Self-confidence is the belief that you will generally achieve whatever goals you set out to achieve. In this blog we explore sources of self-confidence.
8 sources of self-confidence?
1.Winners’ confidence – Humans have a competitive urge. When a human competes and wins the so called ‘Winner’s effect’ is triggered. The Winner’s effect is a surge of dopamine, testosterone and drop in cortisol. Dopamine increases motivation to do the activity again. Testosterone physically builds the body. A reduction in cortisol is effectively a reduction in stress. Winning means you feel better, are stronger and want to repeat that experience. This trio of effects builds a sense that you are capable and will succeed.
2.Competence confidence – This is the long-term growth of skill in one or more areas. Some people look to excel in one area, often a sport or career. This can lead into which Winner’s effect type of benefit (see above). Others look to build competence across a broad range of area, commonly doing well at work, being fit and healthy and having a few hobbies that they are good at. Whichever strategy is used the lived experience of choosing to get better at something and then getting better at it gives a strong sense that you can achieve what you set out to do.
3.Endurance and coping confidence – A fundamental of confidence is that you can overcome cope with challenges and difficulties. Difficulties are inevitable, most confident people instinctively minimise these by thinking of them as ‘challenges’ and as temporary. However, sometimes challenges cannot be overcome which is when a confident person has a protective psychology. The confident person usually recognises that failing at a task is different from failing as a person. Further, they will have survival beliefs such as ‘It is bad that I have been unable to do X, but I can cope with this, I will survive having failed at this task and it is not the end of the world’.
4.Ego confidence – This is the most easily adopted and most easily broken confidence. Ego confidence comes from the perception of having power and status. The power and status may be real or perceptual. Power and status rely on others acknowledging your authority or fame, if they don’t, it vanishes.
5.Habitual confidence – Confidence can have a persistence beyond the reasons for it. If a person has had success and achieved, or just lived in a physically, emotionally and socially safe environment for long enough all the assumptions from this will often stay with them even when no achieving or safe. As with all confidence this can motivate further action which allows them to come back to a place of achievement.
6.Size confidence – Physical power is one of the most primal sources of confidence. Those who are physically larger, taller or broader, tend to be more confident. This does not appear to be an entirely straightforward relationship. Often very large people have confidence issues. This may be due to factors such as being targeted for social abuse and feeling different.
7.Risk taker confidence – Some people feel less than most. Something in the integration of their nervous system means that they feel less pain, which includes emotional and social pain. This means that their experience of social, emotional and physical risk-reward is different to most people, with the perceived risk being much lower. As such they tend to take bigger risks. Equally, as they need more stimulus to feel things they are often driven to take these risks. The taking of risks often results in positive outcomes which can result in winner’s confidence (see above).
8.Group confidence – Being part of a well bonded and mutual supporting team, group or family can be a powerful source of confidence, primarily by providing safety. There is safety in being part of a group, others will support you when needed. The safety provided by being part of a mutually supporting group allows people to take greater risks than they may otherwise. Equally, those who identify with a group will often experience the groups achievements as their own, especially if they directly contributed to that success.
