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The Importance of Self Confidence for Your Success

  April 21

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importance of self confidenceIf you want to reach the peak of success in life, you have to have self confidence. In fact, I would argue that understanding the importance of self confidence and learning how to acquire it is one of the most important lessons you could ever undertake in life.

Why is Self Confidence Important?

Self confidence is important for many reasons. First and foremost, when you’re self confident, it means you believe in yourself. You have full faith in your abilities and in your decision making skills.

Even if you don’t know how to do something or achieve something, self confidence gives you the boost you need to find out the answers.

Other people also notice self confidence. Those who are self confident are typically leaders in their families, their communities, and in their workplaces. People are drawn to them and more likely to listen to them and respect them.

What is Self Confidence?

Simply put, self confidence is having trust in your own abilities.

It’s a lot different from being overly confident or having an ego. Being falsely confident can cause a lot of problems. Having an ego can cause a lot of problems.

But, when you have genuine self confidence and you believe in yourself, no task or goal seems insurmountable. Even if you come up against something you don’t know how to do, you have enough faith in yourself to learn how. Similarly, even if you encounter a difficult decision, self confidence means you trust your ability to choose the best path for you.

What are the Benefits of Self-Confidence?

Having real, true self confidence is important because it’s extremely difficult to go through life when you don’t trust your own decisions or believe in yourself. When you lack self confidence, you end up looking to others to make decisions for you instead of looking within. This can be dangerous because it means that other people will influence your decisions, rather than you being the primary decision maker in your life.

Of course, it’s nice to have mentors and people you look up to who can help you choose a path or help you on your journey. However, the ultimate, final decision need to come from you not them. The benefit of being self confident is that you have peace with your decisions, even if everyone around you doesn’t agree with them.

If you’re not self confident, it can be easy to be swayed by people who appear to know what they’re doing. You might make a choice based on what someone else thinks is right, not what is actually right for your particular situation.

Why is Confidence Important for Success?

Self confidence is clearly evident. The importance of self confidence is that it subconsciously alerts others that they’re in the presence of someone who is a leader and sure of themselves. People look up to those who have confidence. People with a strong sense of self and who project their inner confidence are more likely to get raises, promotions, and become successful in life.

How Do You Gain Confidence?

The great news is that no one is born confident. There’s no such thing as a confident baby. We all have the ability to become confident people and develop sincere self confidence no matter how we grew up, where we went to school, where we live, or where we work. To put it another way, confidence is an equal playing field, something that’s available to everyone.

That said, the primary way to gain self confidence is trying and failing

Trying and Failing Leads to Self Confidence

It might seem counterintuitive but you become more confident the more you try and fail. Just because someone is confident doesn’t mean they’re perfect. It doesn’t mean they never make mistakes. All it means is that they trust in their abilities. And the way you build trust in yourself is to keep trying again and again no matter how many times you fail.

Here’s a simple example: baking a turkey. It seems hard at first. You’re likely not confident at all that you can bake a huge turkey without screwing it up. Maybe you burn it the first time you try. Or, maybe you overcook it. Maybe it tastes so bad that your family has to order pizza for Thanksgiving. But, if you keep trying again and again, research, study, seek advice from mentors on baking your turkey, eventually you can become proficient at it. Then, one day, you’ll be so confident in your ability to make a turkey that you’ll be the one volunteering to bring one to gatherings.

Once again: no one is born confident. It comes from trying and failing and trying again. Confidence comes from years of trials. The importance of self confidence is that those who have it are the ones who have made the most mistakes and don’t mind it at all because they know the mistakes led to their proficiency and then eventual success.

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You Can’t Become Confident By Playing it Safe.

Confidence doesn’t come from playing it safe. You have to have grit. Perseverance. Thick skin. When you go through hard things in life and you attempt something numerous times before actually achieving it, you become strong and self confident. You realize that you can succeed at your goals. Some just happen to take longer than others, and confident people are ok with knowing that. They know the success will eventually come. They believe in themselves because the evidence of their past points to the fact that they don’t quit – and when you don’t quit, eventually success will happen.

So, really, the importance of self confidence is that when you have it, you always have someone on your side: you. You become so strong that you can walk into any room without someone by your side. Traveling alone doesn’t bother you at all. You can set strong boundaries and keep them without feeling guilty. Lastly, you can experience true friendship and true love because you’re able to stand independently on your own first. Confidence has so many benefits, but of course, the road to get there isn’t easy and that’s why many people don’t walk it.

Why Confidence is Attractive

Part of confidence is liking who you are, both on the inside and the outside. I know I feel more confident if I put on a nicer outfit. I feel like I can speak on a stage better when I’m in a pretty dress and gorgeous heels. There’s a science to that. Research shows that how you dress does change the way you perform.

I also feel more motivated when I’m dressed up. If I stay in my pajamas all day, I never quite feel like I’m ready to tackle my work. So, in many ways, how you dress is an indicator of your self confidence. If you think of it like that, then there is a reason people are attracted to confidence.

Confidence illustrates many things. In a partner, confidence shows that someone has the ability to make strong decisions and care for a family. At work, confidence shows a leader who is capable of handling large projects with accuracy. In a friend, confidence represents steadiness, good advice, and an example of self love and care. That’s why confidence is attractive.

Is Confidence the Key to Success?

As evidenced, confidence is a strong indicator of success. But, the importance of self confidence is more than it leading to success. Really, the importance is what it does for you, how you view yourself, how you treat yourself, and how you navigate the world.

Improving your self confidence, whether you start with reading self help books, starting to attend therapy, or simply dressing up more for yourself during the day, is a great way to improve your life overall. Not only will being more confident help you in your relationships and in the workplace, but most importantly, it will help you improve your relationship with yourself.

You only have one life to live, so why not live it confidently? Why not live in a world where you trust your own decisions or instincts? Try it sometime. Try and fail and try again. Immerse yourself in personal development. Give yourself grace. Journal. Allow yourself to understand why you are the way you are, and if you’re unhappy with your level of self confidence, take the steps today to improve it. Several small steps and micro improvements over time can lead to massive changes in the way you view yourself and the world in the future.

At the end of the day, the importance of self confidence is that it helps you to be more like you. It can be a bit of a long road to get there, but it’s worth every step on the journey.

 

>> Want more confidence? Click here to get the free 5 Day Confidence Challenge << 

 

 

2 responses to “The Importance of Self Confidence for Your Success

  1. That’s all so true. As a teen I was pathologically shy and lacked self confidence. One day I was asked to play the lead in a musical play by someone who saw hidden potential in me. I was terrified but said yes anyway. Everything changed for me after that, I made new friends, met my first real girlfriend, started saying yes to lots of opportunities including some failures. Mostly I realized that it made sense to stretch myself and grow and the cost of failure wasn’t that high, it was just a way of learning. This followed me through my work life where I started as an intern and retired running the entire company and having been married to my best friend for over 40 years with three great kids. And often I think it only happened because I took a chance and acted in that play.

    1. I love this story! What a great example of putting yourself out there and having it pay off!

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