Self-confidence: meaning, characteristics, benefits and more!

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Jennifer Sherman

What is self-confidence?

Self-confidence is the security that a person feels in himself, whether or not he trusts his decisions and if he believes in a positive way in the possible results of his choices. It arises from knowledge, experiences and mainly from faith, in himself and in life.

Self-confidence is also very much associated with self-love, with how much one allows or does not allow oneself to be harmed from one's choices and the choices of others. In addition, it attracts people and opportunities, because by trusting oneself, other people also trust and the possibilities multiply.

In this article you will check out all the aspects of self-confidence and how you can benefit from it, at work, in personal life and also how to achieve it.

Meaning of self-confidence

It is very important to understand what is self-confidence and how to conquer it. Self-confidence is, in fact, what can guide you to a full life, because only you know deeply your desires, dreams and know what you can or cannot do to achieve your goals.

Below is the definition of self-confidence and the characteristics of the self-confident person, to learn once and for all how to elevate this ability to succeed.

Definition of self-confidence

Self-confidence is confidence in oneself. It exists when a person can recognize in himself a safe harbor, when he knows he can trust his own decisions and his intuition to succeed and remain protected.

Characteristics of the self-confident person

A self-confident person is one who, above all, believes in his own capacity, knows his limits and knows how to exalt his qualities. These characteristics allow this person to overcome obstacles more easily, and lead a lighter life.

The main benefits of self-confidence are the absence of fear, insecurity to the point of paralysis and, of course, a full, happy and healthy life, because self-confidence also directly benefits a person's health.

Personal benefits of self-confidence

Only with self-confidence you will be able to fully achieve your goals. This is because it is directly linked to your personal power, and your ability to realize and accomplish things in your life.

Once you acquire this security and are able to live in harmony with it, there are countless benefits that reveal themselves. Below are the main benefits associated with self-confidence, such as happiness, personal development, resilience and even reduced anxiety.

Happiness

Happiness is, of course, everyone's quest, so being happy can have very different definitions among people. In turn, self-confidence brings the ability to primarily believe in yourself and in the improvement and success of your expectations about life. That's why self-confidence also brings happiness.

This possibility of living with confidence and joy in difficult days is what determines whether a person is happy or not. Life is made of ups and downs, and it is indispensable to have confidence in oneself to overcome the hardest phases, as well as to recognize one's merits when the winds are favorable. Self-confidence guarantees this.

Love relationships

Self-confidence is also extremely beneficial in love relationships. As much as a relationship may require giving from partners, recognizing one's own value and knowing personal limits is also a must.

Thus, self-confidence in love relationships not only protects you from personal abuse and manipulative people, but ensures that you are ready to give only your best to your partner. In addition, you will always believe in healing your pains and victories in the face of obstacles that will inevitably appear.

Personal development

Most of the time, failure is related to the lack of understanding of a situation or mainly the personal capacity to face certain problems. That is why, with time, the human being becomes better and starts to solve issues that before he could not.

Self-confidence, in turn, strengthens this notion of yourself and the situations you are capable or not of facing. The result is inevitably personal development, so that a self-confident person only evolves in the face of life's obstacles.

Have more fun

A self-confident person has more fun. This is because in order to really indulge in fun and joy, you must believe in your heart that everything is okay. A person who doubts himself, or who thinks that at every moment something bad can happen, will hardly be a cheerful person.

So self-confidence brings that feeling that all is well, and if it isn't, that you are able to work to make things right. With this light energy, you become a person who is grateful for your life, who enjoys sharing and multiplying moments of pleasure. You have more fun and are also great company.

Less anxiety

Self-confidence is also the antidote to anxiety. Anxiety is linked to the difficulty of staying in the present and feeling light in your place.

Thus, if you are able to truly understand your value, the importance of your existence, and how life always moves in the direction of life itself, that is, by solution, healing, and understanding, your thoughts will be secure in a place of peace, and you will hardly suffer from anxiety.

Therefore, self-confidence creates all these feelings, because it is linked to self-love, which prevents you from believing in suffering.

Financial life

Having conviction in yourself and in life infinitely benefits your relationship with money and financial life. Often, financial mess is a result of the bad thoughts you cultivate about your reality and especially about your needs. So, self-confidence enables you to be able to look your situation in the face, get organized and plan.

Thus, you come to understand that you are solely responsible for your success, and you start working towards it. You also avoid unnecessary expenses not only because you become more resilient, but also because you are satisfied with yourself and don't need external material stimuli to feel good.

Experiences

Once you accept yourself and have faith in your choices through self-confidence, you begin to have much more pleasant and constructive experiences in your life. You come to understand the true value of experiences, and therefore seek truth and quality.

It is common after a process of self-confidence and self-acceptance, a person begins to travel more, or open a business, or get rid of toxic relationships. This happens because the experiences gain a new meaning, everything becomes a gift from life. In addition to being a more grateful person, you start to seek the best you can to live all this happily and intensely.

Resilience

Self-confidence also greatly improves a person's resilience. Resilience is the ability to persist, to keep trying for a change or a victory even in the face of adversity. People who lack self-confidence easily give up because they believe they are not capable of winning, or that it is too difficult.

So, having self-confidence gives you the strength to persist even when situations get tough. It's about believing in victory, and if you actually believe in yourself and your success, hardly anything will bring you down to the point of making you give up.

Reduces depression

Depression should always be treated with psychological and medical monitoring. In addition, what all depressive conditions have in common is the inability of a depressed person to truly believe in life and happiness. In many cases, the traumas are really deep, and the person no longer sees the meaning of living.

Therefore, having self-confidence with you can be very effective in reducing depression. Changing the frequency of your thoughts, believing in success and happiness are the true path to a happy life. So, keeping in mind that everything is fleeting, that life can be better every day and seeing yourself as a miracle are keys to getting rid of bad thoughts.

Better health

Thoughts directly affect our life, not only our emotions but also our decisions. It is common for you to buy more or eat something less healthy when you are not happy. That is why self-confidence also helps to have better health.

If you feel satisfied with yourself, you will hardly indulge in exaggerations that do you harm, like eating or drinking. When this is analyzed for a whole life, there lies the cure for all diseases: a light and happy life. Therefore, believing in yourself is essential to get fuel to keep yourself clean.

Professional benefits of self-confidence

Having self-confidence can also be very positive for your professional results. This is because by believing in yourself and your potential, you are able to deliver amazing results. Not only do your ideas and creativity become sharper, but you become much more capable of facing challenges and evolving in your career.

Follow below the main aspects that are benefited by self-confidence when it is also reflected in your work, such as career growth, ease in facing unemployment and increased communication skills.

More results

Your productivity is directly related to your ability to observe your goals and believe in your ideas and pursue your objectives. With self-confidence, you avoid self-sabotage, the streams of pessimism and lack of faith in your own work, which serve to prevent you from actually achieving the expected results.

So, what happens is that you will produce more and more results, because you can successfully face the crises of insecurity about what you produce. Not only are your results better, but your productivity increases considerably, making you good and efficient at what you do.

Career growth

When you believe in yourself deeply, you become able to demonstrate your value to others, which includes your superiors. Thus, over time, you will naturally evolve in your career, because you are able to give your best, and this is reflected in the results of the company or institution you work for.

In fact, career growth without self-confidence is actually quite difficult. In fact, it's easier to see not-so-capable but fairly confident people in high positions than the other way around. This is because making decisions mainly involves believing in yourself and taking responsibility, and self-confidence is the basis for all of that.

Leadership position

Many times, more than specific knowledge about a subject, a leader needs to have the courage to assume positions and responsibilities. Therefore, it is essential for a leadership position that the person has self-confidence. It is through this ability to believe in their own decisions that the achievements actually materialize.

Therefore, to reach a leadership position in the future, without a doubt, the skill that must be worked on is self-confidence. Opportunities arise all the time, and possessing self-confidence, you will feel ready to grab yours when it comes your way.

Less unemployment

You don't need all the jobs in the world, you just need one opportunity, the one that you want and fits for you. Self-confidence is responsible for planting that notion in you that no matter how the market is, you will always be able to grab an opportunity and demonstrate your worth to be recognized.

Thus, it is very difficult for self-confident people to be unemployed. There will always be someone wanting the work energy of someone who knows how to value themselves and believe in ideas and ideals. Many times, these people are just very good to have in a team, because they add a lot and, in this case, they get a position even if there is no available position.

Further learning

Self-confidence is also responsible for forming intelligent and capable people, because when there is genuine interest in learning something new, and the certainty that each opportunity is special, experiences are more constructive and not so much energy is wasted on fears and mistrust.

For this reason, it is very common to see people who do not have an excellent education, but who are extremely perceptive and capable of performing diverse and complex functions. This happens because these people take advantage of all opportunities and absorb knowledge very efficiently.

Active Networking

Self-confident people also recognize that being well connected means opening doors and, therefore, they have an active networking. There are people who have difficulties in networking. This happens because they don't really believe in themselves and, consequently, they don't see these qualities in other people as well.

Once you understand that you are special and can open your knowledge to people who you understand are capable and who believe in themselves in the same way, you will see that networking is a powerful tool to multiply opportunities, visions, relationships and business, beyond statistics and the common processes of acquiring clients and work.

Communication

Communication is directly influenced by self-confidence. This is because much of your speaking ability is tied to the belief you have in what you say. Stuttering, not finding words, and other communication obstacles are results of a lack of knowledge and confidence in what you say.

Once you have confidence in what you say, faithfully believe in yourself and your ideas, your communication also benefits, you become able to convey your ideas much more clearly and fluently. You also become more flexible, able to understand if you make a mistake without blaming yourself for it, and even when you are wrong, you will be comfortable communicating.

Better salary

So many benefits that self-confidence can bring professionally can only have one possible outcome: a better salary. So, if you are a professional who is dedicated, believes in your goals and your work, is able to lead people and solve problems with confidence, you will be paid for it.

Moreover, those who have self-confidence at work are able to grab extra earning opportunities. Thus, such a person naturally gets more money and is always being watched by other companies who offer them opportunities for bigger earnings as well.

How to have more self-confidence

Having self-confidence is a natural consequence of the process of self-knowledge and self-love. By knowing and loving yourself, you begin to recognize your qualities, put away your fears and believe in your dreams and in your future based on your past achievements.

Even so, there are some aspects that you can work on to increase your self-confidence. Below you will find the main ways to have more self-confidence, such as avoiding comparison, being careful with your body, taking risks, among others. Check it out.

No comparison

To acquire self-confidence, it is essential to recognize your own value, your own limits and desires and dreams. When you assimilate this, you understand that comparing yourself with others excessively is something that can only sap your energy and bring insecurity, because the other person does not have the same capabilities and experiences as you.

A person's limits are determined by their specific experience and conditions, and thinking that you can do or be like others, regardless of anything, is something that will only weaken your faith in yourself. By having self-confidence, you understand what is and isn't for you, and live well with that.

Self-knowledge

Working on self-knowledge is essential to conquer your self-confidence, and vice versa. Self-knowledge is the process of looking inside yourself, healing your own wounds and strengthening your faith in yourself and your will to live based on who you really are.

By knowing yourself, you understand your limits, you stop thinking about the difficulties and focus on your qualities, on what only you are, what has to do with your personal history. From then on, you realize how uniquely special you are and how much your success depends only on you, and you start taking care of it.

Body Care

In today's world, the cult of the body is a challenge for many, because the establishment of standards often unattainable can harm the person's mental balance. However, taking care of yourself and admiring your body is a way to love yourself and achieve self-confidence.

So, if you find yourself attractive and admire yourself, you will hardly ever feel smaller or little in front of other people or situations. So, by taking care of your body, you feel more comfortable within yourself. It's not about meeting the expectations of others, but about feeling good about yourself and taking care of your health.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is about your ability to handle emotions intelligently, without submitting yourself to situations that hurt you, exposing yourself unnecessarily or dealing angrily or melancholy with adversity. Working on emotional intelligence is also an efficient way to acquire self-confidence.

This is because, by better understanding the logic of affectivity and the differences between people, you realize that you are not a victim of situations, and do not feel vulnerable. Thus, you can deal in a mature way with difficulties and not be weakened by situations that are actually part of human existence. Therefore, having emotional intelligence strengthens self-confidence.

Protecting yourself from those who diminish you

Unfortunately, due to upbringing and education, many people need to diminish other people to feel better about themselves, or they just do it without realizing it because that's how they've learned. So, identifying this behavior and shielding yourself against it, without letting it shake you, is a great way to increase your self-confidence.

When you stop believing the words of those who only want to diminish you, you strengthen yourself emotionally and remain strong in the face of vulnerabilities. Once you achieve this balance, you rarely lose that inner strength again that sustains you and nourishes you, which is self-confidence.

Self-compassion

Just as inner strength and resilience are elements that come with self-confidence, self-compassion, the ability to perceive yourself as imperfect and forgive yourself is also essential. Once you understand that you are a human being and therefore make mistakes, you just get stronger from your mistakes without penalizing yourself for it.

Therefore, working on self-compassion is essential for you to achieve self-confidence. In this way, you give less weight to mistakes, and understand them as part of the process of evolution and maturation. However, you have to be careful only about excessive self-compassion, which can result in a lack of a sense of responsibility.

Taking the risk

A great way to work on self-confidence is to take risks for experiences that you feel deeply that can do you good. Often, lack of security and fear comes from lack of experience, so it will be impossible to feel really ready for something if you don't take risks and try to start the processes.

It is likely that you will make mistakes, suffer with some truths and consequences, but this is all part of the beautiful journey of maturing and pursuing your dreams. It takes courage to be what you want, and when you overcome this insecurity by taking the necessary risks, your self-confidence increases and you start to believe in yourself.

Behavioral experiences

Looking at yourself and how situations and contexts reveal themselves to you is essential to acquire self-confidence. Life is a mystery, but you need to stop and be able to see your role within existence. Understand your family, your friends and yourself, just be careful with excessive judgments, which only limit you.

From the behavioral experiences, you can understand the dimension of the faults and virtues of your personality, and of the people who accompany you. All this serves to make you increasingly aware of your role in transforming your life and the world, to the exact extent of what is possible and necessary.

Beware negative thoughts

Thoughts are responsible for guiding our attitudes, and being constantly guided by negative thoughts can only result in negative results. Thus, being afraid is important to ensure safety. However, always believing that everything will go wrong is what may be causing everything to go wrong, since for you this is the only possible path.

So, taking care of negative thoughts and promoting positive outcomes are a great way to ensure success and strengthen self-confidence as you realize that you are actually capable of making things work.

Present moment

To have confidence, it is also essential to be able to live the present moment well. Anxiety is the main cause of many psychological disorders, such as depression, and it occurs from the anticipation of fears, of things that often will not even materialize.

Thus, understanding the importance of being happy with the here and now is essential to have a truly happy life. The person who feels good in the present moment brings within himself the confidence that everything will work out and, therefore, also trusts himself more, which significantly increases self-confidence.

Knowledge

Insecurity and fear are related to the knowledge a person has about something. If you don't know the natural path of something, you can start to assume negative outcomes that will bring fear and maybe stop you from moving forward because you don't know exactly what to expect.

That's why acquiring knowledge increases self-confidence. When you prepare yourself, acquire experience about something and get a notion of the possible results, you no longer feel so much fear or trepidation. This is a truth that serves for many things, such as any profession, relationships and, of course, acceptance of one's own virtues and limitations.

Life is short

Realizing that life has a finite time, and more, that every instant can be the last in an existence, makes you realize that it is necessary to enjoy the now and the moments that you can already live. This increases self-confidence to the extent that you realize that you can not waste time thinking about bad things or not having experiences out of fear.

Thus, taking life as an instant that must be lived intensely brings courage to try the unknown, and believe that, even without knowing it, you can succeed in pursuing your dreams. With time, self-confidence is naturally born in those who truly wish to live fully.

Does self-confidence solve everything?

Self-confidence is very important to guide a person to make intelligent decisions about what is important or not for his life. For this reason, it is able to solve many issues in the life of a person of difficult solution, because by acting this way the person gets rid of heavy feelings like guilt or fear.

You only need to be careful about overconfidence, which can result in a lack of a sense of responsibility. By being overconfident, you may ignore threats or be hurting the feelings of others, for example.

In any case, it is very important to work on your self-confidence, your faith in yourself and in life. With this, you will see that many of the shadows that afflict you are actually a lack of courage to see the most beautiful things.

As an expert in the field of dreams, spirituality and esotericism, I am dedicated to helping others find the meaning in their dreams. Dreams are a powerful tool for understanding our subconscious minds and can offer valuable insights into our daily lives. My own journey into the world of dreams and spirituality began over 20 years ago, and since then I have studied extensively in these areas. I am passionate about sharing my knowledge with others and helping them to connect with their spiritual selves.