Core confidence refers to the confidence within you that exists regardless of your external circumstances. It is the sense of worthiness that you have when you accept and believe in yourself even when you don’t have the most fulfilling job, a great academic record, the perfect partner, a large group of friends, the most attractive figure or success in other areas of your life. It is not dependent on any particular situation, hence, it will not go away if your life circumstances change suddenly.
People with core confidence walk into every situation with complete self-assurance, knowing that they will be okay even if they fail or if things don’t work out the way they had planned. They don’t think that each negative outcome is life-shattering and can move on quickly from any unhealthy or toxic situations that do not serve them.
It is possible to build core confidence if you feel like you don’t have it. Here are a few simple steps you can follow:
- Embrace failure – Accept failure as an important part of life. No matter what you do, you are going to fail. The higher you aim and the more risks you take, the more likely it is that you will fall down and get hurt. But remember that you can always get back up and take the next risk, instead of wallowing in self-pity and beating yourself up for not succeeding the first time you tried something new. Remember that most probably nothing great will happen if you just sit at home and wait.
- Face your fears – Everyone is afraid of something but you can be fearless by showing up despite being afraid of a situation. Start getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. In fact, look for opportunities to face your fears. For example, if you are afraid of public speaking, find opportunities to speak in small groups instead of running away from any group interactions.
- Visualise – Stop telling yourself that you lack confidence and start visualising yourself as the highly confident and awesome person that you wish to be. Go into as much detail as possible and connect with how you would feel once you become the best version of yourself.
- Discover yourself – Get clarity on who you are and what values are important to you in life. You can do this by spending some time alone, meditating and writing about your thoughts, feelings, emotions, achievements, etc. You can also do this by trying out new things, meeting different types of people and learning new skills.
- Rethink rejection – Most people find it very hard to deal with rejection. But you can develop a more positive approach towards it. Many visionaries say that rejection was the best thing that ever happened to them. So like failure, think about rejection as a necessary part of success; a way to eventually find the right opportunity or right direction that your life needs to take. Give yourself a pat on the back for putting yourself out there and being vulnerable.
- Be present – Being in the present moment strengthens your connection with yourself, your free will and your feelings of confidence. Remember that confidence is something that you already have as opposed to something that you have to strive for and achieve. You just need to be aware of it by focusing on your breath and energy, which will help you move smoothly through any challenging moments in life.
- Be creative – Take an active interest in the world around you. Use your imagination and think of core confidence in the form of words, colours, images or things in your environment. For example, if you go for a walk, you can associate your feelings of core confidence with a beautiful tree that you see or the chirping of birds. Use these experiences to unearth new layers of self-confidence.
