What is confidence?
I love looking at the synonyms for words. Here are a few hits when it comes to confidence.
- Poise
- Self-reliance
- Buoyancy
- Coolness
- Belief
A statement I hear frequently as a health coach is “I’d like to feel more confident.” In general, this feeling relates to their current health status. Personally, I think it is truly a mission of any coach to help others regain, rebuild and or find a new level of confidence.
Let’s explore this from a health and well-being perspective.
Good ole Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary says confidence is:
A feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances.
Explore
As humans having confidence in our efforts is paramount to feeling good. Just like the synonym above, “buoyancy” it lifts us up. In simple terms what routines, rituals and experiences can we draw on to help us feel supported and almost air-borne?
A short list of possibilities.
- Music, art, dance, or other cultural events
- Outdoor experiences in nature
- Favorite hobby or recreational activity
- Church or faith-based community
- Physical activities we thrive in as a participant and spectator
- Helping someone in need
Data
So much about our health can revolve around looking at “data” be it a number on a scale, a test or screening point or even more intense, how we compare to others. Creating confidence in ourselves might entail building skills that look more inward than outward. Finding practices that build inner strength.
One of the first things learned for anyone doing gymnastics/acrobatics is if you fall, to get up immediately and try again (of course under supervision and with good guidance) to not let fear have much time to settle in. If we relate that to our health, take exercise for example, if we had a set-back in our mobility, finding simple ways to regain our mobility needs to come again soon, if we wait too long inertia takes over making it much harder to come back.
That might mean, substituting a form of movement for another. As a former professional dancer, I had a partial Achilles’ tendon tear (extremely painful BTW) and after the acute phase was over, I had to find alternative avenues to get my body moving. This meant shifting gears for a while. My focus turned to building upper body and core strength with Pilates, eventually into cycling and swimming and slowly returning to the beloved dance training. At each phase I continued to grow from a zero confidence right after the injury to being back on stage some 6 months later.
Health-wise
Let’s apply this to something that regularly happens to many individuals. They get into a groove health wise, finding solid nutrition, exercising regularly and doing activities to feed their soul and passions. Then something happens, a loved one is lost, a job situation becomes stressful, a relationship is under duress, financial stability is challenged, the list is endless, but they fall off the “health wagon.”
Confidence at this time goes to a very low level. What might be even more challenging is that this has happened before. How to build it back up?
Mindset
A start is finding the right team and or person to support you. That can be a coach, therapist, friend and or host of individuals. Next is open the door to a new mindset. In coaching we call this performance mindset (see post here) or in the business world growth mindset. Simply said look forward. We can’t change the past, but we can alter our steps forward.
Next level is observe what elements you can add to your routine to create new stages of confidence. Back to my story of my Achilles’ tear, the first doctor I saw upon injury was the Physician for the National Ski Team in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Yes, I was on tour at the time.
The first thing he said was “This is going to take time to heal. But if you’re consistent, smart and don’t rush the process you will regain your strength, I’m confident.” Realistic and prudent with an element of positive confidence in me.
Look elsewhere
If we allow ourselves to build confidence in other areas of our lives that can resonate and increase our ability to start regaining it in avenues where it disappeared. One example is an individual I coached was dealing with some health issues, these setbacks were creating an overwhelming feeling of despair.
A tool that ignited a turn-around in his health efforts was returning to volunteer work instructing at a technical school. He was very talented in technical repairs, this confidence in his own talents seeped into building confidence to rebuild efforts toward his health. His confidence grew as he felt “lifted up” from his efforts in supporting others.
What’s the big take-away?
Investing in your health means developing a host of avenues to tap into throughout life to create confidence. One cannot simply rely on 1 piece of the puzzle to fuel confidence. Build yourself a team and have multiple avenues to keep the confidence fire going.
A few ideas to ponder!
- Give yourself a 6-month performance review on well-being
- Ask for critical feedback from a friend, colleague or coach
- Take lessons or train in something that you feel is challenging
“The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
