Are we ever truly confident in our skin?|Celia Zdanowski

Self-confidence stems from the idea of believing in yourself and your abilities. Everyone wants to be confident. But what if they aren't? What do they do then? They fake it. Many people claim they are self-confident, but they aren’t all telling the truth. Confidence is easily faked and counterfeit. Not everyone who says they feel confident feels that way inside.

People have the ability to fake anything. Social media influencers fake the way their bodies look or how their day-to-day life truly is, singers fake their voices, and politicians fake their policies. They all are trying to seem better than they are and search for that self-confidence that everyone claims they have. They get plastic surgery and shop at the most expensive stores, and then they post it all on social media to show that they are perfect and successful. But at the end of the day, they go home and wonder why, even though they have the newest clothes and products, they still don’t feel confident.

Confidence isn’t something that you’re born with. It takes time and practice. It also takes the ability to ignore the negative thoughts in your head and focus on the positive. Changing your inner dialogue is one of the most important aspects of confidence. When you fail at something, instead of telling yourself “I can’t do this,” tell yourself “I can’t do it yet. I will be able to do it one day.” When you don’t feel confident, don’t say “I hate myself,” say “I am enough. I am strong.” This may seem cliché but controlling the way you think about yourself makes more of a difference than most people realize. Also, remind yourself that people are often too focused on their own fear of failure and flaws to notice the things you feel insecure about.

Stepping outside your comfort zone is another way to develop self-confidence. Doing something that makes you doubt yourself is a way to rewire your brain. When you successfully do something hard, you can remind yourself that you can do hard things. In the future, when you doubt yourself, you can look back at that moment and tell yourself, “I did that hard thing, so I can definitely do this.” That helps support a positive view of yourself and your abilities.

Confidence isn’t a product that you can buy or clothes that you can wear. It's knowing within yourself that you are worthy and enough. It's being able to ignore the bad thoughts and listen to the good thoughts.