The Role Confidence Plays in Your Personal Success

By Amanda Hill
Blog Content Contributor

Struggling in my fifth grade math tutoring lesson, I was told one day I will love math.  These words still resonate with me to this day.  To my surprise, I chose Computer Information System and Quantitative Methods as a major.  Yep, you guessed it, a whole lot of numbers are involved.  So how did choosing a career in an area that is not my strong suit become a possibility?  A thing many of us lack… Confidence.

Believing that you can go beyond your limits and conquer something you have always struggled with is not easy.  Many people go through life not challenging themselves to their fullest potential.  It’s a no brainer that confidence will increase your overall performance, but how many of us actually pursue the type of confidence that will get us through life? 

Like any other thing we try to get better at, confidence can be strengthened through a series of steps.  A good first step is learning, which is something we already do as college students. Good news, you’re on the right path!  Knowledge will boost your confidence as you challenge your mind and leave you less timid to try something new.  You will start to pick up on things easier as you learn more, while increasing belief in yourself. 

Building confidence requires patience and persistence.  Think about your past, present, and future.  Cognizant of what you have accomplished in the past will improve your current perceptions of yourself.  Next, clarify what you are doing now, and see if it correlates with strengthening your weakness and practicing your strengths.  Compose a SWOT analysis to define your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Being aware of these four things will help you move forward in this process of development.  Lastly, set goals for yourself being aware of your limitations.  Knowing what you have accomplished in the past, and which areas you excel in, will help you define goals that a reasonable to accomplish.  One underlying factor of our confidence is our sense in our ability to achieve goals.  Keeping your goals attainable will motivate you to achieve them and won’t leave you discouraged.  

Another area of focus when trying to gain more confidence is paying attention to the pitch of your voice when you speak, making eye contact with people you speak with and your posture.  These attributes indicate to others the level of confidence you have in yourself.  The way people react to your presence will be based off these small things, and the way others feel about you, contribute to the way you feel about yourself.  

So what if confidence is the key to being successful?  Confidence is an vital factor to push past your limitations to become exceptional.  Lack of confidence will keep limit your overall potential and keep you from experiencing life.  Personal confidence is a differentiator and can be used as an inspiration to others.  Write down the things mentioned earlier and look at them often.  Use self talk as a way of pushing yourself through something that seems intimidating.  We can always reverse the path we think we were destined for.  Don’t be afraid to follow your desires, they could take you somewhere amazing.