Lack of Confidence – Confidence Coaching in Newport Beach

Lack of confidence can have a more profound impact on your life than you realize. Self-confidence refers to your level of self respect, acceptance, and trust in yourself. If you’re confident, you know your skills and limitations and believe that you will succeed when you tackle a new goal or approach a change in life. Without that confidence, you can undermine yourself in subtle ways. 

Confidence in self is often defined as the perception of ability. The more a person believes in their ability to succeed, the more likely they are to do two things: 

• Set higher personal goals
• Develop a firmer commitment to those goals

You can turn that around to see the impact of lacking self-confidence. The less confidence a person has in their own abilities, the smaller goals they will set and the less ambitious and consistent action they will take toward reaching those goals. 

The amount of confidence you have in yourself influences everything from the way you talk to yourself in your mind (self-talk), to the way you approach problems or obstacles. It’s often the difference between pushing beyond roadblocks to success and quitting before you even get started. 

Signs You Lack Confidence 

The first step to improving your confidence level is acknowledging where you are today. That takes a lot of honesty with yourself, but it’s critical to understanding the impact that lack of confidence currently has on your life. 

Let’s start with a simple list of signs that your self-confidence is lacking. How many of these signs apply to you? 

• You often make jokes about yourself when talking to others. 
• You demean yourself while speaking.
• You’re critical of your own behavior and/or performance. 
• You tend to focus on the negatives when it comes to yourself rather than the positives. 
• You blame yourself when something goes wrong. 
• You generally believe others are better than you or will outperform you. 
• You push yourself to work harder and try harder because you don’t believe you can succeed otherwise. 
• You’re uncomfortable when someone compliments you.
• You tend to back down from big challenges. 
• You know your goals aren’t as ambitious as the goals of others.
• Any amount of criticism or disapproval will create a strong emotional reaction.
• You experience a lot of anxiety, possibly even depression. 

What Happens When You Lack Confidence? 

Is lack of confidence a weakness, and how does it influence your daily life? It is a weakness, not because something is wrong with you, but because it can hinder you and lower your self-expectations. 

When you don’t believe that you’re capable of big, amazing things, you tend not to even attempt reaching big goals or working toward amazing results. When you do step out of your comfort zone and try something new, you’re not likely to bravely push through obstacles if you don’t believe that you have what it takes to overcome the issues. 

A lack of confidence in any area of your life will lead you to play small in life. Wherever you believe you’re lacking or fall short of others, you will water down your potential or stand in your own way in an attempt to avoid defeat or failure. The result is a less fulfilling life, limited success, and possibly struggles to maintain healthy relationships with others. 

Have you ever thought or said out loud that you need to just get out of your own way? If yes, then you’re likely experiencing a lack of self-confidence even if you don’t realize it consciously just yet. 

Lack of Confidence Examples 

Lack of confidence in students may sound something like this: 

• “I’m not going to register for that class. It’s too hard for me.”
• “I want to study medicine, but there’s no way I will ever get accepted to med school.” 

Lack of confidence at work may sound something like this: 

• “I’m qualified for that promotion on paper, but I know I’m not as good as Bob and Jill, who also applied.” 
• “That’s my dream client. I would love to pitch to them, but I know they’re out of my league.” 

Lack of confidence in communication may sound something like this: 

• “Not that I’m an expert or anything, so please dismiss me entirely if you don’t agree, but…” 

Lack of Confidence – How to Overcome 

Is lack of confidence creating a glass ceiling that limits your success in life? If it feels like you just can’t do certain things or achieve big goals because you don’t have the ability to push yourself to the next level, our team of dedicated specialists can help you build your confidence. 

You’ve taken the first step to overcome by acknowledging confidence as something you want to improve. We invite you to take the next step toward personal improvement today. Fill out our online form or call us at (949) 236-1990.