‘It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.’ – Denis Waitley
Do you feel that life would improve for you if you had more self-confidence?
When faced with a new challenge or opportunity, are you filled with self-doubt? Do you say to yourself, ‘I'll never be able to do this’ or ‘I'm not good enough’ or ‘I can't’?
Self-confidence is not about what you can or can't do: it's what you believe you can or can't do.
If, in the past, you've failed or not coped well with a particular situation, you may well believe that you will fail or struggle the next time. You won't feel confident about doing it again.
And if you've now got something you have to do, something new you've never done before, you may believe you won't be able to do it. You won't feel confident about your ability to do it. So if you lack self-confidence, you'll avoid taking risks and stretching yourself and will probably not try at all.
You'll talk yourself out of it with negative self-talk, telling yourself that you can't or won't be able to do something. You will make yourself believe that you can't do certain things. (Negative self-talk also knocks your self-esteem, making you feel bad about yourself.)
Instead of letting past experience or future possibilities paralyse you, mindfulness can help you be aware of these judgemental thoughts and how unhelpful they are.
