Confidence can open doors and is at the heart of so many amazing success stories across industries and disciplines and so we’ve always been interested in learning how we can help our readers and community members increase their confidence and self-esteem. Below, you’ll find highlights of some of the great conversations we’ve had on this topic.
Adriel Meka
Confidence comes from believing you can, understanding that with time and work you will, and looking back to see that you did. Read more>>
Jamaal Hodge
Since i was a youth I’ve always been Encouraged to try new things, anything that peaked my Interest. Having the courage to step out of my comfort zone, my body, gave me the the confidences i needed to pursue the things i love. Read more>>
Jennifer Kahn Barlow
What a thought-provoking question! I don’t believe that at any point in one’s life confidence and self-esteem are fully developed. As individuals, we are always growing and changing and with that confidence and self-esteem are constantly developing. As a child I was extremely quiet and shy, I vividly remember asking my best friend in first grade to approach a group of kids for me to ask if they would play with me. Read more>>
Blessed By Vaztin
My craft is what developed my confidence and self-esteem! I did not know who I was or what I could become until I started Blessed By Vaztin. The challenges, the defeats, the victories, and the lessons all made me realize that I am worthy, impactful and authentic. No questions asked. Read more>>
Caitlin Strempel
Honestly, this took years! I spent most my life not even realizing that low self-esteem and low confidence were something that you could actually fix. Read more>>
Brittney Carmichael
Growing up a in small country town of less than 3,000 people was the foundation of learning to be my authentic self even when I didn’t fit into the crowd of cowboys and farmers. Literally, the town was named Farmersville if that paints the picture for you. And I was the high school mascot. Farmer Joe. Read more>>
Cam Kashani
By going through a very tumultuous and difficult time. I had to hit rock bottom in order to come up and remember the truth of who I am. I had very little Self esteem and shaky confidence for a very long time, and it took going through darkness to come up and realize my light. Read more>>
Brandi Kwesell
Confidence is one of the key factors in my success and something I am so passionate about within my company of beauty professionals. It is so important to believe in yourself first, and others will follow. Read more>>
David Anthony Hinton
I developed my confidence and self-esteem by attending the Cleveland School of the Arts for high school and being apart of the All-City Arts program. My acting class was full of intimidating, talented and popular individuals. At first, I always saw myself on the lower end of the talent. I didn’t always get the role I wanted or I could never rock a crowd the way others could. Read more>>
Rolando Boyce
I think confidence is key in anything you do… without it you’ll continue to question why or if you’re doing whatever you’re trying to do. I always thought I was good after I started acting (I didn’t think I was the greatest) but I felt I could handle my own. I think it was probably 15 years ago (I can’t remember the exact time) but I realized I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Read more>>
Christina L. Glancy
My resilience comes from a few sources. Some of my resilience comes from my family and other parts of it I’ve gathered from my lived experiences. All of it has taught me that it’s not what’s happening it’s how you look at it and the boundaries I use. Read more>>
La’ker Kwamogi
In essence, my confidence and self-worth have been developed through life experiences. I firmly believe that I am confident and worthy of pursuing anything I set my sights on, but it’s important to remember that this belief was also forged through the moments when I decided to step out of my comfort zone, to embrace vulnerability, and to face the challenges that initially made me feel uncomfortable. Read more>>
Ron Rossmann Jr.
This is the longest journey I have been on and one I have yet to complete. I have always battled with insecurity, sometimes crippling, amplified by abuse, and bullying throughout my adolescence and into early adulthood. This led to two suicide attempts that, thankfully, though well planned, were unsuccessful. The first attempt was inexplicably thwarted by observing Michael Keaton as Batman in the eighty-nine film. Read more>>
Ben McDonnell
Developing confidence and self-esteem is a journey that often involves a combination of experiences, self-reflection, and personal growth. In essence, not caring what others think of you is a powerful shift toward self-confidence. It’s about realizing that your self-worth is independent of external judgments and embracing your authentic self. Read more>>
Dan Simon
I happened to stumble on an approach to mediation that requires me to trust my clients, above all else. It’s easy to feel good about my own efforts when I get to watch my clients act with courage and compassion in the toughest circumstances. So my own confidence really comes from seeing my clients do impressive things – just knowing that I didn’t interfere with their efforts and even was part of enhancing their efforts provides me with constant reinforcement for the idea that I’m doing a good job. Read more>>
Sophia J. Thomas
So, I got my confidence and self-esteem from cooking up a storm since I was 3! Started SJ Savory Kitchen, got thumbs up from cool chefs and celebs like Rachel Ray and Octavia Spencer – total pinch-me moment! Helping out in the community, winning awards, and having a blast on TV shows, podcasts, and magazines make me feel on top of the world! Cooking rules! Read more>>
Brandon Campbell
My confidence and self esteem are always under construction. But the place I’m currently in comes from being placed in situations that I didn’t feel ready for. Sometimes everything would work out, others it wouldn’t be smooth but I was able to work my way through the problems I ran into, and others I just fell flat on my face. Every one of those situations was a lesson one way or another. Read more>>
Roxanne Saffaie
My Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem has been forged and fortified throughout my life from two avenues of action. Read more>>
Claudia Bella Soto
I was able to develop my confidence and self esteem through travel. Throughout my travels I was able to broaden my horizons and I noticed growth in my personal development. Read more>>
Jason Snape
The strongest boosts to the maturity of my confidence came through trials-by-fire; being brave enough to put myself out there and being rejected or accepted. I think I’ve tended to live a life of low expectations for myself, so when those acceptances and affirmations came, they astonished me. Read more>>
Bianca Modo
Thank you for this question, as it delves into a crucial aspect of my personal and professional development. Let me take you back to where it all began and how I nurtured confidence and self-esteem through a formative experience. Read more>>
Mary Kennedy
Actually, I am the most confident, I have ever been. It all happened when I turned 50. I am perimenopausal and an in complete body acceptance. I run a facebook group, called Mid Life Mood Swing and am touring with my one woman show with the same name, Directed by Charlene Ward. Read more>>
Nick Bognar
One of the biggest confidence lessons I ever learned was to change the base of my confidence in order to feel more comfortable. Read more>>
Adonijah Bingham
My confidence was developed through trying and failing. It seems kind of backwards, because often when people fail multiple times, it takes a shot to their ego and confidence. But for me, it shed light on not only things I needed to improve upon, but also things that I know don’t work. And through the trials and errors, I developed more confidence in myself and sharpened my skill set. Becoming the best actor and man I can be each and everyday. Even if only by 1% a day. Read more>>
Shah BlacQ
Currently my close friends say I have high views of myself but honestly it wasn’t like that . In middle and high school I was criticized heavy for being dark-skinned , I was usually the darkest of all my classmates on top of kids teasing I often felt ostracized and alone. It wasn’t until my senior year I started to turn things around often first with self affirmations , which looking back I realized my mother taught me that her and my both my grandmother and great grandmother at the time were great influneses . Read more>>
Bakyt Zhumadilova
Word confidence has such a broad meaning in my opinion, and it is not only about feeling good about yourself when your physical appearance looks great. This year I realized being confident is knowing in your guts no matter how many times you will fall, you will get up more. Of course, I do not say that physical appearance doesn’t matter, it does and one needs to take care of their mental and physical health. Read more>>
Tanisha Woods
I am the eldest daughter of three and the first time I remember enacting my confidence was ensuring that my brother was protected. As the older sister I was always in the forefront of every situation. My father is a marine and, in our home, he and my mother raised us to understand the importance of family and being there for one another. Read more>>
Angela Taylor
I cultivated confidence and self-esteem through daring, unconventional endeavors that compelled me to break free from my cocoon. My earring collection is a vibrant testament to embracing individuality, a vivid showcase of creative audacity. I exist in the realm of “creative boldness,” where my boldest fashion statements reveal the true essence of me. We often cower, fearing rejection of our personal style, and hide behind trends and the ‘popular.’ This leads to insecurities and diminished self-esteem. Read more>>
Cesar Vallin
Over the years, my perspective on confidence and self-esteem has evolved. I once thought confidence was about surrounding myself around popular people or having the monetary possessions. However, I discovered that low confidence stems from a lack of competence, and my self-esteem/worth struggles arose from past childhood traumas and poor choices like drinking and substance abuse. Read more>>
Cathie Christmas
Life has a way of presenting us with challenges, but it’s how we rise above them that truly defines us. My name is Cathie Christmas, and I’d like to take you on a journey through my life, from the early days in Montana to becoming a Colorado resident, from the first person in my family to earn a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree, to a business owner providing ABA services to children as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. This is the story of how I developed confidence and self-esteem, overcoming adversity and self-doubt along the way. Read more>>
Habiba Faisal
Oh, that is a tough question. Because I believe there is never a satisfactory point where I can say I have successfully developed my confidence or that I am confident enough to do this or that. It is a journey where you are always learning, sometimes the path is clear and smooth and everything is easy but sometimes, there are hurdles which hold you back. Read more>>
Margaret Harstad
Growing up as a child, I was never a confident person. I was parented in a lovely way, but I was over-parented. My parents did nothing wrong, always helping me ( perhaps overhelping ). The overhelping was fine, but the message was: “ you don’t know how to do it good enough”. They did not intend to do this obviously, but this is what happened. The result was that I didn’t believe in myself and did not think I knew how to do anything well enough. Read more>>
Theo Bray
My confidence comes from God. He is the one who spoke the world that we see into existence and He has my world figured out. I put my trust, identity and confidence in Him. Read more>>
Andrew Lux
Confidence? hahaha I mean if I’m being honest, any confidence you see in me is learned. By that I mean I had to try a lot of different things in my life to fail and succeed in before believing I’m good at it. I’ve tried fire fighting, football, snowboard instructing, golf, swim, surfing, band, enlisting in military, djing and finally music production to commit to what I really love which is music! Read more>>
