Self-confidence: the essential key to independence and success

Elizabeth Alexander, Trending Editor

Our current society thrives off of social media, and every day we are exposed to photos, visuals and posts of people that boast about certain positive aspects of their lives. It often results in us looking at and comparing ourselves to seemingly successful, beautiful and happy individuals.

This behavior of constantly comparing ourselves to others is common, but incredibly unhealthy for self-esteem and confidence. It is particularly common behavior in teens. Building self-confidence during this time period is incredibly essential and can influence how a teen will behave as an adult, so it is important to note what good self-esteem is and how to achieve it.

According to psychologist Carl Pickhardt’s article “Adolescence and Self-Confidence” for psychologytoday.com,self-esteem typically drops at 18-23 years old, the age at which teenagers are expected to become far more independent by going off to college and living on their own. Building self-confidence throughout high school before this time in life is essential to helping a young adult become successful and self-reliant.

For parents, building self-confidence comes with praise. Acknowledging a child’s accomplishments and giving them positive feedback is a key factor when it comes to building up their confidence. Another important factor is encouraging them to keep trying, even after they fail.

For friends and significant others, support is everything. Supporting a partner’s dreams and ambitions, ensuring them they are capable of achieving goals and providing a support system is valuable and guaranteed to strengthen any relationship and boost confidence. This can also be achieved by giving his or her partner pushes or slight discipline when they need it, showing them that they are capable of much more than they initially think.

Finally, when it comes to his or herself, it truly is mind over matter. To build self-confidence, he or she has to truly believe that they can achieve what they want, and in a lot of modern scenarios, the concept of “fake it until you make it” can be used. Feigning self-confidence might start out as just a joke at first, but it often does result in true confidence. He or she can do this by learning to focus on the positives, pursuing things they are good or talented at, learning to ask questions and even simply putting on a smile.