The past year has tested the confidence and resilience of most people. However, we can boost our confidence as we move forward in recovery and make improvements over the next year. Building confidence can be challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many things—the things that we enjoy, the work that we do, and the people we love—give us a connection to build our feelings of self-worth. When lockdowns and other restrictions forced us to make sudden changes to our daily routines, lose our jobs, or limit contact with the important people in our lives, we may have lost some of our confidence.

We can get our confidence back and be ready to face the challenges of the coming year. We can practice building confidence on a daily basis. Some techniques are easy, and you can do them right now. By building your confidence, you can find the inner strength to tackle obstacles and make lasting changes in your recovery journey!

Confident Self-Talk

How we speak to ourselves can impact how we feel about ourselves. The language that we use describes our feelings about the world around us and our place within it. We might feel that our inner self-talk reflects reality; however, this can work the other way around. The way we describe events of our lives or aspects of our personalities can actually shape how we think and feel. When we think confidently, we can then act and feel confident. 

• How Do You Currently Speak to Yourself?
• • • When we’re in early recovery, we might not be very nice to ourselves. 
    • We might be beating ourselves up for past mistakes or telling ourselves that we are no good. We might even feel hopeless.
    • Practice confident self-talk by monitoring how you are currently speaking to yourself.
    • Are you encouraging or putting yourself down?
• How Do You Sound When Engaging in Self-Talk?
• • • When facing a challenge, we might hear the voices of others from our past, who may put us down or discourage us from change.
    • We can turn the volume down on these negative noises or alter the voices to sound meaningless. 
    • If your inner voice is your own, how do you sound?
    • Is your voice thin and frail or booming with certainty and confidence?
• Be Your Own Cheerleader!
• • • When you are your own biggest fan, you can feel your confidence soar. 
    • When you truly believe in yourself and build yourself up with positive self-talk, you reassure yourself that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to finish. 
• Be Kind to Yourself
• • When beginning treatment and recovery, we are bound to make mistakes.
  • Making mistakes and experiencing setbacks is an opportunity to learn. 
  • Be compassionate with yourself when you experience failures or short-comings.
  • Imagine that you are speaking to yourself as you speak to a child who has made a mistake. You would likely be gentle, kind, encouraging, and focused on solutions to help a child overcome their mistakes. 

Stand Tall and Walk the Walk

Where the body goes, the mind is sure to follow. When you stand proud and relaxed, with shoulders back, chin up, and chest forward, you can feel confidence surging through yourself. Practice good posture when sitting and walking. You can even try the classic “super-hero” pose by standing proudly, with your elbows bent and hands resting on your hips. Confident postures cue confident feelings in your mind, and vice versa. 

If you do not yet feel confident, just continue to practice these things as if you are. When you feel your head drooping downward, be mindful of how you feel. When you hear negative voices in your mind, change them to something positive. Remember that you are not denying yourself your feelings. Instead, you are reminding yourself that you are strong and capable enough to work through these challenges. Reach out for help and guidance when you need it. We often think that confidence is about doing things alone. However, you will be surprised at how quickly your confidence and self-esteem will grow when you open up to others about your most vulnerable thoughts and feelings.

Remember that this is a process. Building confidence is a skill that anyone can have. We often believe that some people are born confident, and others are not. While in recovery, we can be mindful of our self-talk and postures to practice confidence. As you practice, you will begin to have powerful feelings more and more. You can build these habits to help you develop the resilience you need for lifelong success in your recovery journey. 

We might feel that confidence is something that we are either born with or not. However, confidence is a skill that we can develop by being mindful of how we speak to ourselves and how we carry ourselves. We can change our perceptions by becoming mindful of inner dialogue that guides us through challenges. When we learn to be kind and encouraging to ourselves, we can develop the confidence we need along our recovery journey. Confidence and a positive mental attitude can have profound impacts on our capacity to handle stress and succeed in challenges. Sometimes, things can get extremely challenging and we might feel hopeless. We might struggle with our addictions and feel like we are at battle with ourselves daily. If you or a loved one are suffering from addiction and need treatment, The Kimberly Center is here to help. Call us at (855) 452-3683 and begin your recovery today!