While arrogance can be a steady mindset, confidence is dynamic and can eb and flow.
While our skills and knowledge rarely change quickly, you can lose and gain confidence instantaneously, with many factors causing these changes. Confidence is also multifaceted. We can maintain belief and confidence in one skill while completely losing confidence in another.
Many view confidence as merely our self-esteem, but in reality, it is the process of our brain encoding our previous experiences and our perception and beliefs around those events. This is our brain forming a prediction of our success in future actions. In essence, it is a connection to our brain's action systems, which are crucial.
While we cannot change the objective reality of our previous experience outcomes, we can shape our beliefs and interpretation of those outcomes.
So, this raises a challenge. How do we ensure we maintain our beliefs when our confidence is high? And how do we rebuild confidence when it is low?
It is not something that can be fixed overnight, but there are four simple tips to boost subjective interpretations of our abilities to aid our confidence:
Don't Seek Approval from others – We are often guilty of trying to impress others. This can add a false additional layer of pressure. The added pressure can create a dip in confidence, as we may feel we can't live up to the falsely elevated level of expectation when we are more than capable of achieving objective success.
Assess what is inside and outside our control – Many of us get caught up in factors we cannot control. Success is sometimes something that is out of our hands. External factors can shape and block outcomes. However, what is in our control is our effort. Previous failures can hamper confidence as we feel we are not good enough. However, when you acknowledge external, unavoidable factors, you may have performed well in the presented situation. You may have what it takes to succeed in a future situation without those external factors.
Be decisive – A big factor of confidence is indecision. Over-reflection on previous decisions can cause us to doubt ourselves. When reflecting on previous decisions, we can second guess ourselves, which can severely lower confidence in our abilities.
Acknowledge previous mistakes – Making mistakes is part of being human. It is impossible to select the right course of action every time. However, we must acknowledge our previous choices and assess our decision-making; otherwise, it can hinder future decisiveness. We made our previous decisions with the information we had at the time. While it may have been the wrong decision, you now have more information to inform your current decision-making better.
No one can maintain high confidence consistently across all aspects of their life. However, a focused mindset can help minimise dips and maintain belief, even when facing challenging scenarios.
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