When you feel confident about yourself, you cope well with challenges and criticism, take pride in your accomplishments and feel capable of handling new situations. When you lack confidence, you may find your career, your relationships and other parts of your life more difficult to navigate. Building self-confidence takes time, but for many people, the results are well worth the effort.
Criticize Yourself Kindly
Often, low self-confidence stems from your internal monologue---you may get a low score on a test or make a mistake at work, and instead of acknowledging the mistake and moving on, you beat yourself up over it and use the experience as an excuse to call yourself stupid or a failure. The University of Texas at Austin Counseling and Mental Health Center recommends boosting your self-confidence by learning to recognize when your inner critic is being too critical and reframing your negative thought. For instance, instead of saying "I messed up that project, so I'm an idiot," be specific, proactive and reassuring by saying something like, "I should have asked more questions before I started this project. Next time, I'll know to do that, and I can do a better job."
Make Time for Relationships
According to "Psychology Today" magazine, one of the best ways to develop self-confidence is through positive social interactions. To boost your social network---and grow confidence---"Psychology Today" recommends scheduling social time just like you schedule meetings or appointments, and using social opportunities to sharpen your ability to make conversation and friends. Keep in mind that learning how to deal with awkward social experiences---such as being turned down for a get-together or ignored in a conversation---can help grow your self-confidence as much as positive experiences.
Support Yourself
Take time to make decisions, but don't obsess, recommends Marshall Goldsmith on the Harvard Business Review Blog. Goldsmith says that while you can seek input and data when you're making decisions, in the end you have to make the decision that feels right and not second-guess yourself. Goldsmith points out that few business decisions are clearly right or wrong, and life decisions have similar ambiguity. You can make yourself crazy---and lower your confidence---by constantly second-guessing big decisions. Instead, trust yourself and your decisions, and learn from your mistakes.
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