As an introvert, it can feel challenging to maintain your confidence when you have to interact with those who have higher energy levels. Approximately one-third to one-half of Americans are introverts, so if you aren’t one yourself, you know someone who is.
Being introverted doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a shy person. Rather, it means you feel energized and recharged when you spend time alone. While not every introvert struggles with confidence issues, many do, which can hold them back from various opportunities and reaching success.
Whether it’s in a personal or professional setting, it’s important to learn how to be more confident as an individual not only to better connect with others, but also to feel better about yourself in social situations. To build successful relationships with those around you, you first need to create a strong relationship with yourself.
If you want to learn how to develop your confidence as an introvert, here are a few ways to help you get started.
Avoid comparing yourself to others
You need to leave all comparisons behind if you want to build confidence. Comparing yourself to others, whether you’re introverted or not, is a surefire way to stop your progress in its tracks. Nothing positive comes out of demeaning yourself because you wish to be like someone else.
Instead, embrace who you are as an introvert. Accept that you’re fueled by alone time and understand that there’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone operates differently and is motivated by different types of energy. The sooner you accept and love who you are, the sooner your confidence will develop.
Practice clear communication
Part of building confidence is about how you communicate your thoughts, feelings, and ideas to others. If you struggle to get your point across, especially to the point of being misunderstood, then it can deter you from expressing yourself in the future. The more you doubt yourself, the less confident you’ll feel.
That’s why clear communication is crucial for introverts. Not everyone will understand how you express yourself, and that’s okay. What’s important is that you put in your best effort to convey your ideas.
You can start a blog to put your thoughts in writing. Even if no one sees what you write, simply putting your feelings into words can help you understand how to communicate better. Sit down with a friend and ask them to point out the times you don’t express yourself clearly. Ask your loved ones how you can be a better communicator and use their ideas to implement in future conversations.
Take small steps
You can’t expect to turn into an overly confident person overnight, but you can speed up the process by making sure to take baby steps. If you jump in and try to tackle all your confidence issues at once, you’ll likely find yourself overwhelmed and, eventually, frustrated. With any goal, you want to take your journey little by little so you don’t lose momentum and give up.
Brainstorm the small things you can do to build your confidence and feel better about yourself. What changes can you make to improve how you feel about yourself?
For many people, increasing confidence means that:
- You believe in yourself. You know who you are and don’t doubt yourself or your decisions.
- You don’t need to put anyone down to feel better about yourself. When you do this, it’s a direct reflection of how you feel about yourself.
- You embrace change and welcome the obstacles that life brings your way.
- You maintain a positive attitude even when dealing with difficult situations or people.
If, for example, you feel that you criticize yourself too much, force yourself to stop these destructive thought patterns and focus on something else. The more you stop a thought in its tracks, the easier it becomes to get rid of it altogether.
Remember that you are your own worst critic
No one will ever be as tough on you as you are on yourself. As humans, we tend to live in our heads where we make up fake yet scary scenarios about all the ways we aren’t good enough. However, this does nothing positive for our wellbeing and doesn’t help us feel better about ourselves.
When you mess up or find yourself lacking the confidence you want so badly, remember that you are your own worst critic. You may have made a spelling error in your email marketing campaign or said the wrong thing to a colleague, but these are experiences to learn from.
You judge yourself the hardest because you expect more out of yourself, even if you’re doing fine. This is a common problem that many people must face and it’s important to remember you’re not alone.
Constantly criticizing yourself for making small errors or not showing enough confidence is the easiest way to lose it. If you want to build your confidence level, you need to learn how to forgive yourself for making mistakes and stop the self-criticism. It’s normal and means you’re a human being like everyone else.
Over to you
There are always ways that people can boost their confidence to feel better about themselves. For introverts especially, it’s important to find ways to express yourself confidently without experiencing burnout. With these tips, you’re on your way to building confidence and feeling better about yourself.