Gratitude Builds Our Own Self-Confidence
There is a strong link between gratitude and confidence. We know about the physical health benefits of gratitude. Grateful people tend to look after their own health, they get more exercise, eat better and sleep better. If we feel good about our own health, we tend to be more confident.
There's more to it than that though. When we are grateful we realise that goals are achieved through the help of others, teamwork makes the dream work! When we are part of a successful team we naturally feel more confident.
We experience higher self-esteem, This may be because when you intentionally notice the ways other people are good to you, you develop a stronger sense of your own value. Grateful people don't seem to compare themselves to others, as we are on the same team.
A magical thing about gratitude is that it focusses our minds on a particular positive moment in time and simultaneously helps us to see that moment in time more objectively!
We often build walls of certainty and control as a defence mechanism. When we are in an appreciative state we are able to let go of our ego and break down those walls of certainty and control.
Due to the psychological safety that gratitude helps to foster we can make ourselves vulnerable as gratitude removes conditionality. Confidence is really just trusting yourself enough to be vulnerable.
When we trust our vulnerability we once again fire up the prosocial circuits in our brains that encourage curiosity and active listening, and lead us away from the fight, flight or freeze defence mechanism.
The more naturally confident you are, the easier it becomes to open to vulnerability. Which leads to gratitude. Which leads to joy. It's a circle!
When we are in a grateful state we appreciate what is around us, there are so many positives everywhere, we just need to notice them. When we are confident, we see opportunities in every challenge and we even become grateful for the challenges!
Having gratitude is a powerful way of making us feel better about ourselves. Being thankful for all the good things helps us to focus on the positives and it puts you in a better frame of mind. It helps with our self-esteem, happiness, and overall wellbeing.
Gratitude is a way of making the good things visible. It can be particularly hard to see the positives when we're feeling depressed, anxious or if you have low self-esteem. Remember that negative thoughts distort our reality, but there are always positives, even if we don't see them right away.
Gratitude helps us to let go of our isolated defence mechanisms and trust in our support networks! When we actively seek out moments to be grateful, it not only builds up others, it also gives us more self-confidence. It really is a virtuous circle!