Xp: Self confidence

[tj]

Ha! If there were an easy answer I probably wouldn't be on AD and in therapy. Llol.

But what about some simple exercises such as writing down your successes? For example, yesterday you knew the hospital was wrong. Score 1 for Jackaroe. Today, you were pretty sure it was gonna rain, and it did. Boom. Another point. Putting things in writing helps me.

[rockies]

Like TJ mentioned writing positive experiences/success things down is a good place to start. Sorry I don't have the source handy or all the details. But I think it has something to do with when you write down the good things that is what you focus on and overtime as you write them down and reread them they become what you remember the most.

It isn't perfect, but a start.

[charlotte]

I struggle with this too. I have got no advice but what the other ladies shared does sound like a good idea.

[mapleme]

Biologically scientists have shown that when we win (or even just our sports team wins) our confidence boosting hormones (like testosterone) go up. When we lose, they drop. We also register the severity of losses about 4x more than wins, which really sucks. So when you focus on your losses, you move into a spiral of focusing more and more on your losses. But when you emphasize your wins you get a little boost which helps you focus more on the rest of your wins.

Parenting is HARD. Defining wins and losses is a nearly impossible task and it's easy to focus on the dozens of little things that didn't fit into the flow that you had designed. PP hormones and parenthood have pushed me to a level of anxiety and unbalance that I had never experienced in my adult life. The best that I've done is to embrace the messy and just try to let myself be ok with me as I am today. And when I can't be, I give myself permission to seek the healthy routes to attaining that peace.