The Importance of Confidence in a Person's Life

The word ‘Confidence’ is derived from Latin which means “with faith” or “have full trust.” Having full trust in abilities, in someone, or yourself. Confidence is a one of the biggest keys to success. It is a personal journey and although we are taking different paths, we are all in the same road. The importance of having self-confidence allows us to draw strength and courage when things are tough and everyone else claims that the task ahead is impossible. So what must you do to become more confident? Well let me ask you this question, what do you have to do when you are practicing for sports or building physical muscles? You workout right. Confidence is like a muscle. In order to make it stronger you must workout your mental and emotional muscles regularly. Start by allowing more positivity, and less negativity. Surround yourself with positive peers. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that friends often bond by providing one another with the moral support needed to resist a temptation. They discovered that when it came to resisting temptations — like eating chocolate — sometimes friends were more likely to become partners in crime as they decided to indulge together. So basically, your decisions in life are greatly affected by the people you spend the most time with. If you pick friends who make poor choices, chances are you will do the same and this can drag you down with them. Choose people who inspire and challenge you to the become a better version of yourself and you will likely increase your chance of accomplishing your goals. Now, ask yourself this question, are you truly happy with who you are right now? If we are building our confidence we must begin by loving yourself and gaining a sense of self-worth. You will ALWAYS have room to grow. Once you allow yourself to do this, you will truly know what you deserve, you will know what you are capable of, and you will know what your potentials are. I think everyone is capable of so much more than we realize however, the ideal images and expectations in our society, our fears and our insecurities limits us from being able to find out more about ourselves.

As a personal connection, I came here in America in 2012 and I was very shy and quiet as mouse. I remember one of the biggest insecurities I had was having a very thick and strong Filipino accent every time I spoke in English which was the reason I did not like speaking or talking. I did not feel like I fitted in because I thought I was so different coming from a different country and I was afraid everyone would judge me. But slowly, I realized how much my actions prevented me from great opportunities that I was given a chance to take. So soon eventually, I began to change my perspective about my myself and my life and I was finally able to adjust and come out of my shell. So ever since then, I started making more friends and once I got to high school I started volunteering and began to be more involved in clubs and academies. And slowly, I realized I started gliding easier towards my goals. Remember, just like when you are promoting a business, what you put out there, is what you get. I believe what you project out to everyone is what they will perceive you as. If you start approaching life in a happier side, you will attract positivity and people will notice that.

Now, next thing we must remember is, do not allow comparison with anyone. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” There is no room for joy for if you continue to measure up yourself against other people. And this will be cliché but every day is always a new day. Every day is always a new chance to improve and build a stronger foundation that will make us better person than we were from yesterday. We can promote growth and to start this, we must eliminate our negative thoughts. According to National Science Foundation, studies have shown that the average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, are 80% negative and 95% are exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before. So about 80% of most people’s everyday thoughts are either negative or based in fear. We must not allow negativity to affect us as it will do nothing but weigh us down and lower our self-esteem.

Confidence involves around positive thinking and the more confident you are, the happier you become. Self-confidence is without a doubt the most powerful skill someone can obtain. Let’s all start believing in ourselves as it will allow us to create better decisions that can lead to success and change our whole lives for the better.