The essence of self-confidence

I have been reading about inner strength and self-confidence in the last week or so and one of the messages I came across really resonated with me.
It read:

“True self-confidence is not reliant on anything external, nor is it dependant upon the approval of other people. It is essentially an inner strength: a feeling of security born of self-approval and the sure knowledge that one has the ability to take control of one’s self at the point where one’s thinking is done”.

What I think is really key is the point that we are in control – our thoughts are the essence of self-confidence (or lack thereof) and we can most definitely control our thoughts. Becoming aware of any self-limiting beliefs and patterns is the starting point and then comes the realisation that we can give our lives positive direction from our own thoughts – no matter what is going on around us and what others think.

Realising that anything outside of us is beyond our control, but the way we decide to react to it is well within our power, is truly a revelation (well, to me, anyway). So next time you catch yourself getting upset or annoyed or angry about something, see if you can reframe your thoughts and notice if things get any better.

I recently applied this technique with a friend who, for some reason, has been winding me up lately and guess what? I no longer found them irritating and we had a wonderful time together.

It seems like the say ‘it’s not you, it’s me‘ is true after all 😉