Self-confidence
Lack of self-confidence is something many of us suffer from. It can be the result of many factors, such as fear of the unknown, low self-esteem, or even fear of how others see us. This lack of confidence can prevent us from developing both personally and professionally.
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Where does a lack of self-confidence come from?
Confidence is a state of mind. When we feel confident, we accept ourselves and believe in our abilities. When we don't feel confident, we can become stressed, anxious, dissatisfied and, ultimately, unhappy.
Our self-image is often influenced by our past experiences, whether positive or negative. The things we experience in our daily lives, and the way we, and those around us, react to these events, can all have a significant impact on how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.
The way we perceive ourselves can be influenced by our friends, family, colleagues, peers, or even the media. Important and memorable events, such as a traumatic experience, can have a significant impact, and can lower our sense of self-worth, leading to decreased confidence.
The difference between self-esteem and self-confidence
Although self-confidence and self-esteem are generally linked, they are not the same thing. When we talk about self-confidence, we're referring to the way we feel capable of accomplishing tasks and fulfilling roles. Self-esteem refers to how we feel about ourselves, how we look, behave and think.
People with low self-esteem tend to have low self-confidence too. That said, people with low self-esteem may be confident in some areas, and those with high self-esteem may lack confidence in others.
Being confident in your abilities doesn't mean you have to execute tasks perfectly. In fact, a big part of self-confidence is knowing how to deal with mistakes when they occur. Having self-confidence can make a huge difference in many areas of our lives. Two key areas that benefit from it are our career and our relationships.
Career - Lack of self-confidence at work can prevent you from expressing your opinions, and trying new things. This can hinder your progress and stunt your development. Gaining self-confidence at work can help you reach your full potential and make your voice heard.
Relationships - A lack of self-confidence can affect your relationships with friends, family and partners. It can prevent you from meeting people, or cause you to isolate yourself socially. Improving this situation can help you feel more at ease in social environments.
If you think you could benefit from boosting your self-confidence, hypnosis is a safe and effective way to make a positive and lasting change.
Hypnosis for self-confidence
Have you ever met someone who, despite reassurance and constant approval, lacks confidence in their abilities? Or perhaps you know someone who thinks they're fantastic at what they do, despite what other people tell them?
This happens because our unconscious holds a set of beliefs about ourselves that remain the same, regardless of external factors. So a singer who believes deep in his unconscious that he has a horrible voice will probably avoid performing, even if people tell him he has a beautiful voice.
So how do we overcome these deep-seated beliefs? Since these beliefs are rooted in our unconscious, that's where the change has to take place.
Hypnosis then accesses the unconscious, and uses the power of suggestion to facilitate positive change. These suggestions can be adapted to help improve confidence levels. In general, these suggestions will be positive and made in the present tense. For example, the phrase "you feel confident in everything you do" will be used, rather than "you no longer doubt yourself". The underlying theory is that the unconscious can't tell the difference between "you have" and "you don't".
How hypnosis can help improve self-confidence
Hypnotherapy can help some people improve their self-confidence and self-esteem. By accessing your unconscious mind, or inner voice, a hypnotherapist can help you begin to take control of how you feel about yourself, working with you to discover what may have caused you to lose the self-confidence you once had, and helping you to feel more confident.
Your inner voice can position itself as your biggest critic, making you feel bad about yourself, your thoughts or your actions. But it is possible to overcome these negative thoughts, even if they seem deeply rooted. A hypnotherapist can help you reacquaint yourself with your unconscious and see ourselves in a more favorable light. As well as helping you to improve your general confidence, hypnosis can help you to improve your overall confidence, and your self-confidence in particular, in specific areas, such as at work or in your relationships, or to boost your confidence for a specific purpose, such as taking a driving test or giving a presentation.
How many sessions are required?
The number of hypnosis sessions needed to improve your self-confidence depends on your personal situation, but you can discuss this with your hypnotherapist. Once your session is over, your hypnotherapist will probably recommend that you listen to pre-recorded sessions on a regular basis to reinforce the suggestions made.
Your hypnotherapist can also teach you some self-hypnosis techniques to use as and when you need them. Listening to recordings and self-hypnosis are easy ways to continue working on your confidence level after your session is over.
While many people see their confidence levels improve immediately, others may need to continue reinforcing these new ideas, using self-hypnosis techniques, holding sessions and recordings. Perseverance is the key: you don't develop low self-confidence overnight. It can take time to recover from months or years of negative self-talk.
Will hypnosis change my personality?
Hypnosis has the power to tap into your unconscious to bring out the traits you already have. It cannot add personality traits or change your personality.
Everyone is born with self-confidence. It's the false beliefs that, for one reason or another, end up in our unconscious that deplete our confidence. By unlearning this, our confidence levels return to what they naturally are.
