Social phobia is one of the very common types of fear. It is considered an anxiety disorder which includes excessive self-consciousness in social situations.
Some people are afraid to be judged, making them avoid interacting with others. There are up to 2 in 20 people who have social phobia.
Did you know?
- Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.
Source: Anxiety and Depression Association of America
Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to achieve it.
People who lack self-confidence may find it challenging to become successful.
Confident people inspire confidence in others: their audience, their friends, their customers and in their professions.
And winning the trust and building a stronger relationship with customers start with good confidence.
Confidence is a way for us to communicate our message effectively and being less confident means less effective in persuading the message we are delivering.
Ok. We might have contradicting ideas here but you don't have to be worried too much about this because confidence is a learnable skill.
Building Self-Confidence
So how do you build self-confidence?
There’s no quick fix, or five-minute solution to improving it but becoming more confident is achievable.
So here are my three steps to self-confidence, and I am personally using them.
Step 1: Know Your Self
Step 1: Know Your Self
The first step involves in increasing your self-confidence is knowing your starting point. Today is maybe a milestone for you deciding to improve your confidence. Good job!
In order for you to overcome you social fears, you need to know your self. What have you previously achieved? What is unique about you? What else can you do? Where do you see the future?
The challenge is not really confidence itself but the wrong belief, misinformation or totally being confused of who we are and what can we do as a person.
You reflect confidence by being confident with who you are and your interest to know the person you are interacting with.
Think About Your Strengths
Think about your entire package as person, as a friend or as part of a team. You know you have your achievements in the past, but you also have your failures.
You are committed to do good but you also make mistakes.
How do you respond to things out of your expectations and control?
Create a mindset that you are okay with whatever will be the outcome.
Social fear exists because we allow the exceptions of others to control us. We listen to the standards of others to be our standards.
No! You are fine. You just have to know your gift, know how it can be used right to serve others and live with that uniqueness.
Step 2: Know Your Direction
Step 2: Know Your Direction
Think about the things that are really important to you, and what you want to achieve with your life.
You are maybe subconsciously trapped in the unnecessary beliefs that you set to yourself. I used to think that I am ugly because my skin is dark, I used to think that I can't sell a product globally because I do not have the accent of the elites. But these are all lies I gave to my self in the past.
Some people are exploited with their weaknesses and never had the chance to see the opportunities ahead because they are too concern on what they cannot do versus what they can try to do and possibly achieve.
Start Managing Your Mind
Create positive self-talk. That is how you increase your confidence.
Develop a positive, healthy and successful mental pictures of yourself. "Today is not as important as tomorrow. It is what you believe you can do tomorrow."
Develop a positive, healthy and successful mental pictures of yourself. "Today is not as important as tomorrow. It is what you believe you can do tomorrow."
Confidence booster tips:
- At home, read 5-15 minutes business, leadership or anything interesting but positive and in trend topic. Do this everyday!
- Practice how you speak. look at yourself in the mirror. Do you like yourself? I can finish shower in 5-10 minutes but I can stay 10-30 minutes just to fix my hair. That is how important the feel is for me. When you feel good because you look good from within to without that is another source of confidence. So improve your feel. It's a state of mind by the way so you can achieve it!
- What distracts your good feel? Avoid it or overcome it.
- Choose the people you are with. What is the use of sticking with complaining, negative and clueless people? If I listened to those people who told me that I can't live my dreams, or those who told me that I am too weak, that it is more fun to be drunk then I cannot expect to improve my self-belief.
I am happy to be using my energy to those who have dreams, passion, direction in life and to those who are allowing us to share what could be a breakthrough product or opportunity for them. I know you are too.
I am happy to be using my energy to those who have dreams, passion, direction in life and to those who are allowing us to share what could be a breakthrough product or opportunity for them. I know you are too.
In every interaction, it is essential that you know why you are talking to this person? You need to create a pattern of asking and responding to each message you both deliver.
Step 3: You Are On The Way to Success
Then Commit Yourself to Success!
Do you have a clear promise to yourself to be successful? When you are driven forward your energy will never be backward. Confidence is generated from your faith in your future but you need to be committed to it.
Self-confidence is about balance. At one extreme, we have people with low self-confidence. At the other end, we have people who may be over-confident.
If you are under-confident, you’ll avoid taking risks and stretching yourself; and you might not try at all. And if you’re over-confident, you may take on too much risk, stretch yourself beyond your capabilities, and crash badly. You may also find that you’re so optimistic that you don’t try hard enough to truly succeed.
Love,
-CK-