Self-confidence isn’t the belief that you can do everything. Instead, it’s the genuine acceptance of your weaknesses and the determination to develop them.

Understanding the psychology of self-confidence is a game-changer that anyone must begin practicing in life. It changes not only how you carry yourself in situations but also your self-perception.

The importance of self-confidence is already universally agreed upon. It’s what pushes you to act and what constantly motivates you to move forward regardless of the obstacles you face. Self-confidence is the conviction in your abilities to meet life’s challenges—hence, there’s a glaring flair in facing life with it. It encourages you to never back down from even the most foreign situations and to relentlessly stand back up when these knock you down.

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

– E.E. Cummings.

The Key to Understanding the Psychology of Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is the key that unlocks countless opportunities in life.

If you feel lacking in that aspect, this statement will make you double-guess yourself even more. However, this article reassures you that you don’t have to worry. By understanding the psychology of self-confidence, you will realize that it’s never too late to start building self-belief, and it all starts with shifting your perspective.

We can discuss the roles of hormones and how neural pathways to self-belief—the cognitive factors of self-confidence—are built to dig deep and truly understand it. But this discussion will only make confusion even worse. Instead, we look into patterns and psychology. The crux of understanding the psychology of self-confidence is, likewise, understanding that the self is the most consequential contributor or hindrance to confidence.

The Self in Self-Confidence

Author Dr. Ric Vandett has written a guide to developing self-confidence and emphasized the importance of “self” in the material. Marketed as a “common sense approach” to overcoming obstacles, Dr. Ric highlights and reminds people of the most apparent cause of these obstacles: self.

Now, this isn’t to blame you for putting yourself in difficult situations. Instead, it’s to convey that, often, obstacles exist because you label situations as such. Obstacles put fear in your mind. They condition you to believe that situations either have a good or bad outcome. This headspace kickstarts your fear of failure, making you hesitate to continue your journey—already damaging your self-belief.

However, you have the full control of how you see situations.

Do you attach a negative connotation to it or see it otherwise? If you shift your perspective, this internal cultivation of strength and positivity shines through, thus building your confidence to face and overcome whatever’s in your way.

Hence, the next time you hesitate to do something, thinking you can’t do it, ask yourself: Am I truly not able to accomplish this, or am I doubting myself without evidence of my failure?

The Development of Unshakable Self-Confidence

Understanding the psychology of self-confidence helps you answer the previous question. No, you don’t know whether or not you’re able to accomplish situations unless you put your heart into doing it.

“Wellbeing can’t just exist in our own head. It’s a combination of having meaning, good relationships, and accomplishment.”

– Martin Seligman.

Taking the step beyond self-doubt, taking action, and embracing any possible failure is all a part of growing and is an integral aspect of developing self-confidence. To build self-confidence, you must practice not getting too defeated whenever you make mistakes. A massive part of this is doing.

Rewire Your Brain for Self-Belief

As Dr. Ric Vandett conveys in his book Hurdles, perception is vital in learning how to build confidence in psychology. How you see things shapes how you experience them. If you look at things pretty negatively, then you’re likely going to have a negative experience.

In terms of self-confidence, if your inner critic wins over the side celebrating your smallest victories, you will doubt your capacities. It’s your perception, your subconscious belief, that holds you back from actualizing your potential. Understanding the psychology of self-confidence helps you recognize and challenge these negative patterns to correct them.

Build Competence to Boost Confidence

Although perception plays a part in developing confidence, you must also walk the talk. You can’t delude yourself into confidence. Instead, you have to play the part. If you constantly learn and grow, you will be self-assured to approach things with enthusiasm. By developing yourself more, you’ll have a more secure sense of belief from internal validation. You’ll be self-confident because you know what you know, not because people tell you you’re doing good.

This is the shortcut to success. The more you become competent, the more confident you become. This reinforced sense of confidence then pushes you to learn more things—the confidence-competence cycle.

Celebrate Yourself

There’s no better way to develop self-confidence than by celebrating yourself. Whether you’re only achieving something small or consequential, you must give yourself credit. It’s unfair if you critique yourself over the smallest things but discredit your smallest achievements.

Understanding the psychology of self-confidence reminds you that you must learn to affirm yourself to bridge that gap between self-belief and actualization.

Self-Confidence is a Journey—Start Yours Now

Developing self-confidence is a long and trudging journey. You won’t reach the ideal state just by reading a book or two and standing up for yourself once or twice. Instead, you have to be consistent in this endeavor to genuinely cement confidence within your system.

These insights may only be a fraction of what happens in reality, but applying them today is already a great way to start. Build your self-belief brick by brick so it doesn’t easily become weakened by your environment and circumstances. Dr. Ric Vandett offers valuable insights on how this can be done.

Go ahead and grab a copy of his book Hurdles: Surviving Difficult Times today!