3 Ways to Feel Confident + 10 Self Confidence Affirmations = Take Courageous Action No Matter What
Do you have a dream you’d love to pursue, but fear is holding you back?
Some people mistakenly think confidence is the absence of fear. But the truth is we all experience fear. Even highly successful people feel fear regularly!
But, one of the most powerful traits that successful people have is the ability to respond confidently despite their fear. Their desire to achieve their dream becomes greater than the fear that comes with the challenges of achieving it.
The key to boosting your confidence isn’t eliminating fear – it’s to shift your relationship with fear!
The Brave Thinking Mindset
You can shift your relationship to fear with what I call “brave thinking.” A brave thinking mindset can help you embody self confidence, quickly and easily, even when you’re feeling afraid.
BRAVE THINKING STEP #1: Acknowledge the power within you
You are a spiritual being having a physical experience in a human body. The part of you that is quintessentially you is comprised of the Infinite.
There is a power in you that is greater than any circumstance, situation or condition you will ever find yourself in. Including the moments and situations in which you feel fear!
Understanding this power can help you practice a powerful technique for re-patterning the thoughts creating feelings of fear.
I call this “notice what you’re noticing.” You can pause at any moment to notice your thoughts and then stop them in their tracks if they aren’t serving your greater good.
For instance, when you move to take bold action toward your dreams, you may find yourself thinking, “I am afraid”. You can feed this thought. Or, you can pause and reframe the thought to something that supports your dreams, like, “PART of me is afraid right now.”
When you reframe your thoughts, you refuse to give authority to the contractive feeling or thought.
Remember, we are never denying a fear, we are simply denying its power over us. And when we accept that fear has no power over us other than the power we give it, our self confidence can naturally flourish.
BRAVE THINKING STEP #2: Focus on what you’d love
When we build our dreams, we can easily get caught up in “what if’s”.
But when we stand back and ask ourselves sincerely, “What would I love to be, do, have, or give in this world?”, we are thinking expansively.
Prioritizing pursuits that give us life help us naturally rise above fear.
Coming from this mindset, we can build confidence through the feeling of being thrilled to be pursuing what we love. By pursuing what we love, we naturally rise the frequency of self love and self confidence. It becomes easier to operate as our best selves!
Practice reframing the feeling of fear as a feeling of anticipation and excitement. Fear can be a sign that new and bigger things are coming, not as a sign to stop moving forward!
BRAVE THINKING STEP #3: Have a partner in believing
Having a partner in believing is one of the best ways to increase your self confidence in the face of fear.
A partner in believing is someone who is your advocate in building your dreams. Someone who will hold you accountable and help you practice brave thinking, even when it feels challenging.
A good partner in believing is someone you can call or meet up with when you’re feeling fear. This is a person who can remind you of the power within you.
A partner in believing will have faith and confidence in you even in the moments when you don’t. They can help steer you back to empowering, expansive mindsets.
Self Confidence Positive Affirmations
Practicing brave thinking for the development of self confidence is more effective if we can quickly and easily re-focus. These affirmations for confidence can help you overcome negative self talk when fear does come up.
Use these affirmations as daily affirmations to boost your confidence every single day…
Or use them on the spot when feelings of fear come up for you.
- “I believe in myself, my abilities, and skills.”
- “I am worthy of love, respect, and success.”
- “I am confident in my unique qualities and strengths.”
- “I trust myself to have courage and be kind as I handle any challenges that come my way.”
- “I radiate self-assuredness and attract positivity into my life.”
- “I am deserving of happiness and fulfillment.”
- “I am becoming more confident and courageous with each passing day.”
- “I am not defined by my past mistakes; I learn and grow from them.”
- “I am capable, and I can achieve my goals.”
- “I am in control of my life, and I choose to build it with confidence and positivity.”
Facing fears actually boosts our self confidence
Confidently pursuing a dream isn’t just about achieving a goal. It’s about gaining confidence in the process. When we take risks, we naturally gain pride and self confidence.
We grow our confidence when we choose faith over fear and take action. Over time, we actually become less and less prone to fear and more able to have confidence.
Remember, the goal is not to simply ignore or eliminate fear entirely – this would be impossible! But we can instead make friends with the voice of fear in our minds, reminding ourselves that it doesn’t control us.
Would you love to feel more confident and at ease in any situation?
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When you live from this truth, you’ll feel completely at ease in your own skin, no matter what situation you find yourself in.
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I wrote an email to the study dept., asking why they did not honour a well regarded leader while she was still alive. I’d already asked three people and was met with a wall of silence, but decided to ask anyway. The dept, said they would get back to me, To date ( it’s been only two weeks) I am still waiting for a reply.
An author and her translator were invited to our book club discussion. Normally,I prefer to read the book before participating in a discussion. However, the book hadn’t yet arrived. I decided to do my best. I listened to the discussion between the author and translator, and was able to ask an intelligent question.
Thanks for the great article. I highly related to the “let your fears be your guidance, instead of naming it negative” This is so crucial. Also the third step about the partner is very important. It can be very easy that a partner lowers the confidence a lot. Because I do so crazy inner work, I began to see other guides and teachers as inspirations to see them as a partner, which boosts and empowers my unique life’s journey immense.
In Love,
Dominik
I have recently left my job and feel so much freer to pursue the life of my dreams. My fear is I will relapse into making choices that do not serve my greater good. I promise to say “I am excited” about the future and see how that feels as to be excited allows for infinite possibilities, whereas to be fearful reduces your options. Thank you, Mary, for telling me this right now, and your constant insight. X
I have recently left my job and feel so much freer to pursue the life of my dreams. My fear is I will relapse into making choices that do not serve my greater good. I promised to say “I am excited” about the future and see how that feels as to be excited allows for infinite possibilities, whereas to be fearful reduces your options. Thank you, Mary, for telling me this right now, and your constant insight. X
It’s amazing how strong the temptation can be to dismiss, numb, ignore, and/or eliminate our less-pleasant emotions. They are messages, our friends guiding us to expand and grow, pursuing what we love, and operating as our best selves.
Thank you for this well-written article that illustrates this so beautifully! The power to transform ones life thru transforming ones self really does lie within!!!
These are great tips – thanks for sharing them! You are so right about the impact of overcoming fear on self-confidence. One of the habits I’m working on this year is stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting my fears as often as possible. I took some baby steps at first, but those have raised my level of confidence and gotten me excited about tackling even bigger things. Next week I’m going to confront my fear of heights with a zipline/ropes course adventure, and I can’t wait to see how conquering that expands my confidence even more – once I do one thing I thought I could never do, WHAT ELSE is possible?? Taking control over fear is truly transformational.
Excellent information and advice. I thank you for this Mary. It really hits the point!
You have such clarity that helps our inner wisdom guide us back to strength. I am truly grateful to have been given this opportunity.
Much love and light,
Gay
Namaste!