Everyone ought to have some self-confidence. Students need it to get that A on exams and an A+ on dates. Graduates need it to land a job. And Alumni need it to raise their families and contribute to their professions and communities.
So here’s five tips from FHSS to improve your self-confidence:
1 Recognize who you are.
The Relate Institute blogged a blog that said, in order to be self-confident, you have to know yourself. A study revealed that those who know themselves well are more likely to be self-confident; and are happier in their relationships. Why? Because they are better able to find things about themselves that they love. And that, in turn, helps them to open up to their significant other.
On the other hand, knowing yourself also means knowing your faults, weaknesses, and insecurities. That can be difficult, but do not let these things overwhelm you. If you begin to lose confidence in yourself, just remember the best thing about you: you are a child of God. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf counseled: “Forget not that the Lord loves you…If you will only allow His divine love into your life, it can dress any wound, heal any hurt, and soften any sorrow.”
2 Develop your spirituality.
In former BYU psychology professor Allen Bergin‘s speech entitled: Psychology and Repentance, he encouraged all to establish a pattern of repentance and service. “When the…pattern is established…virtue then garnishes our thoughts, and our confidence becomes strong in the presence of the Spirit of the Lord (see D&C121:45).”
No matter your religion, you can benefit from living it more fully. Your efforts to increase spirituality will help you develop traits such as discipline, respect for others, sense of self, experience, and love. What great traits to find in a confident person!
3 Accept your relationship Status.
BYU students often associate their self-worth with the status of their relationship. You can read more about that here. All we have to say is: stop it BYU students. You’re better than that.
4 Extra-Curricular Activities
There are thousands of opportunities for university students to develop their self-confidence. And one big one is extra-curricular activities. Maybe you’re not into sports or the arts, but you might be interested in student leadership, or learning sign language. It’s simple mathematics: spend more time doing things and you’ll get better at doing those things. And when you’re good at something, you generally feel good about yourself. It’s kind of like this quote by Deion Sanders.
Extra-curricular activities can definitely benefit your self-confidence. BYU sociology graduate Brianne Burr even wrote her master’s thesis on it.
Just a few of her findings:
- Doing extra-curricular activities can help build your confidence in your capacity to make and achieve goals
- That will make you more confident in academics.
- You will benefit from meeting individuals from different backgrounds and learn from their different experiences.
Mitch Coutu, a BYU Family Life major, knows all about the extra-curricular confidence boost. Just Look at his Selfie Confidence:
Mitch is a member of the BYU Hip Hop Club. Check it:
https://instagram.com/p/9Fbh_FkDSf/?taken-by=therealmitchyc
“I wasn’t very good at first,” says Mitch, ” But people kept encouraging me, I kept coming and working on it; and then my hard work paid off.” Now he performs regularly with the club. “The best feeling ever is when you throw down with your main homies, and everyone just goes wild,” says Mitch, “That feels so good. And it honestly helps my self confidence.” Mitch now welcomes newcomers with open arms. “When I started getting to know people there, they kind of took me in, and so now I pay it forward.”
5 Consider Counseling.
This piece of advice might come as a shock to you. But counseling is incredible resource that a lot of people don’t take advantage of. BYU’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers free individual counseling to full time students at BYU. You can even take a brief mental health screening online right now. If you’re hesitant to talk to a counselor, you might want to read some wise words from another Family Life major, Alyssa Hundley. “Before I considered being a family therapist, I thought, ‘If you go to therapy you have problems that you can’t handle on your own, and that makes you weak, or even weird.’ But after learning about therapy through my [BYU Family Life] classes I realize that therapy is good for anyone.”
