Written by Colton Breon, Account Executive, First Gen Advocates
“Believe in yourself, and anything is possible.” The age-old cliché. One of those sayings we’ve grown numb to as a result of repeated exposure. The words no longer carry any meaning. If you’re like me, you cringe at the sound of it. But are we wrong for letting these words bounce right off us?
The Facts About Self-Confidence
Scholarly research shows that people with high levels of self-confidence are more likely to do better in school, feel lower levels of stress and get hired over other job applicants with similar experience. Some studies even suggest that people with a more positive self-view live longer than those who view themselves more negatively. That’s right: Increasing your level of self-confidence could literally add years to your life.
My Story: The Importance of Self-Confidence to Me
When I started college, I greatly lacked self-confidence. I thought I couldn’t handle the academic rigor at Penn State. I thought I wouldn’t make friends. I thought I couldn’t be successful.
The mind is a very powerful thing. Convincing yourself you will or won’t be something becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you convince yourself you’ll be successful, you’ll do more to work toward your goals and become successful seemingly inadvertently. If you convince yourself, you won’t be successful, chances are you’ll act in a way that creates barriers to success. This is exactly what I did when I started college. Because I ingrained in my mind that I couldn’t be successful, I never felt like I was.
This sentiment reflected itself in multiple avenues of my life. I set myself on a path to be unsuccessful, because of this lack of self-confidence. For my first few semesters, I was not involved in anything Penn State had to offer outside of coursework. I was under the impression that I could do well in classes only if I could focus all my energy on them. Once I started becoming more immersed in the community and finding the people with whom I fit in most, my self-confidence skyrocketed.
The Good News: Ways You Can Improve Your Self-Confidence
Are you struggling with self-confidence? No need to worry. Self-confidence is a fluid process. You can always change aspects of your life to increase self-confidence. Here are some tips that I found helpful when trying to exit my struggles:
- Find community. This is the key. If you find a supportive community to bring you up, you’ll start reaping benefits sooner than you realize.
- Adopt a growth mindset. No improvement will be made if you don’t believe you can improve. If you think you can, you will. If you think you can’t, you won’t.
- Challenge yourself. If you feel stuck in your journey to gain self-confidence, start doing something that challenges you. It doesn’t need to be anything extreme. It could be something that drives you just outside of your comfort zone. Once you complete it successfully, your self-confidence will grow.
- Know your worth. For anyone who needs to hear it: You’re better than you think you are. I believe in you. If you could see yourself like others saw you, your struggles would minimize.
- Let people in. Self-confidence issues often perpetuate as silent struggles. Don’t do that. Finding trusted friends to let in on your struggles is key. They want to help, I promise you.
I hope you find some value in these tips. If you ever need someone to discuss this topic with, I’m here! Lastly, if there’s any way HVC or I can support you, please let us know! Never suffer in silence.
Happy Valley Comm 