Trust and Confidence In Challenging Times

If you have had a difficult time trusting yourself in just ‘ordinary’ living environment, it may be a sign that you lack confidence. It may also indicate that you will have even less confidence during difficult times. You cannot develop any trust without confidence. Feel secure in your abilities and be strong in your convictions.

But, know when you are wrong as well.

The above requires you to develop confidence. That may seem scary to you. However, it’s not as difficult as you think. No one is born with confidence. It is something people learn and develop during their lives. It’s the same for you. Take steps to develop your confidence and trusting yourself will become easy.

Fear is the biggest destroyer of confidence. When you give into your fears, you will diminish the chances of building up your confidence. Fear deepens if you don’t handle it quickly. You need to face your fears head-on.

That doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind and be reckless. You should take chances but only if they won’t put your life or others’ lives in danger. Nowadays you would not go to a pharmacy without a mask on your face. Don’t make frivolous decisions, either. Confidence is about knowing the difference.

The difficulty is that you have no time now to start out with small tasks that you have been afraid to try in the past. The challenges we are all facing now require dealing with big issues. The basic methodology is the same. Take on (now) big tasks without thinking too much about what’s going to happen. If you try to project what will happen, and it is always a negative outcome, you will never make any decisions.

Most outcomes will turn out better than you imagine. That will build up your confidence as you’ve never seen before.

You should ask questions when you aren’t sure about the situations you face. Confidence is not about having all the answers. It’s about knowing where to find them and who to rely on with the knowledge that you need. Confidence requires a critical mind rather than blind following. Confidence requires asking questions internally and externally. Examining your beliefs is one of crucial aspects of asking internal questions. Logical thinking in terms ‘who is benefiting from this what is happening” is the most valuable question you can ask when experiencing external challenges like pandemic and all restrictions related to it.

Confidence is also knowing when you have gathered enough information.

Confidence is about taking responsibility for your decisions and your actions. If you believe in what you are doing, you can portray that belief to others affected by your decisions. You will come across as being weak if you start blaming others when your situation doesn’t go as planned. Once this happens, others will lose faith in you. That will cause your confidence to erode, and self-doubt will take over.

When you make your decisions, you own them, even if they don’t work out.

The same applies to collective decisions. The time will show whether today’s decision makers will own their decisions if they don’t work.

When you increase your confidence, you will automatically increase trusting yourself. Then, you can accomplish more than you ever imagined.