Hello, Sam here. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Tuesday morning. So lately I've been

doing a lot of on-camera work as I respond to listener questions and being in front of

the camera is still pretty new to me and it can feel pretty awkward at times. As I've been

showing up and getting more comfortable in front of the camera, I've been thinking about

how we build confidence authentically, creating our own map and vision of what confidence looks

and feels like for us. So here are some things that I know about confidence.

First, it waxes and wanes. We're not going to feel confident in every situation and that's

okay. We all have different strengths and aptitudes and so we feel more confident in different

domains of life. You may be a social butterfly and feel completely confident meeting new people

at a mixer or party or maybe you're confident in your knowledge of a certain topic and are

comfortable giving an hour-long lecture on it. Fun fact, the etymology of the word confidence

comes from the Latin Confidencia meaning self-trust. Trusting ourselves takes time. The

good news is that self-trust can be strengthened and embodied authentically. So how do we build

the self-trust and bring it with us wherever we go? Self-trust begins with knowing ourselves

intimately. This means getting clear on what's most important to us and prioritizing that

daily. We build self-trust by going through difficult times and witnessing our own inner

resources like strength and resilience. We also build self-trust by knowing what we're about

and living with integrity. For example, if you value relationships, you prioritize them by spending

time connecting with friends and loved ones often. Another aspect of self-trust is acceptance,

embracing ourselves as we are in any given moment. And this can be difficult, especially in moments

when we're not showing up as our best selves. This is where self-compassion really comes in handy.

If we know that we can greet our own pain, our moodiness, impatience, whatever it is, with that

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