Before we hop into this article about Self-Esteem vs. Confidence, you might want to check out our other content around self-esteem: The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem and 5 Ways to Cultivate your Self-Esteem
Many people interchange self-esteem and self-confidence; however, they are actually different.
Self-Esteem versus Confidence: The former is related to your self-view and how you feel about yourself.
Think about self-esteem as an internal regard. It deals mainly with our internal state of self-love and positive regard we have for ourselves. Self-Esteem is extremely powerful, whether we have an immense amount of it or a lack of it.
On the other hand, Self-confidence is external.
Self-confidence stems from our abilities and how we perceive what we are capable of. That is to say someone who feels self-confident feels ready, capable, and able to rise to challenges and deal with difficult situations. We can feel as if we are confident in math or cooking, because our successful experiences have led to a increase in confidence in those areas; however, this is situational.
Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem are not mutually exclusive.
You can be self-confident and lack self-esteem. It also works in the opposite! You may have healthy self-esteem but have low confidence about specific things such as writing, or exams.
BUT – Self-Esteem versus Confidence work to build each other up.
Self-confidence can improve your self-esteem and self-esteem can improve your self-confidence!
While self-confidence can help you gain new opportunities and success, this bolsters you’re the feelings and love you have for yourself. Self-esteem gives us a natural ability to take on challenges because we believe in ourselves and love ourselves.
Ideas for Improving Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem
- Question and Challenge your Inner Critic!
- Begin to think of contradictions to these statements. Write them down to remind yourself!
- Ask yourself: Would I saw this to a friend? If not, think about what you would say to a friend instead and write that down!
- Effectively Rethink stuck thoughts by tapping into wise mind and thinking dialectically.
- Make a list of your strengths. And if you can’t think of anything ask a trusted source like a family member or friend.
- Create positive Affirmations for yourself
- Affirmations are incredibly powerful tools – They are uplifting statements that we say to ourselves. Say it out loud, over and over again.
- Engage in self-care
- When we care for ourselves, we set ourselves up for challenging each new day with a full cup to give. Taking care of ourselves both physically, mentally, socially and emotionally is important to boost your self-confidence and self-esteem. Set yourself up to conquer each day as best you can!
- Maintain Boundaries
- Both with yourself and others. Learn to say no. Learn to ask for help if you need it. Be assertive and better communicate your wants and needs. Don’t be afraid to take up space and own your power!
Take a second to reflect on which area you most need to improve on, and how you can make at least one step to improving that.
Self-confidence is: Confidence is not ‘they will like me’. Confidence is ‘I’ll be fine if they don’t’. – anonymous
Self-esteem is: I am who I am. Not who you think I am. Not who you want me to be. I am me. – anonymous
