5 Techniques to Strengthen Your Self-Confidence
With the proper knowledge and techniques, you can find your confidence again.
--
Social anxiety is a disorder where one has an unreasonable and intense fear of being scrutinized or judged by others in social situations. It’s a problem that can affect us all, but people with social anxiety tend to experience its symptoms more intensely.
1. Practice thinking positively.
It can be hard to imagine a situation going well when you have social anxiety. We’re so used to focusing on what could go wrong that we don’t always think about the positive things that could happen. And this tends to make us worry even more.
We need to learn how to shift out of our negative mindset and into a more positive one. I’m not saying you should be overly optimistic or ignore all your concerns. Still, it’s helpful to spend some time thinking about positive outcomes when feeling anxious or stressed about a situation. For example, if you have a presentation coming up where you’re nervous, try to think of positive outcomes, such as having a good time with the people in your group.
2. Recognize that it’s just anxiety.
When we feel anxious, our brains signal that a critical need is not being met. For example, if we were about to climb on top of a 12-foot ladder and felt very anxious about it, it’d be because our brain was telling us that our safety was not guaranteed if we climbed up there. However, when we feel anxious in social situations, this is not because there is any danger for us.
Social anxiety is different from other kinds of anxiety; it’s usually about preparing for social situations in which you might be scrutinized and judged by the people around you. These fears exist, but they are not real. And the sooner we realize that the easier it is to see through them and return to a more positive mindset.
3. Consider other people’s viewpoints.
When we’re anxious, we tend to think only about what we believe ourselves to be at fault for or how we feel the situation is going for us. This can make it easy to think that we’re the only ones who feel this…
