In this month’s article, I want to bring forward the importance of self-confidence.
Brought about by psychologist Dr. Albert Bandura, self-confidence (or what he referred to as self-efficacy) is the belief in your capabilities and skills. Belief in self is crucial for resilience and goal achievement. In fact, the ability to believe in yourself creates a virtuous cycle: self-confidence leads to success, and success leads to more self-confidence.
Here are five tips to improve your self-confidence levels:
Recite positive self-affirmations on a daily basis. Affirmations raise your vibration and bring you to a higher spiritual energy level.
See difficulties as opportunities to grow and learn. Instead of using mental energy complaining or feeling stuck, try thinking of your challenge as a teaching moment. Find the beauty in your imperfections. It will surprise you how far you can grow.
Focus on improvement instead of perfectionism. In order to avoid the sense of being overwhelmed, take it one step at a time. Realize that attaining your goal is not a race. In doing so, you will be able to find joy in the journey rather than be worried about the end result.
Celebrate even the small victories. This one goes along with number three. By splitting up big, long-term goals into shorter and smaller ones, it will be easier to track your growth. It will also motivate you to keep going until you have accomplished all you wanted to.
Practice kindness toward self. All of us have a tendency to be our own worst critic. Ask yourself, “would I speak to a friend the way I speak to myself?”. If the answer is ‘no’, try to give yourself a break and recognize you are doing the best you know how. You are your own best friend and should treat yourself that way. Kindness can be in the form of patience, understanding, and love.
Self-confidence is central to building every life skill — including emotional healing. At the Institute of Healing Arts, we use The Process to teach self-confidence to our students and clients. You do not have to go at it alone. We can help you find the power within yourself to heal. Schedule a Process with one of our trained facilitators or a student-in-clinic today!
Love Always,
Pam