Self Confidence

You might wonder, what is the meaning of self-confidence? Self-confidence is how someone feels about themselves and their abilities. It involves trusting yourself and your decisions.

I play many sports, and they require a lot of self-confidence, especially running. It’s 90% mental and 10% physical. During the cross-country season, I had difficulty keeping up with the more experienced runners. I missed most of the meets because I was scared to compete, and my self-confidence wasn’t there. I kept telling myself, “I can’t do this. It’s impossible and too hard.” I did not perform that well during the races because I wasn’t trying to compete with other people. I ran slower than I wanted to. My self-esteem and confidence were very low. Athletes have a hard time with their self-confidence all the time. There is always a little voice in their head telling them that they can’t do it or it’s too hard. Our thoughts influence our actions.

There are many simple ways to boost your self-confidence. First, get away from the people who will tear you down. Another thing you can do is write a list of what makes you unique and different from other people. You should have positive self-affirmations that you can tell yourself every day. My self-affirmation is, “I can do this. I am strong.”

A quote by Eleanor Roosevelt says, “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face … we must do that which we think we cannot.” This statement tells us that we shouldn’t be scared to do things. Instead, we should try to do the things that we think we cannot do even though we may feel like we can’t. That is how you build your self-confidence. Once you face many obstacles, you learn from those experiences and feel more confident about yourself and what you can accomplish.

So, the day of my last meet, I wasn’t mentally prepared when we arrived, but I was ready after my coach and brother gave me a pep-talk. Even though the race was hard, I got through it with a positive mindset. My proudest moment was when I crossed that finish line with a smile on my face. I competed and regained my self-confidence. I ended up getting fifth place out of twenty-three people!

All in all, people gain self-confidence in their own way, and anyone can do it if they just take a leap and never give up. In order to grow, you must embrace the uncomfortable, and use it to improve.