also: Body language in communication
  

• Recognize your strengths and weaknesses: Make a list of the things you excel at and the areas where you know you can improve. Such confidence-building measures will allow you to gauge your abilities and know what can be done to improve further.
  
  See also: SWOT analysis
  

• Develop a confident mindset: Retrain your inner voice to say "I can" instead of "I can't." These types of confidence-building measures cultivate a positive outlook towards life and build self-esteem to be a go-getter.

• Take a safe risk: Sign up for a school committee, volunteer to help with a project, or raise your hand in class more often. These confidence-building measures nudge one out of their comfort zone and provide enough stimulation to start building back confidence in oneself.

• Set goals: Make a goal for yourself to do something that is just a little bit beyond your comfort zone. One of the best confidence-building measures examples is to set smart goals for yourself and aim wisely.

So these were some of the confidence-building measures examples that you can adopt today. Having an optimal level of self-confidence doesn’t just allow one to excel in the academic and professional setting but is also indicative of sound mental health. It is one of the more important soft skills to have that allows one to function to the best of one’s abilities and lead a fulfilling life.

Read more:

• What is mental for students

• How to concentrate on studies?

• How to make a career choice when you are undecided

Author - This article has been authored by Nikita Kukkar, who is a counselling psychologist and has extensive experience in career counselling for high school students.