Increase self-confidence and put insecurity behind you
Do you often hold back what you want to say because you think people don’t want to hear it, or because you’re not sure if what you’re saying is true, or because you’re afraid a discussion might arise—or perhaps because of all these reasons combined? If so, you may be struggling with low self-confidence. For example, do you also notice that people often (figuratively) walk all over you? That you find it hard to say “no” to something? To help you find your voice again and dare to use it, in this article I’ll discuss how to boost your self-confidence.
Uncertainty
Insecurity is a feeling of discomfort or anxiety that can have a negative impact on your self-image. Insecurity can make you feel inferior to other people. It can also make you feel vulnerable. These feelings can negatively impact your self-image and diminish your self-esteem.
Insecurity is especially problematic when it makes you unhappy, but there are other issues it can cause that aren’t immediately obvious. For example, you might take on more work than you can handle because you find it difficult to say no.
What can also happen is that you work just below your level. For example, you can easily handle a job that requires HBO and several years of work experience and yet you keep applying for entry-level jobs. Of course, with work experience you then have a chance of getting that entry-level job, but a future employer may wonder why you applied for an entry-level job in the first place if you already have work experience.
In addition, your pay may be too low because you find it difficult to negotiate a good salary.
Insecurity can therefore lead to psychological issues, such as feeling unhappy or even experiencing symptoms of depression. In addition, insecurity can lead to practical problems, such as earning less money for your work than you deserve or even becoming overworked because you can’t say no.
Why do you become insecure in the first place?
The emergence of insecurity is related to your psychological resilience. There was a moment when you were pushed too far, preventing your self-confidence from returning to its normal level.
The moment this happened is different for everyone. Insecurity can arise in childhood, but also in adulthood. Losing your job, for example, can make you feel very insecure, and perhaps that one failing grade on a test you thought you’d aced perfectly caused you to feel insecure.
Moments in the relational sphere, such as the loss of friends or another relationship, can also make you feel insecure.
Health that lets you down can also put a dent in your self-confidence. That's why research is also being done on boosting the self-esteem of cancer patients and people with HIV. Hypnosis often plays a role in this. After all, your body has let you down, and to regain confidence in your health, self-confidence is also important.
To increase your self-confidence, it is wise to identify these kinds of key moments that have taken you from a confident person to an insecure one to see how you can walk away from this very thing with confidence.
If you’re struggling with this, regression therapy can help you.
Self Confidence
If you have been insecure for a while you may have forgotten what self-confidence is, what self-confidence feels like. With self-confidence, for example, you don't question your own knowledge. You do open your mouth because you are confident in what you say and are not afraid to back up your statement because you know it is true.
You also feel like you matter. That your activities at work or in your personal life add value. You bring yourself and your employer more and make everything you do better.
The result of strong self-confidence is that you dare to show your true self. This allows you to create opportunities to advance in life, whether on a personal or professional level. It also means you’ll go for that job where you barely meet the requirements—or maybe don’t even meet them. And it means you’ll have the courage to ask for a higher salary.
In addition, the chances of becoming unhappy because of good self-confidence are minimal; in fact, it is the path to happiness.
Watch this video on increasing self-confidence with hypnosis:
Building self-confidence
Hypnotherapy offers a safe way to build your self-confidence. During a hypnosis session, a hypnotherapist can help you identify negative thought patterns. The hypnotherapist can then help you challenge those thought patterns. Is the thought pattern actually accurate? Or does it present a distorted view of who you really are?
For you, thoughts are important to your self-image, but those around you only see what you do and therefore may have a very different and more positive view than you think.
The hypnotherapist can then use various techniques to alleviate insecurities, build your self-confidence, and strengthen your ego. This can lead to more positive thought patterns, giving you a more positive view of yourself and fostering beliefs that help you develop healthy self-confidence.
More confidence tips
There are several ways to build your self-confidence. That’s why I’m sharing a few practical tips that can help you bring your self-confidence back to a normal level— you might even start getting a little cocky 😉.
Recognizing key moments
If you can still remember the times when you did feel good about yourself, it is important to figure out what moment or accumulation of moments caused your self-confidence to take a dent. Also consider why this had such an impact and then contrast another positive thought with that negative one.
For example, when fired due to reorganization, this really says absolutely nothing about your ability. It says more about the incompetence of the company that suddenly needed to reorganize. That you were kicked out simply says nothing about you as a professional or as a person.
If a friendship has ended, you can also look at it differently. You’ve lost someone who didn’t really love you, while that ex has lost someone who did love him or her. So who’s the one who’s actually the sad one? Not you. In the end, you’re better off without someone who doesn’t care about you.
If you yourself are struggling to recognize your key moment and look at it in a new way, you can go back to the moment with hypnotherapy during regression and then work with the hypnotherapist to figure out new ways you can look at the moment.
The paradox
It may sound very strange, but do what you fear for a change. Say no to something small to see that it really doesn't destroy your world. Or give your opinion where you normally keep it to yourself. You will be surprised at the reactions.
Meditate
Stress can put tremendous pressure on you, which isn’t good for your self-confidence. Through meditation, you can lower your stress levels, allowing you to think clearly again and avoid a nervous breakdown.
Use self-hypnosis
If you do find yourself meditating, which is actually very similar to self-hypnosis, go one step further and repeat suggestions the hypnotherapist gives you to make your ego strong again. Examples include:
- I'm smart.
- I do my job well.
- I am judged by what I do, not by how I look.
- I can do anything I put my mind to.
A hypnotherapist can make the suggestions more personal and applicable to your situation.
Visualize your goal
A powerful tool for gaining more self-confidence is to visualize what that looks like. A visualization is a self-hypnosis technique. During self-hypnosis, you go over these questions:
- So what kind of facial expression do you have?
- How is your body posture?
- How do those around you react when you confidently do your thing?
And perhaps more importantly, how does it make you feel to do what's right for you?
Visualizing all this makes it easier to apply these behaviors confidently in real life.
A study using relaxation exercises, meditation and hypnosis to measure the effect on self-confidence, among other things, found that it helped and was a significant improvement for those who participated in the study. So using all the tips at the same time will give you the best results.
Would you like to learn more about hypnosis and self-confidence? Then check out the courses and events offered by the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands.
Also join the free master class for an introduction to hypnosis .
Pin also this helpful infopgraphic:
Sources:
http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1995.76.2.451?journalCode=pr0
http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/1549747