Confidence 

What is confidence?

Self- confidence is about believing and trusting in yourself and your ability to succeed and achieve your goals in life. It’s about having a positive view of yourself, for example being able to set realistic expectations and goals, being able to handle criticism and communicate assertively. Self-confidence, then, is the courage to know yourself, believe in yourself, and act on your beliefs. Ultimately self-confidence, cultivates self- acceptance, trust in yourself and a sense of control of your life. 

Why is confidence important?

Developing self- confidence is important for your quality of life. Self- confidence influences the life that you create for yourself. Your level of self- confidence will impact upon how well you function in the face of challenges and uncertainties. Self-confidence is underpinned by high self-esteem. This is why people who lack self-confidence often have low self-esteem. 

What is Self-Esteem?

Your self -esteem is how you value and perceive yourself. It is based on your general opinions and beliefs about yourself and your overall sense of self- value. Self- esteem is, liking and valuing yourself as a person. It is about being able to make to make decisions and assert yourself. It is about showing kindness to yourself, such as moving past mistakes without blaming yourself unfairly. Self- esteem also involves self- care, such as taking the time and space that you need and believing that you matter, are good enough and deserve happiness. 

Why is Self-esteem important?

High self -esteem is important, because low self- esteem can result in low self -confidence which can negatively impact on your quality of life. Low self- esteem can result in people pleasing, feeling unworthy or undeserving of love and respect from others. Staying in unhealthy relationships, which may be one sided, co-dependent or abusive. Unable to set healthy boundaries with people who do not value or respect you. Have a look at the questions below and consider whether your self-esteem could be better:

• Do you find it difficult to say no to the requests of others?
• Do you always put the needs of others first and neglect your own needs?
• Are you unable to set and maintain healthy personal boundaries with others?
• Do you lack self- trust and second guess yourself?
• Are you constantly comparing yourself to others? 
• Do you think that you have little or no control over your life? 
• Are you sensitive to criticism?
• Do you often put yourself down? 

Motivation 

What is motivation? 

The term motivation is generally used to understand why a person does something. Motivation can also be described as the driving force behind human actions. As humans we need to feel motivated in order to act in a that moves us towards our goals, for example going for a promotion at work, lose weight, or pass an exam.

Why is motivation important?

Motivation acts as the driving force for all human behaviour. Therefore, it is important to understand how motivation works and the factors that may influence it because motivation can:

• Drive you to take action 
• Increase your efficiency to work towards your goals
• Help you avoid unhealthy behaviours such as addiction and risk taking
• Encourage you to engage in behaviours that will lead to improved health
• Help you to feel more in control of your life
• Improve your general well-being and happiness

Signs of low motivation:

• Do you have difficulty getting started on tasks or projects?
• Do you procrastinate?
• Are you lacking in energy and enthusiasm?
• Have you lost interest in activities that you once enjoyed?
• Do you regularly engage in negative self-talk?
• Do you regularly doubt yourself?