🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa113)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html","crawl_time":1772774057,"first_indexed_time":1559612073,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Practical Ways to Improve Your Confidence (and Why You Should) - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["Self-confidence is just one element in a triad of things that make up our overall “confidence.” Here’s what you can do to boost yours."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nSelf-confidence is just one element in a triad of things that make up our overall “confidence.” Here’s what you can do to boost yours.\nCredit...\nLan Truong\nJune 3, 2019\nSelf-confidence is a bit like the running water in your house. You may not know every detail about how it works or where it comes from, but it’s painfully obvious when it’s not there. Like when your water is shut off, a dearth of self-confidence has a huge negative impact on your health and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are things you can do to shore it up.\nWhat is confidence?\nIn everyday conversation, self-confidence is often confused with self-esteem, and it overlaps with the less well-known term “self-efficacy.” However, psychology gives each of these terms a specific definition. It’s helpful to distinguish among the three:\nSelf-Efficacy\n: This term, as defined by\nAlbert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist\n, refers to your belief in your ability to accomplish specific tasks. If you believe you’re capable of cooking dinner or completing a project, this is reflective of high self-efficacy. People with low self-efficacy often put less effort into a task if they don’t believe they’ll succeed at it, increasing the likelihood of failure.\nSelf-Confidence\n: In contrast,\naccording to Dr. Bandura\n, self-confidence is more of a general view of how likely you are to accomplish a goal, especially based on your past experience. When you practice playing piano, you increase your confidence in your ability to play the piano. This can also apply to how likely you believe you are to be accepted in a social group. If you’ve been made fun of for your underwater basket-weaving hobby, you might be less confident sharing it with others next time. Self-confidence and self-efficacy are both rooted in experience, but self-confidence reflects a broader view of yourself, rather than your confidence in specific tasks.\nSelf-Esteem\n: The term most often confused with self-confidence is the one perhaps least similar to it. Self-esteem refers to a belief in your overall worth. Broad statements like “I’m a good person” fall into this category. Self-esteem is one of the levels of\nMaslow’s hierarchy of needs\n, and improvements to self-confidence can contribute to your broader self-esteem.\nThese concepts overlap, and psychologists disagree about\nwhere the lines are between each one\n. You can have enough confidence to believe that you’re capable of learning how to play a new game, for example, while simultaneously lacking the self-efficacy to believe that you’ll be any good when you first start. Likewise, you can have zero confidence in your ability to cook while still believing you’re a good person and deserving of love.\n[Like what you’re reading?\nSign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter\nto get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.]\nHigh confidence leads to more chances to improve\nSelf-confidence is your belief in how good you are at something, but it’s not a measure of your actual skill. So why does it matter if you believe in yourself? According to Charlie Houpert, the author of “Charisma on Command” and the founder of a\n2.7-million-subscriber YouTube channel\nof the same name, confidence doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps you take risks to make tangible improvements to your life.\n“Internally, true self-confidence will lead to more positivity, happiness and resilience,” Mr. Houpert said. “Externally, high self-confidence will lead to taking more risks, which directly correlates with reaping more rewards.”\nThe “Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology” puts it another way: “If the person lacks confidence, again there will be no action. That’s why a lack of confidence is sometimes referred to as ‘crippling doubt.’ Doubt can impair effort before the action begins or while it is ongoing.”\nIf you believe you can get your dream job if you apply, there’s a chance, however small, you might get it. If you don’t believe that you can get it, and you don’t apply, it’s guaranteed that you won’t. Self-confidence doesn’t magically make you better at what you do, but it does prime you to take the risks necessary to achieve your goals.\nHow you can improve your self-confidence\nIf building self-confidence is a matter of changing your beliefs about yourself, it’s going to take some work. You can say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me” into the mirror every day — and it couldn’t hurt — but there are more practical, effective tools you can use, too.\nBe ‘hyper honest’ with yourself\nMr. Houpert suggests being “hyper honest” with yourself as a simple, everyday way to exercise your confidence.\n“For example, let’s say someone asks you what you do for fun or what you do for a living,” he said. “If you find yourself biting your tongue or hiding something, evaluate that. That’s an indication to either stop doing that thing or, more likely, accept that part of yourself and own it.”\nThis doesn’t mean you have to share every part of your personality with everyone you meet. You can share your geeky hobbies with your geeky friends but stick to work topics at work. However, you can find\nsomeone\nto share yourself with. “When you stop hiding parts of yourself from other people, you’ll find you feel more confident in who you are,” Mr. Houpert said.\nStart working out\nMany people start working out to lose weight or build muscle, but exercise can also be a huge boost to your self-confidence. The\nAmerican Psychological Association\nhas noted that exercise can improve your mood and — along with regular treatment and therapy —\nhelp combat depression and anxiety\n. It can also help improve your confidence\nif you stick with it for a while\n. Working out regularly requires a commitment, and keeping that commitment is an accomplishment. Not only does sticking to a new healthy habit make you feel more confident, but you can also spot physical improvements to your body and health over the long term.\nTry things that make you uncomfortable\nStepping outside your comfort zone is, as you might expect, uncomfortable. Mr. Houpert said that’s the point.\n“Confidence is ultimately about being comfortable in a wide variety of situations that would make most people feel uncomfortable,” he said. “So if you stretch your comfort zone every day, very quickly you’ll have a large comfort zone and be able to feel more comfortable even when outside of it.”\nThis can involve more daunting changes, like taking a new job or confronting someone you usually avoid. However, it can also take smaller forms, like striking up a conversation with someone new if you’re normally shy, or trying a new food. According to Mr. Houpert, it’s more important that you regularly expand your comfort zone rather than occasionally throwing yourself into the deep end.\nTry a new look\nHow you dress can affect\nhow other people perceive you\n, but it can also affect how you perceive yourself. Wearing different clothes can prompt you to think or behave differently. This effect isn’t just limited to feeling good about yourself. Dr. Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, found that\nparticipants in a study who wore a white lab coat\nexhibited more focused attention. In other words, when people dressed like a doctor, they behaved more like a doctor, or at least how they thought a doctor might behave. If you want to feel more confident, dress the way a confident version of yourself would.\nDefy your impostor syndrome\nImpostor syndrome is a nasty mental bug that convinces you that\nyour accomplishments don’t really count\nand that you’re going to be found out as a fraud. This doubt can creep in because it’s easier to remember faults but more difficult to remember successes. Make a habit of periodically writing down or reflecting on times you’ve done things well. It’s easier to be confident in your abilities\nwhen you remember them\n.\nAdjust your posture\nMuch like how you dress, the posture you adopt can affect how you feel about yourself. While it might feel a little silly at first (remember that tip about stepping outside your comfort zone),\ntrying out powerful stances\ncan help adjust your frame of mind.\nResearch from Ohio State University\nsuggests that something as simple sitting up straight can make you feel more confident in what you’re doing.\nAvoid the arrogance trap\nAs you start to express yourself more confidently, it’s natural to worry about becoming arrogant in the process. However, according to Mr. Houpert, arrogance isn’t confidence run amok.\n“Arrogance is more the result of insecurity than high self-confidence,” he said. “Confidence is self-satisfied while arrogance requires external validation to feel good. So you get people who brag to solicit the recognition of others. Someone with true self-confidence is capable of being assertive and standing up for themselves, but they’re unlikely to adopt a tone that others perceive as arrogant. Oddly enough, the best defense against arrogance is developing true self-confidence.”\nIf you start out doubting yourself, it will take time before you feel like you belong. In the interim, your own creeping doubt can try to tell you that feeling good about yourself or standing your ground is really arrogance. Recognizing that this is a symptom of insecurity — and that being aware of the symptom is its own form of inoculation against it — can help you push past it.\nCorrection: An earlier version of this article stated that Dr. Adam Galinsky was a professor at the Kelogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was, and was at the Kellogg School when the study referenced was published, but he has since joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School. That reference has been updated.\nA version of this article appears in print on\nJune 13, 2019\n, Section A, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Here to Help; Practical Ways to Improve Your Self-Confidence\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in Health\nTierney L. Cross\/The New York Times\nWill Crooks for The New York Times\nKristian Thacker for The New York Times\nMathias Eis for The New York Times\nEditors’ Picks\nImage by Eric Striffler for The New York Times\nGetty Images\nTrending in The Times\nWarrick Page\/HBO Max\nErik Carter\nSenate Judiciary Committee, via Reuters\nKristian Thacker for The New York Times\nAmanda Shae Home Team Realty Group\nIzhar Khan\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nRicardo Nagaoka for The New York Times\nAbbey Cutrer\/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press\nJeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[Smarter Living](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/smarter-living)\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2019%252F06%252F03%252Fsmarter-living%252Fhow-to-improve-self-confidence.html&asset=masthead)\n\nFriday, March 6, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\n[Smarter Living](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/smarter-living)\\|Practical Ways to Improve Your Confidence (and Why You Should)\n\nhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html\n\n- Share full article\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-top)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-sponsor)\n# Practical Ways to Improve Your Confidence (and Why You Should)\nSelf-confidence is just one element in a triad of things that make up our overall “confidence.” Here’s what you can do to boost yours.\n\n- Share full article\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2019\/06\/13\/smarter-living\/00sl-confidence\/00sl-confidence-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nCredit...Lan Truong\n\nBy Eric Ravenscraft\n\nJune 3, 2019\n\n[Leer en español](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/es\/2019\/06\/07\/como-mejorar-tu-confianza\/ \"Read in Spanish\")\n\nSelf-confidence is a bit like the running water in your house. You may not know every detail about how it works or where it comes from, but it’s painfully obvious when it’s not there. Like when your water is shut off, a dearth of self-confidence has a huge negative impact on your health and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are things you can do to shore it up.\n\n## What is confidence?\nIn everyday conversation, self-confidence is often confused with self-esteem, and it overlaps with the less well-known term “self-efficacy.” However, psychology gives each of these terms a specific definition. It’s helpful to distinguish among the three:\n\n- **Self-Efficacy**: This term, as defined by [Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist](https:\/\/www.uky.edu\/~eushe2\/Bandura\/BanEncy.html), refers to your belief in your ability to accomplish specific tasks. If you believe you’re capable of cooking dinner or completing a project, this is reflective of high self-efficacy. People with low self-efficacy often put less effort into a task if they don’t believe they’ll succeed at it, increasing the likelihood of failure.\n- **Self-Confidence**: In contrast, [according to Dr. Bandura](https:\/\/www.uky.edu\/~eushe2\/Bandura\/banconfidence.html), self-confidence is more of a general view of how likely you are to accomplish a goal, especially based on your past experience. When you practice playing piano, you increase your confidence in your ability to play the piano. This can also apply to how likely you believe you are to be accepted in a social group. If you’ve been made fun of for your underwater basket-weaving hobby, you might be less confident sharing it with others next time. Self-confidence and self-efficacy are both rooted in experience, but self-confidence reflects a broader view of yourself, rather than your confidence in specific tasks.\n- **Self-Esteem**: The term most often confused with self-confidence is the one perhaps least similar to it. Self-esteem refers to a belief in your overall worth. Broad statements like “I’m a good person” fall into this category. Self-esteem is one of the levels of [Maslow’s hierarchy of needs](https:\/\/www.simplypsychology.org\/maslow.html), and improvements to self-confidence can contribute to your broader self-esteem.\n\nThese concepts overlap, and psychologists disagree about [where the lines are between each one](https:\/\/positivepsychologyprogram.com\/self-confidence\/). You can have enough confidence to believe that you’re capable of learning how to play a new game, for example, while simultaneously lacking the self-efficacy to believe that you’ll be any good when you first start. Likewise, you can have zero confidence in your ability to cook while still believing you’re a good person and deserving of love.\n\n*\\[Like what you’re reading?* [*Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter*](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters\/smarter-living) *to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.\\]*\n\n## High confidence leads to more chances to improve\nSelf-confidence is your belief in how good you are at something, but it’s not a measure of your actual skill. So why does it matter if you believe in yourself? According to Charlie Houpert, the author of “Charisma on Command” and the founder of a [2\\.7-million-subscriber YouTube channel](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/charismaoncommand\/) of the same name, confidence doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps you take risks to make tangible improvements to your life.\n\n“Internally, true self-confidence will lead to more positivity, happiness and resilience,” Mr. Houpert said. “Externally, high self-confidence will lead to taking more risks, which directly correlates with reaping more rewards.”\n\nThe “Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology” puts it another way: “If the person lacks confidence, again there will be no action. That’s why a lack of confidence is sometimes referred to as ‘crippling doubt.’ Doubt can impair effort before the action begins or while it is ongoing.”\n\nIf you believe you can get your dream job if you apply, there’s a chance, however small, you might get it. If you don’t believe that you can get it, and you don’t apply, it’s guaranteed that you won’t. Self-confidence doesn’t magically make you better at what you do, but it does prime you to take the risks necessary to achieve your goals.\n\n## How you can improve your self-confidence\nIf building self-confidence is a matter of changing your beliefs about yourself, it’s going to take some work. You can say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me” into the mirror every day — and it couldn’t hurt — but there are more practical, effective tools you can use, too.\n\n### **Be ‘hyper honest’ with yourself**\nMr. Houpert suggests being “hyper honest” with yourself as a simple, everyday way to exercise your confidence.\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/well\/COMPOUND-EXERCISE-WORKOUT-ART_03\/COMPOUND-EXERCISE-WORKOUT-ART_03-thumbLarge.jpg)For a Simpler Workout, Try Combining Moves](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/04\/well\/move\/for-a-simpler-workout-try-combining-moves.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/multimedia\/00-insider-norway-northernlights-01-pgbq\/00-insider-norway-northernlights-01-pgbq-thumbLarge.jpg)Chasing the Northern Lights, With Snowmobiles and Frozen Cameras](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/03\/insider\/northern-lights-aurora-borealis.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/10\/10\/autossell\/10listing-billyjoel-still\/10listing-billyjoel-still-thumbLarge-v2.jpg)The Piano Man’s Long Goodbye to Long Island](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/03\/realestate\/billy-joel-house-sale-long-island.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\n“For example, let’s say someone asks you what you do for fun or what you do for a living,” he said. “If you find yourself biting your tongue or hiding something, evaluate that. That’s an indication to either stop doing that thing or, more likely, accept that part of yourself and own it.”\n\nThis doesn’t mean you have to share every part of your personality with everyone you meet. You can share your geeky hobbies with your geeky friends but stick to work topics at work. However, you can find *someone* to share yourself with. “When you stop hiding parts of yourself from other people, you’ll find you feel more confident in who you are,” Mr. Houpert said.\n\n### **Start working out**\nMany people start working out to lose weight or build muscle, but exercise can also be a huge boost to your self-confidence. The [American Psychological Association](http:\/\/www.apa.org\/) has noted that exercise can improve your mood and — along with regular treatment and therapy — [help combat depression and anxiety](https:\/\/www.apa.org\/monitor\/2011\/12\/exercise). It can also help improve your confidence [if you stick with it for a while](https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2000-08537-003). Working out regularly requires a commitment, and keeping that commitment is an accomplishment. Not only does sticking to a new healthy habit make you feel more confident, but you can also spot physical improvements to your body and health over the long term.\n\n### **Try things that make you uncomfortable**\nStepping outside your comfort zone is, as you might expect, uncomfortable. Mr. Houpert said that’s the point.\n\n“Confidence is ultimately about being comfortable in a wide variety of situations that would make most people feel uncomfortable,” he said. “So if you stretch your comfort zone every day, very quickly you’ll have a large comfort zone and be able to feel more comfortable even when outside of it.”\n\nThis can involve more daunting changes, like taking a new job or confronting someone you usually avoid. However, it can also take smaller forms, like striking up a conversation with someone new if you’re normally shy, or trying a new food. According to Mr. Houpert, it’s more important that you regularly expand your comfort zone rather than occasionally throwing yourself into the deep end.\n\n[Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat April 2, 2012](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/04\/03\/science\/clothes-and-self-perception.html)\n\n### **Try a new look**\nHow you dress can affect [how other people perceive you](https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/do-something-different\/201304\/what-your-clothes-might-be-saying-about-you), but it can also affect how you perceive yourself. Wearing different clothes can prompt you to think or behave differently. This effect isn’t just limited to feeling good about yourself. Dr. Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, found that [participants in a study who wore a white lab coat](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/04\/03\/science\/clothes-and-self-perception.html) exhibited more focused attention. In other words, when people dressed like a doctor, they behaved more like a doctor, or at least how they thought a doctor might behave. If you want to feel more confident, dress the way a confident version of yourself would.\n\n### **Defy your impostor syndrome**\nImpostor syndrome is a nasty mental bug that convinces you that [your accomplishments don’t really count](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/26\/your-money\/learning-to-deal-with-the-impostor-syndrome.html) and that you’re going to be found out as a fraud. This doubt can creep in because it’s easier to remember faults but more difficult to remember successes. Make a habit of periodically writing down or reflecting on times you’ve done things well. It’s easier to be confident in your abilities [when you remember them](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/06\/12\/smarter-living\/dealing-with-impostor-syndrome-when-youre-treated-as-an-impostor.html).\n\n[![]()Dealing With Impostor Syndrome When You’re Treated as an Impostor June 12, 2018](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/06\/12\/smarter-living\/dealing-with-impostor-syndrome-when-youre-treated-as-an-impostor.html)\n\n### **Adjust your posture**\nMuch like how you dress, the posture you adopt can affect how you feel about yourself. While it might feel a little silly at first (remember that tip about stepping outside your comfort zone), [trying out powerful stances](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/05\/05\/fashion\/the-right-stance-can-be-reassuring-studied.html) can help adjust your frame of mind. [Research from Ohio State University](https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2009\/10\/091005111627.htm) suggests that something as simple sitting up straight can make you feel more confident in what you’re doing.\n\n## Avoid the arrogance trap\nAs you start to express yourself more confidently, it’s natural to worry about becoming arrogant in the process. However, according to Mr. Houpert, arrogance isn’t confidence run amok.\n\n“Arrogance is more the result of insecurity than high self-confidence,” he said. “Confidence is self-satisfied while arrogance requires external validation to feel good. So you get people who brag to solicit the recognition of others. Someone with true self-confidence is capable of being assertive and standing up for themselves, but they’re unlikely to adopt a tone that others perceive as arrogant. Oddly enough, the best defense against arrogance is developing true self-confidence.”\n\nIf you start out doubting yourself, it will take time before you feel like you belong. In the interim, your own creeping doubt can try to tell you that feeling good about yourself or standing your ground is really arrogance. Recognizing that this is a symptom of insecurity — and that being aware of the symptom is its own form of inoculation against it — can help you push past it.\n\n*Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Dr. Adam Galinsky was a professor at the Kelogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was, and was at the Kellogg School when the study referenced was published, but he has since joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School. That reference has been updated.*\n\nA version of this article appears in print on June 13, 2019, Section A, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Here to Help; Practical Ways to Improve Your Self-Confidence. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n- Share full article\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n- [Fewer Pregnant Women Received Acetaminophen in E.R.s After White House Warnings](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/05\/health\/tylenol-acetaminophen-autism-trump.html)\n  \n  ![President Trump made an announcement about autism and Tylenol alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington last September.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/multimedia\/05hs-tylenol-01-tqzb\/05hs-tylenol-01-tqzb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Tierney L. Cross\/The New York Times\n- [F.D.A. 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[Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Advertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/smarter-living\/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-top)\n\nSelf-confidence is just one element in a triad of things that make up our overall “confidence.” Here’s what you can do to boost yours.\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2019\/06\/13\/smarter-living\/00sl-confidence\/00sl-confidence-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nCredit...Lan Truong\n\nJune 3, 2019\n\nSelf-confidence is a bit like the running water in your house. You may not know every detail about how it works or where it comes from, but it’s painfully obvious when it’s not there. Like when your water is shut off, a dearth of self-confidence has a huge negative impact on your health and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are things you can do to shore it up.\n\n## What is confidence?\nIn everyday conversation, self-confidence is often confused with self-esteem, and it overlaps with the less well-known term “self-efficacy.” However, psychology gives each of these terms a specific definition. It’s helpful to distinguish among the three:\n\n- **Self-Efficacy**: This term, as defined by [Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist](https:\/\/www.uky.edu\/~eushe2\/Bandura\/BanEncy.html), refers to your belief in your ability to accomplish specific tasks. If you believe you’re capable of cooking dinner or completing a project, this is reflective of high self-efficacy. People with low self-efficacy often put less effort into a task if they don’t believe they’ll succeed at it, increasing the likelihood of failure.\n- **Self-Confidence**: In contrast, [according to Dr. Bandura](https:\/\/www.uky.edu\/~eushe2\/Bandura\/banconfidence.html), self-confidence is more of a general view of how likely you are to accomplish a goal, especially based on your past experience. When you practice playing piano, you increase your confidence in your ability to play the piano. This can also apply to how likely you believe you are to be accepted in a social group. If you’ve been made fun of for your underwater basket-weaving hobby, you might be less confident sharing it with others next time. Self-confidence and self-efficacy are both rooted in experience, but self-confidence reflects a broader view of yourself, rather than your confidence in specific tasks.\n- **Self-Esteem**: The term most often confused with self-confidence is the one perhaps least similar to it. Self-esteem refers to a belief in your overall worth. Broad statements like “I’m a good person” fall into this category. Self-esteem is one of the levels of [Maslow’s hierarchy of needs](https:\/\/www.simplypsychology.org\/maslow.html), and improvements to self-confidence can contribute to your broader self-esteem.\n\nThese concepts overlap, and psychologists disagree about [where the lines are between each one](https:\/\/positivepsychologyprogram.com\/self-confidence\/). You can have enough confidence to believe that you’re capable of learning how to play a new game, for example, while simultaneously lacking the self-efficacy to believe that you’ll be any good when you first start. Likewise, you can have zero confidence in your ability to cook while still believing you’re a good person and deserving of love.\n\n*\\[Like what you’re reading?* [*Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter*](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters\/smarter-living) *to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.\\]*\n\n## High confidence leads to more chances to improve\nSelf-confidence is your belief in how good you are at something, but it’s not a measure of your actual skill. So why does it matter if you believe in yourself? According to Charlie Houpert, the author of “Charisma on Command” and the founder of a [2\\.7-million-subscriber YouTube channel](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/charismaoncommand\/) of the same name, confidence doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps you take risks to make tangible improvements to your life.\n\n“Internally, true self-confidence will lead to more positivity, happiness and resilience,” Mr. Houpert said. “Externally, high self-confidence will lead to taking more risks, which directly correlates with reaping more rewards.”\n\nThe “Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology” puts it another way: “If the person lacks confidence, again there will be no action. That’s why a lack of confidence is sometimes referred to as ‘crippling doubt.’ Doubt can impair effort before the action begins or while it is ongoing.”\n\nIf you believe you can get your dream job if you apply, there’s a chance, however small, you might get it. If you don’t believe that you can get it, and you don’t apply, it’s guaranteed that you won’t. Self-confidence doesn’t magically make you better at what you do, but it does prime you to take the risks necessary to achieve your goals.\n\n## How you can improve your self-confidence\nIf building self-confidence is a matter of changing your beliefs about yourself, it’s going to take some work. You can say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me” into the mirror every day — and it couldn’t hurt — but there are more practical, effective tools you can use, too.\n\n### **Be ‘hyper honest’ with yourself**\nMr. Houpert suggests being “hyper honest” with yourself as a simple, everyday way to exercise your confidence.\n\n“For example, let’s say someone asks you what you do for fun or what you do for a living,” he said. “If you find yourself biting your tongue or hiding something, evaluate that. That’s an indication to either stop doing that thing or, more likely, accept that part of yourself and own it.”\n\nThis doesn’t mean you have to share every part of your personality with everyone you meet. You can share your geeky hobbies with your geeky friends but stick to work topics at work. However, you can find *someone* to share yourself with. “When you stop hiding parts of yourself from other people, you’ll find you feel more confident in who you are,” Mr. Houpert said.\n\n### **Start working out**\nMany people start working out to lose weight or build muscle, but exercise can also be a huge boost to your self-confidence. The [American Psychological Association](http:\/\/www.apa.org\/) has noted that exercise can improve your mood and — along with regular treatment and therapy — [help combat depression and anxiety](https:\/\/www.apa.org\/monitor\/2011\/12\/exercise). It can also help improve your confidence [if you stick with it for a while](https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2000-08537-003). Working out regularly requires a commitment, and keeping that commitment is an accomplishment. Not only does sticking to a new healthy habit make you feel more confident, but you can also spot physical improvements to your body and health over the long term.\n\n### **Try things that make you uncomfortable**\nStepping outside your comfort zone is, as you might expect, uncomfortable. Mr. Houpert said that’s the point.\n\n“Confidence is ultimately about being comfortable in a wide variety of situations that would make most people feel uncomfortable,” he said. “So if you stretch your comfort zone every day, very quickly you’ll have a large comfort zone and be able to feel more comfortable even when outside of it.”\n\nThis can involve more daunting changes, like taking a new job or confronting someone you usually avoid. However, it can also take smaller forms, like striking up a conversation with someone new if you’re normally shy, or trying a new food. According to Mr. Houpert, it’s more important that you regularly expand your comfort zone rather than occasionally throwing yourself into the deep end.\n\n### **Try a new look**\nHow you dress can affect [how other people perceive you](https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/do-something-different\/201304\/what-your-clothes-might-be-saying-about-you), but it can also affect how you perceive yourself. Wearing different clothes can prompt you to think or behave differently. This effect isn’t just limited to feeling good about yourself. Dr. Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, found that [participants in a study who wore a white lab coat](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/04\/03\/science\/clothes-and-self-perception.html) exhibited more focused attention. In other words, when people dressed like a doctor, they behaved more like a doctor, or at least how they thought a doctor might behave. If you want to feel more confident, dress the way a confident version of yourself would.\n\n### **Defy your impostor syndrome**\nImpostor syndrome is a nasty mental bug that convinces you that [your accomplishments don’t really count](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/26\/your-money\/learning-to-deal-with-the-impostor-syndrome.html) and that you’re going to be found out as a fraud. This doubt can creep in because it’s easier to remember faults but more difficult to remember successes. Make a habit of periodically writing down or reflecting on times you’ve done things well. It’s easier to be confident in your abilities [when you remember them](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/06\/12\/smarter-living\/dealing-with-impostor-syndrome-when-youre-treated-as-an-impostor.html).\n\n### **Adjust your posture**\nMuch like how you dress, the posture you adopt can affect how you feel about yourself. While it might feel a little silly at first (remember that tip about stepping outside your comfort zone), [trying out powerful stances](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/05\/05\/fashion\/the-right-stance-can-be-reassuring-studied.html) can help adjust your frame of mind. [Research from Ohio State University](https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2009\/10\/091005111627.htm) suggests that something as simple sitting up straight can make you feel more confident in what you’re doing.\n\n## Avoid the arrogance trap\nAs you start to express yourself more confidently, it’s natural to worry about becoming arrogant in the process. However, according to Mr. Houpert, arrogance isn’t confidence run amok.\n\n“Arrogance is more the result of insecurity than high self-confidence,” he said. “Confidence is self-satisfied while arrogance requires external validation to feel good. So you get people who brag to solicit the recognition of others. Someone with true self-confidence is capable of being assertive and standing up for themselves, but they’re unlikely to adopt a tone that others perceive as arrogant. Oddly enough, the best defense against arrogance is developing true self-confidence.”\n\nIf you start out doubting yourself, it will take time before you feel like you belong. In the interim, your own creeping doubt can try to tell you that feeling good about yourself or standing your ground is really arrogance. Recognizing that this is a symptom of insecurity — and that being aware of the symptom is its own form of inoculation against it — can help you push past it.\n\n*Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Dr. Adam Galinsky was a professor at the Kelogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was, and was at the Kellogg School when the study referenced was published, but he has since joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School. That reference has been updated.*\n\nA version of this article appears in print on June 13, 2019, Section A, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Here to Help; Practical Ways to Improve Your Self-Confidence. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n\n- ![President Trump made an announcement about autism and Tylenol alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington last September.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/multimedia\/05hs-tylenol-01-tqzb\/05hs-tylenol-01-tqzb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Tierney L. Cross\/The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/26\/multimedia\/FDA-drug-rejections-stillpromo-gjzl\/FDA-drug-rejections-stillpromo-gjzl-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Will Crooks for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/multimedia\/04HS-weight-loss-zgtw\/04HS-weight-loss-zgtw-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Kristian Thacker for The New York Times\n- ![Pernille Petersen and Giuseppe Parlatore, ambassadors for the program.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/multimedia\/00SCI-mental-health-stigma-08-fmth\/00SCI-mental-health-stigma-08-fmth-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Mathias Eis for The New York Times\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/10\/10\/autossell\/10listing-billyjoel-still\/10listing-billyjoel-still-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Image by Eric Striffler for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/multimedia\/03ST-SEXUAL-MARKET-VALUE-fkct\/03ST-SEXUAL-MARKET-VALUE-fkct-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Getty Images\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![From left, Sasha Compere, Noah Wyle and Isa Briones in “The Pitt.” Episode 9 included a story line in which a patient’s parents were seized during an immigration hearing and deported to Haiti.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/arts\/05cul-pitt-recap\/05cul-pitt-recap-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Warrick Page\/HBO Max\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/opinion\/05steinberger\/05steinberger-square640-v3.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Erik Carter\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/Kristi-THumb\/Kristi-THumb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Senate Judiciary Committee, via Reuters\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/multimedia\/04HS-weight-loss-zgtw\/04HS-weight-loss-zgtw-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Kristian Thacker for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/realestate\/04re-wyg-Louisville\/04re-wyg-Louisville-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Amanda Shae Home Team Realty Group\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/multimedia\/-04vid-evacuations--vfph\/-04vid-evacuations--vfph-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Izhar Khan\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- ![The merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. 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Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Self-confidence is just one element in a triad of things that make up our overall “confidence.” Here’s what you can do to boost yours. Credit... Lan Truong June 3, 2019 Self-confidence is a bit like the running water in your house. You may not know every detail about how it works or where it comes from, but it’s painfully obvious when it’s not there. Like when your water is shut off, a dearth of self-confidence has a huge negative impact on your health and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are things you can do to shore it up. What is confidence? In everyday conversation, self-confidence is often confused with self-esteem, and it overlaps with the less well-known term “self-efficacy.” However, psychology gives each of these terms a specific definition. It’s helpful to distinguish among the three: Self-Efficacy : This term, as defined by Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist , refers to your belief in your ability to accomplish specific tasks. If you believe you’re capable of cooking dinner or completing a project, this is reflective of high self-efficacy. People with low self-efficacy often put less effort into a task if they don’t believe they’ll succeed at it, increasing the likelihood of failure. Self-Confidence : In contrast, according to Dr. Bandura , self-confidence is more of a general view of how likely you are to accomplish a goal, especially based on your past experience. When you practice playing piano, you increase your confidence in your ability to play the piano. This can also apply to how likely you believe you are to be accepted in a social group. If you’ve been made fun of for your underwater basket-weaving hobby, you might be less confident sharing it with others next time. Self-confidence and self-efficacy are both rooted in experience, but self-confidence reflects a broader view of yourself, rather than your confidence in specific tasks. Self-Esteem : The term most often confused with self-confidence is the one perhaps least similar to it. Self-esteem refers to a belief in your overall worth. Broad statements like “I’m a good person” fall into this category. Self-esteem is one of the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs , and improvements to self-confidence can contribute to your broader self-esteem. These concepts overlap, and psychologists disagree about where the lines are between each one . You can have enough confidence to believe that you’re capable of learning how to play a new game, for example, while simultaneously lacking the self-efficacy to believe that you’ll be any good when you first start. Likewise, you can have zero confidence in your ability to cook while still believing you’re a good person and deserving of love. [Like what you’re reading? Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.] High confidence leads to more chances to improve Self-confidence is your belief in how good you are at something, but it’s not a measure of your actual skill. So why does it matter if you believe in yourself? According to Charlie Houpert, the author of “Charisma on Command” and the founder of a 2.7-million-subscriber YouTube channel of the same name, confidence doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps you take risks to make tangible improvements to your life. “Internally, true self-confidence will lead to more positivity, happiness and resilience,” Mr. Houpert said. “Externally, high self-confidence will lead to taking more risks, which directly correlates with reaping more rewards.” The “Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology” puts it another way: “If the person lacks confidence, again there will be no action. That’s why a lack of confidence is sometimes referred to as ‘crippling doubt.’ Doubt can impair effort before the action begins or while it is ongoing.” If you believe you can get your dream job if you apply, there’s a chance, however small, you might get it. If you don’t believe that you can get it, and you don’t apply, it’s guaranteed that you won’t. Self-confidence doesn’t magically make you better at what you do, but it does prime you to take the risks necessary to achieve your goals. How you can improve your self-confidence If building self-confidence is a matter of changing your beliefs about yourself, it’s going to take some work. You can say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me” into the mirror every day — and it couldn’t hurt — but there are more practical, effective tools you can use, too. Be ‘hyper honest’ with yourself Mr. Houpert suggests being “hyper honest” with yourself as a simple, everyday way to exercise your confidence. “For example, let’s say someone asks you what you do for fun or what you do for a living,” he said. “If you find yourself biting your tongue or hiding something, evaluate that. That’s an indication to either stop doing that thing or, more likely, accept that part of yourself and own it.” This doesn’t mean you have to share every part of your personality with everyone you meet. You can share your geeky hobbies with your geeky friends but stick to work topics at work. However, you can find someone to share yourself with. “When you stop hiding parts of yourself from other people, you’ll find you feel more confident in who you are,” Mr. Houpert said. Start working out Many people start working out to lose weight or build muscle, but exercise can also be a huge boost to your self-confidence. The American Psychological Association has noted that exercise can improve your mood and — along with regular treatment and therapy — help combat depression and anxiety . It can also help improve your confidence if you stick with it for a while . Working out regularly requires a commitment, and keeping that commitment is an accomplishment. Not only does sticking to a new healthy habit make you feel more confident, but you can also spot physical improvements to your body and health over the long term. Try things that make you uncomfortable Stepping outside your comfort zone is, as you might expect, uncomfortable. Mr. Houpert said that’s the point. “Confidence is ultimately about being comfortable in a wide variety of situations that would make most people feel uncomfortable,” he said. “So if you stretch your comfort zone every day, very quickly you’ll have a large comfort zone and be able to feel more comfortable even when outside of it.” This can involve more daunting changes, like taking a new job or confronting someone you usually avoid. However, it can also take smaller forms, like striking up a conversation with someone new if you’re normally shy, or trying a new food. According to Mr. Houpert, it’s more important that you regularly expand your comfort zone rather than occasionally throwing yourself into the deep end. Try a new look How you dress can affect how other people perceive you , but it can also affect how you perceive yourself. Wearing different clothes can prompt you to think or behave differently. This effect isn’t just limited to feeling good about yourself. Dr. Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, found that participants in a study who wore a white lab coat exhibited more focused attention. In other words, when people dressed like a doctor, they behaved more like a doctor, or at least how they thought a doctor might behave. If you want to feel more confident, dress the way a confident version of yourself would. Defy your impostor syndrome Impostor syndrome is a nasty mental bug that convinces you that your accomplishments don’t really count and that you’re going to be found out as a fraud. This doubt can creep in because it’s easier to remember faults but more difficult to remember successes. Make a habit of periodically writing down or reflecting on times you’ve done things well. It’s easier to be confident in your abilities when you remember them . Adjust your posture Much like how you dress, the posture you adopt can affect how you feel about yourself. While it might feel a little silly at first (remember that tip about stepping outside your comfort zone), trying out powerful stances can help adjust your frame of mind. Research from Ohio State University suggests that something as simple sitting up straight can make you feel more confident in what you’re doing. Avoid the arrogance trap As you start to express yourself more confidently, it’s natural to worry about becoming arrogant in the process. However, according to Mr. Houpert, arrogance isn’t confidence run amok. “Arrogance is more the result of insecurity than high self-confidence,” he said. “Confidence is self-satisfied while arrogance requires external validation to feel good. So you get people who brag to solicit the recognition of others. Someone with true self-confidence is capable of being assertive and standing up for themselves, but they’re unlikely to adopt a tone that others perceive as arrogant. Oddly enough, the best defense against arrogance is developing true self-confidence.” If you start out doubting yourself, it will take time before you feel like you belong. In the interim, your own creeping doubt can try to tell you that feeling good about yourself or standing your ground is really arrogance. Recognizing that this is a symptom of insecurity — and that being aware of the symptom is its own form of inoculation against it — can help you push past it. Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Dr. Adam Galinsky was a professor at the Kelogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was, and was at the Kellogg School when the study referenced was published, but he has since joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School. That reference has been updated. A version of this article appears in print on June 13, 2019 , Section A, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Here to Help; Practical Ways to Improve Your Self-Confidence . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in Health Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times Will Crooks for The New York Times Kristian Thacker for The New York Times Mathias Eis for The New York Times Editors’ Picks Image by Eric Striffler for The New York Times Getty Images Trending in The Times Warrick Page/HBO Max Erik Carter Senate Judiciary Committee, via Reuters Kristian Thacker for The New York Times Amanda Shae Home Team Realty Group Izhar Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Ricardo Nagaoka for The New York Times Abbey Cutrer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press Jeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [Smarter Living](https://www.nytimes.com/section/smarter-living) [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2019%252F06%252F03%252Fsmarter-living%252Fhow-to-improve-self-confidence.html&asset=masthead) Friday, March 6, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) [Smarter Living](https://www.nytimes.com/section/smarter-living)\\|Practical Ways to Improve Your Confidence (and Why You Should) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html - Share full article Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-top) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-sponsor) # Practical Ways to Improve Your Confidence (and Why You Should) Self-confidence is just one element in a triad of things that make up our overall “confidence.” Here’s what you can do to boost yours. - Share full article ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/06/13/smarter-living/00sl-confidence/00sl-confidence-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Lan Truong By Eric Ravenscraft June 3, 2019 [Leer en español](https://www.nytimes.com/es/2019/06/07/como-mejorar-tu-confianza/ "Read in Spanish") Self-confidence is a bit like the running water in your house. You may not know every detail about how it works or where it comes from, but it’s painfully obvious when it’s not there. Like when your water is shut off, a dearth of self-confidence has a huge negative impact on your health and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are things you can do to shore it up. ## What is confidence? In everyday conversation, self-confidence is often confused with self-esteem, and it overlaps with the less well-known term “self-efficacy.” However, psychology gives each of these terms a specific definition. It’s helpful to distinguish among the three: - Self-Efficacy: This term, as defined by [Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist](https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/BanEncy.html), refers to your belief in your ability to accomplish specific tasks. If you believe you’re capable of cooking dinner or completing a project, this is reflective of high self-efficacy. People with low self-efficacy often put less effort into a task if they don’t believe they’ll succeed at it, increasing the likelihood of failure. - Self-Confidence: In contrast, [according to Dr. Bandura](https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/banconfidence.html), self-confidence is more of a general view of how likely you are to accomplish a goal, especially based on your past experience. When you practice playing piano, you increase your confidence in your ability to play the piano. This can also apply to how likely you believe you are to be accepted in a social group. If you’ve been made fun of for your underwater basket-weaving hobby, you might be less confident sharing it with others next time. Self-confidence and self-efficacy are both rooted in experience, but self-confidence reflects a broader view of yourself, rather than your confidence in specific tasks. - Self-Esteem: The term most often confused with self-confidence is the one perhaps least similar to it. Self-esteem refers to a belief in your overall worth. Broad statements like “I’m a good person” fall into this category. Self-esteem is one of the levels of [Maslow’s hierarchy of needs](https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html), and improvements to self-confidence can contribute to your broader self-esteem. These concepts overlap, and psychologists disagree about [where the lines are between each one](https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/self-confidence/). You can have enough confidence to believe that you’re capable of learning how to play a new game, for example, while simultaneously lacking the self-efficacy to believe that you’ll be any good when you first start. Likewise, you can have zero confidence in your ability to cook while still believing you’re a good person and deserving of love. \[Like what you’re reading? [Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter](https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/smarter-living) to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.\] ## High confidence leads to more chances to improve Self-confidence is your belief in how good you are at something, but it’s not a measure of your actual skill. So why does it matter if you believe in yourself? According to Charlie Houpert, the author of “Charisma on Command” and the founder of a [2\.7-million-subscriber YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/charismaoncommand/) of the same name, confidence doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps you take risks to make tangible improvements to your life. “Internally, true self-confidence will lead to more positivity, happiness and resilience,” Mr. Houpert said. “Externally, high self-confidence will lead to taking more risks, which directly correlates with reaping more rewards.” The “Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology” puts it another way: “If the person lacks confidence, again there will be no action. That’s why a lack of confidence is sometimes referred to as ‘crippling doubt.’ Doubt can impair effort before the action begins or while it is ongoing.” If you believe you can get your dream job if you apply, there’s a chance, however small, you might get it. If you don’t believe that you can get it, and you don’t apply, it’s guaranteed that you won’t. Self-confidence doesn’t magically make you better at what you do, but it does prime you to take the risks necessary to achieve your goals. ## How you can improve your self-confidence If building self-confidence is a matter of changing your beliefs about yourself, it’s going to take some work. You can say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me” into the mirror every day — and it couldn’t hurt — but there are more practical, effective tools you can use, too. ### Be ‘hyper honest’ with yourself Mr. Houpert suggests being “hyper honest” with yourself as a simple, everyday way to exercise your confidence. ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/03/well/COMPOUND-EXERCISE-WORKOUT-ART_03/COMPOUND-EXERCISE-WORKOUT-ART_03-thumbLarge.jpg)For a Simpler Workout, Try Combining Moves](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/well/move/for-a-simpler-workout-try-combining-moves.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/03/multimedia/00-insider-norway-northernlights-01-pgbq/00-insider-norway-northernlights-01-pgbq-thumbLarge.jpg)Chasing the Northern Lights, With Snowmobiles and Frozen Cameras](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/insider/northern-lights-aurora-borealis.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/10/10/autossell/10listing-billyjoel-still/10listing-billyjoel-still-thumbLarge-v2.jpg)The Piano Man’s Long Goodbye to Long Island](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/realestate/billy-joel-house-sale-long-island.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-pp_edpick) “For example, let’s say someone asks you what you do for fun or what you do for a living,” he said. “If you find yourself biting your tongue or hiding something, evaluate that. That’s an indication to either stop doing that thing or, more likely, accept that part of yourself and own it.” This doesn’t mean you have to share every part of your personality with everyone you meet. You can share your geeky hobbies with your geeky friends but stick to work topics at work. However, you can find someone to share yourself with. “When you stop hiding parts of yourself from other people, you’ll find you feel more confident in who you are,” Mr. Houpert said. ### Start working out Many people start working out to lose weight or build muscle, but exercise can also be a huge boost to your self-confidence. The [American Psychological Association](http://www.apa.org/) has noted that exercise can improve your mood and — along with regular treatment and therapy — [help combat depression and anxiety](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise). It can also help improve your confidence [if you stick with it for a while](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2000-08537-003). Working out regularly requires a commitment, and keeping that commitment is an accomplishment. Not only does sticking to a new healthy habit make you feel more confident, but you can also spot physical improvements to your body and health over the long term. ### Try things that make you uncomfortable Stepping outside your comfort zone is, as you might expect, uncomfortable. Mr. Houpert said that’s the point. “Confidence is ultimately about being comfortable in a wide variety of situations that would make most people feel uncomfortable,” he said. “So if you stretch your comfort zone every day, very quickly you’ll have a large comfort zone and be able to feel more comfortable even when outside of it.” This can involve more daunting changes, like taking a new job or confronting someone you usually avoid. However, it can also take smaller forms, like striking up a conversation with someone new if you’re normally shy, or trying a new food. According to Mr. Houpert, it’s more important that you regularly expand your comfort zone rather than occasionally throwing yourself into the deep end. [Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat April 2, 2012](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html) ### Try a new look How you dress can affect [how other people perceive you](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-something-different/201304/what-your-clothes-might-be-saying-about-you), but it can also affect how you perceive yourself. Wearing different clothes can prompt you to think or behave differently. This effect isn’t just limited to feeling good about yourself. Dr. Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, found that [participants in a study who wore a white lab coat](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html) exhibited more focused attention. In other words, when people dressed like a doctor, they behaved more like a doctor, or at least how they thought a doctor might behave. If you want to feel more confident, dress the way a confident version of yourself would. ### Defy your impostor syndrome Impostor syndrome is a nasty mental bug that convinces you that [your accomplishments don’t really count](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/your-money/learning-to-deal-with-the-impostor-syndrome.html) and that you’re going to be found out as a fraud. This doubt can creep in because it’s easier to remember faults but more difficult to remember successes. Make a habit of periodically writing down or reflecting on times you’ve done things well. It’s easier to be confident in your abilities [when you remember them](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/smarter-living/dealing-with-impostor-syndrome-when-youre-treated-as-an-impostor.html). [![]()Dealing With Impostor Syndrome When You’re Treated as an Impostor June 12, 2018](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/smarter-living/dealing-with-impostor-syndrome-when-youre-treated-as-an-impostor.html) ### Adjust your posture Much like how you dress, the posture you adopt can affect how you feel about yourself. While it might feel a little silly at first (remember that tip about stepping outside your comfort zone), [trying out powerful stances](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/fashion/the-right-stance-can-be-reassuring-studied.html) can help adjust your frame of mind. [Research from Ohio State University](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005111627.htm) suggests that something as simple sitting up straight can make you feel more confident in what you’re doing. ## Avoid the arrogance trap As you start to express yourself more confidently, it’s natural to worry about becoming arrogant in the process. However, according to Mr. Houpert, arrogance isn’t confidence run amok. “Arrogance is more the result of insecurity than high self-confidence,” he said. “Confidence is self-satisfied while arrogance requires external validation to feel good. So you get people who brag to solicit the recognition of others. Someone with true self-confidence is capable of being assertive and standing up for themselves, but they’re unlikely to adopt a tone that others perceive as arrogant. Oddly enough, the best defense against arrogance is developing true self-confidence.” If you start out doubting yourself, it will take time before you feel like you belong. In the interim, your own creeping doubt can try to tell you that feeling good about yourself or standing your ground is really arrogance. Recognizing that this is a symptom of insecurity — and that being aware of the symptom is its own form of inoculation against it — can help you push past it. Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Dr. Adam Galinsky was a professor at the Kelogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was, and was at the Kellogg School when the study referenced was published, but he has since joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School. That reference has been updated. A version of this article appears in print on June 13, 2019, Section A, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Here to Help; Practical Ways to Improve Your Self-Confidence. 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Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/smarter-living/how-to-improve-self-confidence.html#after-top) Self-confidence is just one element in a triad of things that make up our overall “confidence.” Here’s what you can do to boost yours. ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/06/13/smarter-living/00sl-confidence/00sl-confidence-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Lan Truong June 3, 2019 Self-confidence is a bit like the running water in your house. You may not know every detail about how it works or where it comes from, but it’s painfully obvious when it’s not there. Like when your water is shut off, a dearth of self-confidence has a huge negative impact on your health and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are things you can do to shore it up. ## What is confidence? In everyday conversation, self-confidence is often confused with self-esteem, and it overlaps with the less well-known term “self-efficacy.” However, psychology gives each of these terms a specific definition. It’s helpful to distinguish among the three: - Self-Efficacy: This term, as defined by [Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist](https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/BanEncy.html), refers to your belief in your ability to accomplish specific tasks. If you believe you’re capable of cooking dinner or completing a project, this is reflective of high self-efficacy. People with low self-efficacy often put less effort into a task if they don’t believe they’ll succeed at it, increasing the likelihood of failure. - Self-Confidence: In contrast, [according to Dr. Bandura](https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/banconfidence.html), self-confidence is more of a general view of how likely you are to accomplish a goal, especially based on your past experience. When you practice playing piano, you increase your confidence in your ability to play the piano. This can also apply to how likely you believe you are to be accepted in a social group. If you’ve been made fun of for your underwater basket-weaving hobby, you might be less confident sharing it with others next time. Self-confidence and self-efficacy are both rooted in experience, but self-confidence reflects a broader view of yourself, rather than your confidence in specific tasks. - Self-Esteem: The term most often confused with self-confidence is the one perhaps least similar to it. Self-esteem refers to a belief in your overall worth. Broad statements like “I’m a good person” fall into this category. Self-esteem is one of the levels of [Maslow’s hierarchy of needs](https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html), and improvements to self-confidence can contribute to your broader self-esteem. These concepts overlap, and psychologists disagree about [where the lines are between each one](https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/self-confidence/). You can have enough confidence to believe that you’re capable of learning how to play a new game, for example, while simultaneously lacking the self-efficacy to believe that you’ll be any good when you first start. Likewise, you can have zero confidence in your ability to cook while still believing you’re a good person and deserving of love. \[Like what you’re reading? [Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter](https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/smarter-living) to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.\] ## High confidence leads to more chances to improve Self-confidence is your belief in how good you are at something, but it’s not a measure of your actual skill. So why does it matter if you believe in yourself? According to Charlie Houpert, the author of “Charisma on Command” and the founder of a [2\.7-million-subscriber YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/charismaoncommand/) of the same name, confidence doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps you take risks to make tangible improvements to your life. “Internally, true self-confidence will lead to more positivity, happiness and resilience,” Mr. Houpert said. “Externally, high self-confidence will lead to taking more risks, which directly correlates with reaping more rewards.” The “Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology” puts it another way: “If the person lacks confidence, again there will be no action. That’s why a lack of confidence is sometimes referred to as ‘crippling doubt.’ Doubt can impair effort before the action begins or while it is ongoing.” If you believe you can get your dream job if you apply, there’s a chance, however small, you might get it. If you don’t believe that you can get it, and you don’t apply, it’s guaranteed that you won’t. Self-confidence doesn’t magically make you better at what you do, but it does prime you to take the risks necessary to achieve your goals. ## How you can improve your self-confidence If building self-confidence is a matter of changing your beliefs about yourself, it’s going to take some work. You can say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me” into the mirror every day — and it couldn’t hurt — but there are more practical, effective tools you can use, too. ### Be ‘hyper honest’ with yourself Mr. Houpert suggests being “hyper honest” with yourself as a simple, everyday way to exercise your confidence. “For example, let’s say someone asks you what you do for fun or what you do for a living,” he said. “If you find yourself biting your tongue or hiding something, evaluate that. That’s an indication to either stop doing that thing or, more likely, accept that part of yourself and own it.” This doesn’t mean you have to share every part of your personality with everyone you meet. You can share your geeky hobbies with your geeky friends but stick to work topics at work. However, you can find someone to share yourself with. “When you stop hiding parts of yourself from other people, you’ll find you feel more confident in who you are,” Mr. Houpert said. ### Start working out Many people start working out to lose weight or build muscle, but exercise can also be a huge boost to your self-confidence. The [American Psychological Association](http://www.apa.org/) has noted that exercise can improve your mood and — along with regular treatment and therapy — [help combat depression and anxiety](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise). It can also help improve your confidence [if you stick with it for a while](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2000-08537-003). Working out regularly requires a commitment, and keeping that commitment is an accomplishment. Not only does sticking to a new healthy habit make you feel more confident, but you can also spot physical improvements to your body and health over the long term. ### Try things that make you uncomfortable Stepping outside your comfort zone is, as you might expect, uncomfortable. Mr. Houpert said that’s the point. “Confidence is ultimately about being comfortable in a wide variety of situations that would make most people feel uncomfortable,” he said. “So if you stretch your comfort zone every day, very quickly you’ll have a large comfort zone and be able to feel more comfortable even when outside of it.” This can involve more daunting changes, like taking a new job or confronting someone you usually avoid. However, it can also take smaller forms, like striking up a conversation with someone new if you’re normally shy, or trying a new food. According to Mr. Houpert, it’s more important that you regularly expand your comfort zone rather than occasionally throwing yourself into the deep end. ### Try a new look How you dress can affect [how other people perceive you](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-something-different/201304/what-your-clothes-might-be-saying-about-you), but it can also affect how you perceive yourself. Wearing different clothes can prompt you to think or behave differently. This effect isn’t just limited to feeling good about yourself. Dr. Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, found that [participants in a study who wore a white lab coat](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html) exhibited more focused attention. In other words, when people dressed like a doctor, they behaved more like a doctor, or at least how they thought a doctor might behave. If you want to feel more confident, dress the way a confident version of yourself would. ### Defy your impostor syndrome Impostor syndrome is a nasty mental bug that convinces you that [your accomplishments don’t really count](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/your-money/learning-to-deal-with-the-impostor-syndrome.html) and that you’re going to be found out as a fraud. This doubt can creep in because it’s easier to remember faults but more difficult to remember successes. Make a habit of periodically writing down or reflecting on times you’ve done things well. It’s easier to be confident in your abilities [when you remember them](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/smarter-living/dealing-with-impostor-syndrome-when-youre-treated-as-an-impostor.html). ### Adjust your posture Much like how you dress, the posture you adopt can affect how you feel about yourself. While it might feel a little silly at first (remember that tip about stepping outside your comfort zone), [trying out powerful stances](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/fashion/the-right-stance-can-be-reassuring-studied.html) can help adjust your frame of mind. [Research from Ohio State University](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005111627.htm) suggests that something as simple sitting up straight can make you feel more confident in what you’re doing. ## Avoid the arrogance trap As you start to express yourself more confidently, it’s natural to worry about becoming arrogant in the process. However, according to Mr. Houpert, arrogance isn’t confidence run amok. “Arrogance is more the result of insecurity than high self-confidence,” he said. “Confidence is self-satisfied while arrogance requires external validation to feel good. So you get people who brag to solicit the recognition of others. Someone with true self-confidence is capable of being assertive and standing up for themselves, but they’re unlikely to adopt a tone that others perceive as arrogant. Oddly enough, the best defense against arrogance is developing true self-confidence.” If you start out doubting yourself, it will take time before you feel like you belong. In the interim, your own creeping doubt can try to tell you that feeling good about yourself or standing your ground is really arrogance. Recognizing that this is a symptom of insecurity — and that being aware of the symptom is its own form of inoculation against it — can help you push past it. Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Dr. Adam Galinsky was a professor at the Kelogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was, and was at the Kellogg School when the study referenced was published, but he has since joined the faculty at the Columbia Business School. That reference has been updated. A version of this article appears in print on June 13, 2019, Section A, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Here to Help; Practical Ways to Improve Your Self-Confidence. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) ## Related Content [More in Health](https://www.nytimes.com/section/health) - ![President Trump made an announcement about autism and Tylenol alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington last September.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/05/multimedia/05hs-tylenol-01-tqzb/05hs-tylenol-01-tqzb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Tierney L. 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