How can I build more self-confidence?

Hi SV

Thank you for reaching out to a licensed counselor, it takes strength and courage to do so. In response to your question, confidence and self esteem is something that many people struggle with. It impacts our lives in many ways from romance, career, socialization, and so on. There are various ways to work on confidence and improve your overall self esteem. Some of the ways one can go about doing this is through self compassion. I would recommend going to self-compassion.org and see the wonderful information and resources that the page has to assist you in better understanding how to increase self compassion. Self compassion consists of three areas, self kindness vs self judgment, common humanity vs isolation, and mindfulness vs over-identification. As you explore the various aspect of this site you will find exercises and meditations that are very helpful with learning to be kinder to yourself. In addition to self compassion, there are other ways one can increase confidence as well.

One of the most effective ways to do so is through self care. Ensuring you have a positive self care routine will assist you in feeling better about yourself. The way in which you feel on a day to day basis and you will find comfort in your own skin. Self care can look like many things from having a balanced nutritional diet, exercise, taking mental health days to decompress, and engaging in things that bring you joy and meaning.

Furthermore, when we as individuals work on increasing our communication skills and using assertive communication language we are able to advocate for our needs more effectively and in turn become more confident in making decisions in life as well as learning to set positive boundaries with individuals in our lives across multiple settings. 

In addition to the resource which I provided above I would also invite you to check out the book, the gifts of imperfections by brene brown. This book is a wonderful book aimed at assisting those with lower confidence and self esteem struggles. It assists you at "letting go of who you think you need to be and accepting who you are." 

I hope the information above was helpful, if you are interested in connecting to further work on your self esteem please feel free to sign up with BetterHelp and one of our counselors will be happy to assist you through this process.

Best Wishes