Because one believes in oneself, one doessn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her
-Lao Tzu
The difference between self-efficiency, self-confidence and self-esteem
Self efficiency
Self-efficiency is an individuals belief about their capacity to influence the events in their own lives according to Albert Bandura.
Self confidence
Self confidence is an individuals trust in their own abilities, capacities and judgements or beliefs that they can successfully face the daily challenges and demands according to a psychology dictionary online.
Self-esteem
Self esteem is made up of two components:
Self-efficiency – which is the confidence we have in our ability to cope with lifes challenges.
Self-respect – or belief that we are deserving of happiness, love and success.
Understanding self confidence
Confidence is being:
- An enjoyable, positive emotion that makes you feel good
- An emotion that helps you achieve great things you desire, faster and easier
- An emotion that is created mentally as a result of how you think about things
What does it mean to be self confident and where does this self confidence come from?
If you want to build confidence in yourself and become a more self confident person overall, it’s imperative that you ask these questions and understand what you’re trying to achieve.
To put it simply, self confidence is feeling good about yourself and your capabilities. So, if you’re self-confident, you’d naturally feel good about your ability to achieve things you want to achieve.
 If we were to dig a little deeper you could think of self confidence as feeling good about yourself and your capabilities that:
- Comes from the way you think about capabilities and your yourself
- Naturally makes you more successful and happier in life
- Can remain in any circumstance or situation, even without support or without material possessions
What is an example of self confidence
Did you know that Michael Jordan was told that he didn’t have the skillset required to join the high school basketball?
He didn’t make the team during his formative years, but he didn’t allow this minor setback to define his life.
Instead, he kept persevering and perfecting his craft because he knew that he had something special and he wasn’t going to let that hinder him from being great.
It’s safe to say that all of his hard work and belief in himself paid off as he is a legend in basketball.
Importance of self confidence
If you hear a voice within you saying that you cannot paint, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced
– Vincent Van Gogh
Studies show that children with high self confidence perform better at school and have higher job satisfaction in middle age.
Many of the thousands of papers published on self-confidence or self-esteem connect self-confidence with success in real life.
Some studies even show a strong relationship between self-confidence and positive mental health. The success an individual with high self-confidence achieves depends on these attributes:
- A greater sense of self worth
- Greater enjoyment in life and in activities
- Freedom from anxiety and stress
- More energy and motivation to act
- More enjoyable time interacting with other people at social gatherings
Practising self confidence
1. Stand or sit in a posture of confidence
Psychologists at Harvard have studied the positive effects that confident postures have on our hormones.
Look for sensations of confidence and practice feeling them more and more in your body. Feel your feet on the ground while you keep your body open and relaxed.
If you watch Ammy Cuddy’s Ted Talk about the effect of posture on self-confidence you’ll find that her basic message in the video is that an individuals posture does not merely reflect the level of confidence and insecurity.
Posture sends messages to the brain that changes the way you feel so if you want to feel more powerful, sit up straight, smile or stand in a power pose and the brain will receive the message.
2. Build your capacity for energy
A bit of stress can be useful to keep us alert and give us the extra energy which is needed in order to perform.
Try reframing your nervous jitters as excitement. Knowing how to engage with these feelings in your body will expand your presence rather than shrinking it down.
3. Exercise regularly
Exercise and self confidence are co related. Regular exercise releases endorphins which in turn interact with the opiate receptors in the brain, which produces a pleasurable state of mind and in turn, you’ll view yourself in a more positive light.
When you exercise regularly you will not only get better physically but you will feel more motivated to act in ways that build your confidence.
4. Visualize: imagine confidence
Close your eyes and relax your body completely while your stay firmly connected to the sensations of relaxation and in your mind’s eye, see yourself speaking on camera or doing whatever activity for which you would like more confidence.
Allow the feelings of a comfortable presence to spread through your body and your mind.
5. Take risks and make mistakes
Allow yourself to be a learner. To be a novice. It’s okay to not be perfect: in fact, you’ll be likely to provide inspiration to others in similar situations.
When starting something new and breaking out of your comfort zone, you are expanding your own limitations. When you successfully complete something that is out of your confidence zone, you build confidence in yourself.
6. Clarify your goals
Making progress towards personally meaningful goals is the grounds upon which healthy self confidence is built.
The S.M.A.R.T goals system offers a guideline for setting goals in which the goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
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