5 Ways to Build Confidence as a Content Creator

Being a content creator requires a wide range of skills, from copywriting to video editing to social media and marketing strategy. However, the most important and universal skill that creators need is confidence. I really think of it as a skill, not something you're necessarily born with, but something you can develop over time. It can truly make the difference between a successful creator career and being too scared to start in the first place.

Confidence is a choice that becomes a feeling

The first tip for building confidence is that it is a choice that eventually becomes a feeling. There is no other way around it. You, and only you, can convince yourself to be confident. No matter how much your friends encourage you or how much your loving partner reassures you, you will never believe it unless you embrace it for yourself. That's not to say you shouldn't seek affirmation from others, because let's face it, we all need reassurance sometimes.

You need to start telling yourself a new story about yourself. You can write that new story by answering a few key questions. I know it may sound cheesy, but I highly recommend that you take some time to jot down notes answering these questions, because they will help you fully picture the new, confident self that you're going to become.

Here are the questions::

What characteristics do you admire in other creators? (What do you aspire to be?) Try to write down three.
Where do you already see those traits in yourself?
How can you nurture those traits in yourself further?

Let's say, hypothetically (and not at all totally 100% real), that I don't feel entirely confident about the quality of my YouTube videos, and maybe I feel like they could be a bit more professional.

Q1 (What characteristics do you admire in other creators?): Attention to visual details, really visually beautiful videos.
Q2 (Where do you already see those traits in yourself?): When I'm in a video edit and I get excited about certain aspects (like a little animated intro), I work on it until I make it just like my vision for it.
Q3 (How can you nurture those traits in yourself further?): I can give myself appropriate time on my videos to follow those little creative impulses and really try to polish up my videos.

This helps because I've addressed what I admire, which is something that is attainable, even if I'm not there yet. I need to focus on the answer to question 2 and embrace how I'm already what I aspire to be. I can start telling myself "I make visually interesting videos" or whatever the case may be.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. This is all well and good, Katie, but the cold, hard fact of the matter is that I am not that person. I can tell myself all I want that I'm a bad bitch, but if it's not true, it's not true.

And that brings me to my next important piece of advice: there's no downside to delusion.

There’s no downside to delusion

Now I know that a lot of people are into manifestation and believe that positive thoughts will attract positive experiences to them. I'm not necessarily into that. I'm more of an evidence-based, science kind of girl, but I respect the vibe, and if that's your vibe, pop off, my friend.

But I just can't personally convince myself of that, partially because I think, was it manifestation or was it white privilege? So I have to think about these things logically.

And the logical thing is: there is a considerable downside to negative thoughts about yourself.

You'll probably not try as hard because you don't believe you can do it.
You'll count yourself out before you even get started.
You'll hold yourself back from potential opportunities because you think you're not good enough.

In this way, negative thoughts directly correlate to negative results. However, on the flip side, while believing in yourself and being confident might not have the same direct, evidence-based correlation to positive experiences, there is really no downside to it. You won't have negative impacts like that for believing in yourself, even if you don't "deserve it," even if it's not "really true."

Now, obviously, there are caveats. We don't want doctors to be confident in their brain surgery skills when they actually aren't. But look, we're content creators. We're not saving lives here, people. It's okay to just choose confidence because there are really no downsides. Because even if your confidence is truly delusional, what's the harm? You'll feel good about yourself. You'll put your best foot forward. You'll take opportunities that might challenge you and require that you level up and learn new skills. Those are all good things.

So you can see, logically, there are downsides to having negative thoughts about yourself. But there are no downsides to having positive thoughts about yourself and being confident, even if it is truly delusional. There's no downside to delusion.

Prove to yourself you can do hard things

A big part of building confidence is doing things outside of your comfort zone and proving to yourself that it's possible.

You can imagine yourself as a video game character. Every time you do something new, you unlock a new achievement and gain confidence points. For example, I used to be super scared of flying, which was tough because travel is one of the meanings of life to me. My family never took flying vacations - we were road trip people. When I had the opportunity to fly for the first time at 17, I was terrified. My confidence level around flying and travel was basically at zero. But then, I took my first flight, unlocked that achievement, and gained some confidence.

I proved to myself that even though it was scary, I could get myself on a plane and survive it. The more times I've done that, the more confidence points I've gained, and now it's not so scary anymore.

The same is true in any area of life, whether you want to grow your Instagram account, post your first YouTube video, or start a new business. Every time you take action towards that, you gain confidence points.

I know a big part of this is the fear of failure. What if it doesn't turn out? Well, here's the hack: failures also gain you confidence points. You tried something, it didn't work out, but you survived! You persisted nonetheless. You've proven to yourself that you can take failures in stride and keep working towards your goals.

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation because you sort of need confidence to get out of your comfort zone, but you also need to get out of your comfort zone to gain confidence. So to break that feedback loop for yourself, you're just going to have to close your eyes and jump - take that first leap of faith out of your comfort zone to start the positive loop of gaining confidence that will allow you to take that next step out and so on.

Let’s summarize

Let me just run through the key takeaways from this episode, so that you have a strong grasp of what you need to do to be more confident in yourself.

Choose confidence: Building confidence is a choice that eventually becomes a feeling. Start telling yourself a new story about yourself and write down notes answering key questions to picture the new, confident self that you're going to become.
Embrace delusion: There is no downside to having positive thoughts and being confident, even if it is truly delusional. Choose confidence because it will help you put your best foot forward and take on challenges that require you to level up and learn new skills.
Prove yourself: Doing things outside of your comfort zone and proving to yourself that it's possible is a big part of building confidence. Every time you take action towards a goal, you gain confidence points. Even failures gain you confidence points because you've proven to yourself that you can take failures in stride and keep working towards your goals.
Start small: Building up your confidence is a journey, so start small and take that first leap of faith out of your comfort zone. Remember, there are no downsides to trying, and the upsides are massive. Slowly but surely, as you start telling yourself a different story and proving to yourself that you can do hard things, your confidence will grow.

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Building up your confidence is going to be a journey - but you just need to remember, there are no downsides to trying - and the upsides are massive. Start telling yourself a different story about yourself, and prove to yourself that you can do hard things - and slowly but surely your confidence will grow.