Lifestyle

Building Confidence And Strengthening Relationships

Building confidence is not always easy, and often, the relationships we have with others have an important role to play. If you have low self-esteem, you’re working on being more confident, or you’re having trouble cementing strong ties with others, there are steps you can take to strengthen relationships and give your confidence a boost

 

Get to know yourself better

Many of us joke that our friends or our partners know us better than we know ourselves. Although this may seem like a strange concept, we often have very different views and perceptions of ourselves to those of others. We tend to focus on our flaws and imperfections, while our friends and family members like to concentrate on the positives. Getting to know yourself and learning about your personality and character traits can be beneficial for several reasons. Using personality tests and surveys and understanding life path number meanings can help you gain an insight into your strengths and weaknesses and the role you play in relationships and plan for your future in terms of career prospects. If you know more about yourself, you might also have a better understanding of why you react in certain ways to different scenarios or situations. You might find that the flaws you dwell on are actually endearing to others. 

 

Stop comparing yourself to others

One of the most difficult challenges we face today is trying not to compare ourselves to everyone else. By nature, human beings are competitive beasts, but measuring up against others can be detrimental for your wellbeing. Understand that nobody is perfect, despite their Instagram photos, and recognise that you’ll always be behind some and ahead of others, no matter the type of race you’re running. Don’t let somebody else’s success or failure influence your sense of wellbeing. Set your own targets, focus on what matters to you and try not to get carried away with working to a time-frame or feeling like you have to meet milestones, look a certain way or follow a specific life plan. If you spend too much time thinking about what others are doing or what they look like, this will knock your confidence and affect your relationships. Social media is a major contributor to low confidence. Don’t forget that feeds and profiles offer a snapshot of real life. 

 

Work on areas for improvement

It can be harmful to dwell on our imperfections, but we are all works in progress, and if you have weaknesses that you’re keen to address, it can be positive to work on these areas. Whether this means becoming more confident about the way you look, learning to be a better partner or friend or working towards career goals or ambitions, it’s beneficial to try and identify solutions if there are things holding you back. Look after your health, have confidence in your abilities to achieve career objectives and make time for friends and family. 

Setting goals can be incredibly helpful, especially if you’re lacking motivation, but it’s essential to make sure any targets are realistic. Monitor your progress on a continual basis, and don’t expect overnight success. If you’re looking to get in shape to boost mental health and improve body confidence, for example, it could take weeks, even months to increase your fitness and notice a difference in your body shape. Don’t lose heart because you haven’t lost a stone in a month or smashed a 10K run in under an hour. Keep sight of how far you’ve come and focus on moving in the right direction. Lean on friends and family for support and let them help and encourage you. You don’t have to do everything on your own.  

 

Focus on positive relationships

Most of us come across hundreds of people in our lifetimes, but only a small number will stay with us. It’s crucial to learn that quality is better than quantity when it comes to friendships and that as you grow older, it’s alright to let some people gradually slip away. Concentrate on those who make you feel happy, relaxed and calm, and cut out negative influences. Friends who put you down to make themselves feel good aren’t true friends. Relationships should be mutually beneficial. Devote your time to the people you know will be there for you when you need them. 

 

There are myriad factors that can influence our confidence from societal pressures and expectations to the relationships we have with others. Confidence is vital for making the most of life, but it can be difficult to gain and easy to lose. Hopefully, this guide will help you improve self-confidence and strengthen ties with others. 

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