One of the most crucial aspects of effective, convincing, and powerful communication, confidence is a skill that can be enhanced, nurtured, and mastered by everyone. In particular, confidence is one of the pillars of great leadership – both in a professional and a personal setting.
Discover more about self-confidence, why it’s so important, and how to build it in our comprehensive guide here.
The Three Main Types of Confidence
Everyone has their own type of self-confidence – below we describe the three main ones.
1. Over Self-Confidence
Some people can display what is often labeled as “over self-confidence” or “inflated self-esteem”. This is simply, an excessive amount of self-confidence that may lead people to believe that they are vastly better than anyone else.
As it’s easy to imagine, those who display this type of confidence can struggle with creating and maintaining healthy, balanced, and authentic relationships. This is because people with over self-confidence are always competing with others, and are also characterized by a marked inability to listen to and appreciate other people.
2. Low Self-Confidence
At the other end of the spectrum to over self-confidence sits low self-confidence. On an outer level, it may seem that people with low self-esteem are easier to bond with compared to those with an inflated sense of self.
Nonetheless, this appears not to be entirely true. People with low self-confidence, in fact, display a constant fear of failure that manifests itself with stress, anxiety, and inaction. These people are also often unhappy about themselves and their lives, and can become envious of more confident people.
3. Realistic Self-Confidence
Arguably, having a realistic view and expectations of oneself is the best and healthiest type of self-confidence, as recent research studies have confirmed. This is because people who know their strongest and weakest points, and who trust their skills and abilities tend to enjoy better mental and physical health, stronger and longer-lasting relationships, and more stable success at work.
People with this type of self-esteem can objectively evaluate problems, find workable solutions, and not feel too upset when something goes wrong. They are characterized by a growth mindset, strong resilience, and the ability to always find the positives in any situation.
Building Your Self-Confidence, the Impro Way
We all have varying degrees and self-confidence levels. These depend on many factors, including our environment, our relationships, our health, and our previous experiences.
Nonetheless, every single one of us can take steps to build and boost our self-confidence – even those with the lowest levels of self-esteem.
Let’s reveal Impro’s five-step journey towards greater self-confidence, for life.
1. Set Yourself Realistic, Achievable Goals
Do you have the feeling that you are constantly failing at achieving your goals? Are you wondering why nothing seems to work out for you? Instead of focusing on the result, take a step back and consider your starting point – that is, your goal.
Perhaps, the problem here is that you are setting yourself a goal that is impossible, or unattainable . Then, try to look at that goal and see if you can tweak it to become something more feasible.
This could be anything – from career advancement to fitness level and weight loss, from traveling to buying your first house. Make your goal more realistic by evaluating how you are likely to achieve it and in how much time. Then, start again by following a more reasonable path that will, eventually, lead you towards your goal.
2. Keep Focusing on the Positives
One of the worst things you can do for yourself – and your self-confidence – is to talk yourself down. Negative self-talk can be incredibly detrimental as it instantly makes your confidence plummet, while also requiring a lot more effort from you to bring it back up.
From today, try to focus on the positives in your life, whatever they may be. It could be your physical and mental health, the place where you live, your family and friends, your job, or a particular hobby that keeps you active and happy.
By drawing your attention to the good things that you already have, you will realize just how lucky, loved, and valued you are, which in turn will increase your self-esteem.
3. Work on Improving Yourself Constantly
Focusing on the positives, however, doesn’t mean that you should stop making improvements to yourself and your life. In fact, having a growth mindset is phenomenally helpful when it comes to boosting your self-esteem.
Find something that you are passionate about and keep working on it throughout your life.
4. View Mistakes as Learning Opportunities
In life, sometimes things don’t go to plan. This is a fact for everybody: perfection doesn’t exist, and failure is always – potentially – around the corner. We have a choice, nonetheless: how we react to our so-called failures.
If we dramatize every mistake, every mishap, or every tiny blip, our self-confidence will drop radically. On the other hand, if we view mistakes for what they really are – opportunities to learn, grow, and do better next time – our self-esteem will hugely benefit from it.
5. Don’t Compare Yourself
Last but by no means least, something you should absolutely never do if you want to maintain a high level of self-confidence is comparing yourself to others. Have you ever heard the saying “Comparison is the thief of joy?”
This seemingly simple metaphor holds a lot of truth in it. If you constantly compare yourself to the people you see, for example, on social media, you might experience a surge of envy. This, in turn, can lead you on a downward spiral of self-pity and low self-esteem.
Even comparing yourself, your life, and your job to those of your friends or family members can have similar effects. Always keep in mind that people show you only what they want you to see – a shiny new car, a sculpted body, a huge mansion – but there is so much more that you will potentially never know, and that you surely wouldn’t envy if you did find out.
Become More Confident, for Life
Would you like to action this five-step plan and grow your confidence exponentially? At Impro, we offer deeply personalized, 1:1 coaching. Together with your Impro coach, you will enhance your self-confidence, become a better communicator, and lead a happier, more fulfilled life.
Visit our website today to discover how we can help you and your company work better, smarter, and more efficiently, by focusing on what matters to you.
