Your level of self-confidence is equal to the belief that you have in your ability to achieve success in a particular field. Therefore, self-confidence is a prime determinant of achievement. You can only apply yourself fully to those areas of accomplishment which you perceive to have a possibility of attaining. However, higher levels of self-confidence can be achieved through the application and practice of certain exercises and activities.
Competence
"Competence allows a person to become more confident, which provides emotional support for an effort to learn new skills and knowledge," says psychologist Raymond Wlodkowski, in "Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn." In essence, competence builds confidence. Competence, in turn, drives you to develop your skills and abilities even further. You can build your confidence in any area by accomplishing meaningful tasks in small stages. If you first break an accomplishment down into its most elemental parts, completing each part then becomes a manageable matter. Consider an area of performance in which you would like to become more confident and determine the smallest significant measure of achievement. Focus on completing only this activity until it is brought to a satisfactory end. Concentrate, then, on mastering the next step, then the next, and so on. These small successes will, over time, translate into sizable gains of self-confidence.
Staying in the Present
Holding onto negative past events can restrain your efforts to act more confidently in the present. Yesterday's mistakes are only beneficial when thought of as lessons that steer you toward today's success. Remaining in past sorrows, however, will generate a feeling of anxiety that can limit your potential to act in the future. Any time you mentally remove yourself from the present, you are surrendering your power to perform at that moment. To build confidence in a given arena, therefore, concentrate on what you can do with what you have right now. Each time you find yourself drifting into the past, stop, and bring your thoughts back to your goals of the current day. Psychotherapist Renée M. Grinnell contends that "Focusing on the present frees one up to respond thoughtfully rather than automatically.” At first, it may take a considerable effort to remain entirely "now-oriented." In fact, you may have to redirect your thoughts several times, daily, before the new thinking pattern becomes habitual. With practice, however, you will adopt a new way of thinking that accelerates your personal growth.
Become Curious
Your self-confidence can easily be damaged if you expect to live up to a perfect ideal at the outset of any endeavor. English author G.K. Chesterton once said, "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." To master any skill, you must be willing to make the inevitable errors that come with accomplishment. During the initial stages of learning, it is unreasonable to look upon the best in a certain field and fault yourself for not performing at the same level. Clinical psychologist Patricia M. Kelly, Ph.D., contends that "Freedom is not worth having if does not include the freedom to make mistakes." It is more helpful to assume an attitude of curiosity. Instead of obligating yourself to an unreachable ideal, just do what you know and see what happens. You can, then, adjust your efforts, according to whatever feedback you receive from the environment. This way of behaving is essential to self-development and will, automatically, help you develop higher levels of self-confidence.
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