From Self-Doubt to Self-Assurance: Nurturing Confidence and Self-Care

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Life often throws many challenges that can knock our confidence and self-belief. Maintaining confidence can be challenging when forced out of our comfort zone, returning to work after a sickness, or working in a toxic environment.

I have learned that confidence is about trusting yourself and believing in your abilities. However, some things can be done to improve our confidence.

These are some tips for nurturing confidence and self-care:

1. Have a Growth Mindset

People with a fixed mindset often believe confidence and intelligence are immutable and that failure and mistakes threaten their identity.

People with a growth mindset will have the opposite view. They will see failure as an opportunity to grow and will generally be more willing to put in the work to change and examine various approaches.

I had many setbacks when attempting my first project: creating resin jewellery. I got the ratio between the more complicated and resin right, but when I mixed them, I didn’t stir them well, and my resin failed to harden. From this experience, I’ve determined to make this work and have tried again.  

Again, creating this blog came with many challenges I had to overcome, as this was a massive step out of my comfort zone. I was riddled with self-doubt and negative self-talk and lacked confidence. Although I have grown in confidence over the years, I still experience many setbacks, but I am willing to keep going because of my growth mindset.

Having these two mindsets can influence many aspects of our lives.

The good news is that a fixed mindset doesn’t have to stay that way and can be drastically shifted if we work at it. A good way of enhancing your growth mindset is by asking questions, as quoted in the book ‘Mindset’ by Carol S Dweck.

I found Carol’s book highly informative and recommend it to those who want to know more about mindset in different aspects of life.

2. Self-esteem

Self-esteem is the value we consider our worth. Low self-esteem could result from negative life experiences, being criticised in a negative and unconstructive way, or a stressful event. Building self-esteem is relearning who you are. Mind has some fantastic tips for improving self-esteem.

A good tip that has worked for me in improving confidence is to Act First and Feel Better Later. If you take action to challenge yourself in new situations, your feelings will soon catch up.

So many people, including myself, wait until we feel a little more confident enough to pursue something, but after a certain amount of time, we realise that we’re still not any more confident than we were five years ago. This is because we hadn’t taken the necessary actions to build up confidence one step at a time.

I encourage you to take gradual, regular steps out of your comfort zone rather than enormous steps.

Commit yourself to improving something you have struggled with, for example, interviews, setting up a small business, or writing that book.

Put a plan in place to ensure that you continue to move forward step by step; this could be preparing what you will say at an interview or doing mock interviews with trusted friends or family.

If interview tips interest you, please leave a comment below👇🏾

3. Positive self-talk

It would be best if you didn’t constantly undermine yourself by negatively viewing your accomplishments and abilities.

Unfortunately, many of us have an inner critic who overly highlights our failures and flaws, which can cause us to feel miserable even when we’re doing well.

Here are some tips for you to consider to help with positive self-talk.

✴️ Be Kind to Yourself: Treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion you would show to a friend or family member. Avoid negative self-talk and focus on your strengths and accomplishments. Journal your strengths to refer to.

✴️  Use Affirmations: Repeat positive affirmations to yourself throughout the day. Examples might include “I am capable and competent” or “I trust in my abilities.” 

✴️  Reframe Negative Thoughts: When negative thoughts arise, reframe them positively. For example, instead of thinking, “I’m not good enough,” try “, I am constantly improving and growing.” 

✴️  Practice Gratitude: Focus on the things you are grateful for in your life. This can help shift your mindset from negative to positive. 

If you would like to purchase one of our Daily Gratitude Journals, you can click on the images below 👇🏾

✴️  Visualise Success: Imagine yourself achieving your goals and visualise the steps you must take to get there. This can help you stay motivated and focused on your objectives. 

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4. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do! You don’t need validation.

You know yourself better than anyone and don’t need anyone else’s validation or opinion about being your best self. Be aware that when we ask for validation, we could be getting someone’s insecurities and their own experience, which is often unsolicited, in their opinion.

Confidence is gained by honouring your individuality and making the right decisions for yourself.

Develop a mind filter to establish if the opinion is of any value to you and decide how you want to assimilate the information.

You are capable; believe that change is possible, so live your best life.  Going back to mindset, having a growth mindset means not letting other people define who you are and not being filled with limiting thoughts.

The ‘Confidence Pocketbook’ by Peter English is an excellent book that provides practical steps for building confidence.

5. Self-Care

Self-care and confidence are profoundly interconnected and can significantly influence each other.

Engaging in self-care activities helps enhance confidence. When you prioritise self-care, you feel more energised, centred, and capable of handling challenges. This increased sense of well-being directly contributes to a stronger sense of self-confidence.

Below are some examples of self-care tips.

Self-care and confidence rely on internal validation rather than external validation.

By practising self-care, you acknowledge your worth and prioritise your needs, independent of others’ opinions.

This self-validation fosters confidence by cultivating a strong sense of self-worth that isn’t reliant on external factors. Conversely, confidence allows you to recognise the importance of self-care and prioritise it without seeking constant validation from others.

If you would like to purchase a self-care planner, click on the link below 👇🏾

To conclude

Self-care, positive self-talk, self-esteem and confidence are mutually reinforcing aspects of personal growth. Prioritising these aspects bolsters confidence. By nurturing all these things, you can cultivate a positive and resilient mindset that empowers you to navigate life’s challenges with grace and authenticity.

We sincerely thank you for dedicating your time to reading our blog! Your engagement means a lot to us, and we genuinely hope that the information we’ve shared has proven valuable to you.

We eagerly invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with us. Please feel free to comment or contact us with any questions or suggestions.

Once again, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for joining our blog community. Stay inspired, stay motivated, and continue nurturing your well-being 💛

Warm regards!