Do you find it’s difficult for you to make your dreams come true? Are you so worried about how others think of you that you can’t live your life the way you want? Are you hesitant about making friends, or you have friends who put you down?
We’ve all had experiences where our confidence has been shaken. But unfortunately, you can’t just wake up one morning with high self-confidence that you’ve developed overnight. You have to understand what it is and then work on increasing your self-confidence until it becomes something natural you experience every day. By consciously enhancing your abilities and dealing with the attitudes that cause you to feel negative about yourself, you’ll create a sense of high self-confidence.
The Quiz
I’d like you to test yourself on how true the following statements are. Don’t think long and hard about them. Just take a few minutes to go through each statement one at a time. After you’ve rated yourself on each one, score your answers to learn how confident you are at this moment in time. The scoring is shown at the end of the test.
After each statement, write the one response that best describes how true or untrue this is for you now:
This is not true at all.
This is true some of the time.
This is true most of the time.
1. I can be very successful at my chosen career.
2. My dreams are in the process of coming true.
3. I am a person who can make things happen. I know I am very capable.
4. I can accept that I can’t please everyone.
5. I allow myself to make mistakes, realizing that we all learn from failure.
6. I can return an item of clothing that doesn’t fit me correctly to the store.
7. I actively pursue and maintain friendships with people who nurture me.
8. I can achieve anything I set my heart on.
9. I feel comfortable when dealing with my boss or people with authority.
10. I find it easy to make decisions that affect me.
11. I value myself very highly.
12. I feel very happy about my life and achievements.
13. I am an optimist about life rather than a pessimist.
14. I have control over my feelings.
15. I can easily stand on my own two feet and meet life’s difficulties.
16. I learn from previous experiences, but they don’t necessarily control me.
17. I deserve to be happy and healthy.
18. I believe the bad times are only temporary and that they’ll pass soon.
19. I have mainly positive thoughts about my life.
20. I can converse with anyone when I choose.
Which Response is Most Frequent?
Now look at your responses to the questions. Which response did you write down the most? You are more confident if you selected "This is true most of the time" most often, less confident if you mostly selected "This is true some of the time," and not very confident if you mostly selected "This is not true at all."
Scoring
Give yourself 3 points every time you said "This is true most of the time," 2 points every time you marked "This is true some of the time," and 1 point every time you answered "This is not true at all.”
If you scored between 20 and 40 points, you have a difficult time being confident in the various areas of your life. You probably find that you’re tired of thinking poorly of yourself and having difficulty reaching your personal goals. You can learn new skills so you can develop your inner strength and confidence.
If you scored between 40 and 50 points, you have some confidence, but you need to make some changes in order to improve your strength in achieving the life you’ve dreamed of.
If you scored between 50 and 60 points, you’re on your way to being a person with strong self-confidence. You feel good about yourself and know you can accomplish whatever you set out to do. You can learn some more ways you can sharpen your confidence and become even more self-assured.
Discover Where You Have High Self-Confidence and Low Self-Confidence
Look at the answers to the statements above and identify the areas in your life that you already have strong self-confidence and those in which you lack self-confidence. That will be a clue about how much you still need to learn to become a confident person and the areas in your life to which you need to pay most attention.
Even though your score may indicate you are at least partially self-confident now, most of us tend to be confident and strong in some areas of our lives and not in others. You may be confident in the workplace dealing with your work goals and co-workers but not so confident in starting conversations with strangers in social gatherings.
Or you can easily be assertive with a waiter when you’ve been served a meal that has been overcooked, but you find it difficult to have a positive outlook on life in general.
Where are you strong, and where do you need improvement?
Take This Quiz Over Time
I suggest that you work on your self-confidence by reading more of my articles, downloading the free kits on my website, doing all the exercises. Concentrate on increasing your self-confidence in all areas of your life. Then, after a few weeks, take this quiz again. And as you continue to become more self-confident over the next few months, take the quiz again. You'll be able to see your growth as your score changes. I wish you the best!
Vivian Harte is the co-author of Self-Esteem for Dummies in the Dummies series. She has helped over 15,000 people learn and use assertiveness skills during the last 17 years. She teaches online classes on assertiveness, self-confidence, and teamwork. She has a Bachelors degree in Sociology and a Masters degree in Public Administration. She taught college classes for many years in Tucson, Arizona. She has two grown children who are both successful. She lives in Tucson with her husband, three dogs and two cats.
She offers several online courses and e-books as well as coaching, and you can find out more about these at her website selfconfidencepro.com. Learn the skills to being more self-confident and having higher self-esteem. You owe it to yourself!