Confidence and self-esteem: Just the facts

During your teens, you are exploring who you are as a person, what you believe, what you’re interested in and what you like/dislike. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself is a good way to find out more about yourself and who you want to be in the world.

Throughout your life you will go on an emotional journey, with lots of ups and downs along the way. Confidence and self-esteem are two major parts of your emotional health, but what exactly does being confident and having self-esteem mean?

Self-confidence refers to how you feel about your abilities, and can vary from one situation to the next as you may feel more confident about doing one thing than another.

Self-esteem refers to how you feel about yourself overall; how positive you feel about yourself and the amount of self-love you have.

Confidence and self-esteem is something you can build on and find ways that work for you to help you achieve this.

Remember Think Positive……Be Positive!

4 ways to feel good about yourself right now

1. Write down a weekly/monthly goal – read it every day and remind yourself what you want to achieve. Get a friend or family member to do it with you for moral support! You can also give yourself a positive mantra or message that you say to yourself every day and at first, even if these messages might not be true, with constant repetition your mind will start to believe them and they can become a reality.
2. Take some time out to do things you enjoy the most. This could be cooking, walking, reading a book, listening to music or just relaxing. Music has lots of benefits including helping to regulate emotions, improve mood, lessen anxiety, improve your sleep and may bring back some special memories.
3. Talking is a great way of releasing all of your emotions, good or bad. Keeping in regular contact with friends, family members or other trusted adults is important for your well-being and feeling connected.
4. Write down the last compliment you had, the last grade at school you got that you were really proud of or the last time you did something for someone else that made you feel good. You could also note down some of the times you faced obstacles or difficulties in your life and overcame them, building up your resilience. Writing these down on paper will give you time to reflect and boost self-esteem.

We’ve got lots of tips and advice on other areas that you may not feel as confident in. Below is a list of issues that lots of people can struggle with from time to time, so take a closer look for further support.

• Body image
• Bullying
• Friendship
• Feeling low
• Mood boosters
• Physical activity
• Worry and anxiety

How to get help

If you have any more questions on this area or would like to speak to somebody about this topic, have a look at the links or search for your local services in the blue box below. Alternatively you can always contact your school nurse.

• w: Childline- Building confidence and self-esteem
  
• w: YoungMinds- Believe in yourself