Understanding Self-confidence

Some people have a lot and others very little.  In fact, how much we have can vary greatly depending on time and circumstances.  The more positive it is can drive you to new levels of success and, conversely, the more negative can stop all progress.

You can call it self-confidence, self-esteem, self-respect, self-worth or even self-image and for years psychologists and behavioral scientists have recognized it as the single, most significant force directing and determining your life toward success or failure, fulfillment or frustration, illness or health.

The quality of your life actually reflects the image you have of yourself. Without exception, everything about you, your relationships, your work, your financial position, and even your mental, emotional and physical well-being is powerfully affected by your self-image. The bottom line, how you think of yourself is how you appear to others.  Changing your thoughts will only work if you truly believe them.  You can change your words but if inside you are still thinking something else then that is what will come out.

There never was a winner who didn’t believe that he or she deserved to win – in advance! Winners deserve to win. You have to have a dream if you’re going to make a dream come true. Your real value is in your potential, not just in your performance to date. Successful people believe in their own worth, even when they cling to nothing but a dream.  They can do this because their own self-worth is stronger than the rejection or acceptance of their ideas by others.

Our self-confidence is a journey, not a destination.  It started building in childhood and continues today to change; growing or shrinking depending on our experiences.  Our parents helped us to feel worthwhile and competent in mastering childhood tasks.  Our self-confidence continued to be nourished through achieving competency in areas important to us.

Self-confidence affects our entire life.  In general, the rougher the going gets on the outside, the greater the need for self-worth on the inside.  Your ability to overcome obstacles is enhanced if you have high self-confidence.  You are who you think you are, no more, no less.  That’s why it pays to think great!

If you want to improve your it, try something new and follow through, follow through, follow through.  All attempts you make give you practice toward your goal.  Remember Thomas Edison’s reply when asked about his work finding the right filament for the light bulb, “Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work.” If you learn something from every attempt you might not have reached your goal yet but you sure have learned a lot; and learning something new is always a good self-confidence booster.

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