4 Ways on How To Build Confidence in Young Adults

Confidence and self-esteem are both aspects that young adults struggle with, especially as it's the phase in their lives where they're figuring out who they are and what they want. There are so many factors in your surroundings and environment that can negatively impact your confidence in one fraction of a moment, given the tendency to compare yourself with everyone else.

Even if confidence is a normal thing to struggle with, it's not going to be an easy battle. In this article, we'll be discussing everything you need to know on the 5 ways to build confidence in young adults.

What Causes Low Self-Esteem in Young Adults?

Several factors can cause low self-esteem, one of which is comparison. We live in a world where social media has become the basis for your status and reputation, and the more you expose yourself to these digital platforms, the more there's a tendency to question your self-worth.

For instance, on Instagram, all you see are the highlights and when you see how perfect someone's life appears on social media, you can't help but focus on your insecurities and flaws. This is one of the most common reasons why young adults are struggling more with their confidence and self-esteem.

Another possible cause of low confidence is a poor or traumatic childhood. When a child has been brought up differently such as enduring a broken family, this can be detrimental to their overall sense of self-worth. It's harder for children who've had a terrible childhood to feel confident in their capabilities and qualities because of their upbringing.

4 Ways To Effectively Build Confidence in Young Adults

1. Encourage Positive Self-Talk

Young adults are more guilty of talking harshly to themselves than any other age group. As a teenager, you're only just finding out who you are, and this includes dealing with the significant flaws and imperfections you have. This is also why young adults tend to engage in negative self-talk, even if they don't say it out loud.

You can improve your confidence levels by practicing kindness and compassion to yourself such as saying positive affirmations or words of gratitude every day. These might sound mundane, but they can effectively counter the negative thoughts in your head that you believe to be true,

The way you talk to yourself will determine the confidence you have, which is why it's crucial to talk to yourself kindly. Just like you wouldn't say all these harsh words to a close friend who's upset, there's no reason why you should treat yourself the same way. Self-compassion goes a long way with how you see yourself.

2. Focus on Your Strengths

You can never have the level of confidence you aspire for if you continue to focus on your insecurities and flaws. These aspects will always be part of you, so the best thing you can do is use your strengths to your advantage. You need to realize that your strengths and the best aspects of you will define you much more than your imperfections ever will.

Your strengths define your capabilities, skills, and qualities as an individual and they're the majority of what people see. No matter what bad choices you've made or what your past consists of, your strengths represent who you are.

If you continue to stay stuck on the things you lack, you'll never be able to move forward in life. Confident people get their sense of self-worth from knowing that rather than focusing on the things they can't do, they choose to focus on the things they can.

3. Fake It 'Til You Make It

This is one piece of advice you constantly hear regarding fears and doubts, and can easily apply to confidence as well. If you don't have confidence, the best thing to do is to act as if you do have it. Whether that means holding your head up high or knowing exactly what you're doing, faking confidence is how you can gradually get real confidence.

This might sound absurd, but this piece of advice works for the majority. By faking confidence, you won't realize that you already have natural confidence within you that you didn't have before. Oftentimes, it's the fear of being confident that allows you to stay stuck in a place of insecurity and doubt.

Faking your confidence can encourage you to realize that your life has been waiting on the other side of that fear. You wake up one day and realize that you already are confident, and there's no longer the need to fake things.

4. Practice Self-Improvement

When you actively make yourself better, even if it's extremely uncomfortable, that process of betterment can make you more confident entirely. This is because you know that you're making the effort to become better than who you were, and this realization alone will help you let go of the things you can't control.

Rather than focusing on the worst aspects you believe to be true about yourself, self-improvement allows you to focus on the positive change within you. It allows you to be more confident in the sole fact that you're trying every day, and that's good enough.

Takeaway

In conclusion, I hope this article was able to shed insight on everything you needed to know on how to build confidence in young adults. You can be more confident if you choose to take advantage of your flaws and the fact that you're doing everything you can to become better, rather than focusing on things you can't control.

No matter how bad you perceive yourself to be, you aren't your worst thoughts and mistakes. What defines you is how you choose to rise above each insecurity, failure, and bad decision you make because it's those experiences that encourage you to reach the level of confidence you aspire for.