Increasing your confidence in today’s era—can be difficult. When social media and other similar platforms control your mind, you have little to no say regarding your mental health and well-being. Boxing, however, can release you from society’s chains and set you free.
Boxing will increase your confidence, as it’s a platform you can use to consistently overcome obstacles and push your mental and physical self time after time. As a result, your self-esteem and well-being will slowly begin to rise. The more consistent and dedicated you are, the more confident you’ll get.
Being confident is knowing you’re capable. When you’re filled with confidence, you want to push yourself, so you’ll see what you’re truly capable of. That’s why confident people are more likely to push themselves and really check their boundaries.
If, however, you’re facing an opponent that you know is better than you, you have two options: the first is accepting your loss before the match had started. In that case, you have lost the fight before you entered the ring.
The second, however, will assume your confidence is high. If that’s the case, you’re most likely eager to enter the ring and see whether you can beat the other boxer. Which one are you, the first or the second person?
Before we dive in, if you want to learn about the 8 mental benefits of boxing, follow the link to an article where I break down the list.
Does boxing make you more confident?
All martial arts will inevitably boost your confidence. Such a trait comes from constant action; you can’t expect to sit at home, do nothing, and suddenly feel more confident and sure of yourself. No, it doesn’t work that way.
Boxing will make you more confident because it’s a platform that allows you to mentally and physically push yourself. After every training session, you’ll feel a bit more capable than the last one. Likewise, you’ll become capable of setting goals and reaching them without hesitation nor extra thought; just action.
As you can see, I’m a big fan of boxing. I believe that taking action in life—should be your number one priority. Although acquiring knowledge is key, taking this knowledge into action will inevitably lead to an improvement in your mental self.
Today, unfortunately, most people don’t trust themselves. Whenever I see someone walking down the street, you can guess whether one is feeling sure of oneself. However, you can also see the opposite.
People who take the initiative and step out their comfort zones often, such as by attending intense boxing sessions weekly, will also feel more confident in their own shoes. On the other hand, do you think that the person who stays at home all day while being in the comfort zone will be confident and sure of oneself?
I think not.
Is boxing good for your mental health?
Your mental health matters most. The problem with today’s society—is that many, if not most individuals, don’t like themselves. As a result, they sabotage themselves in their own doings. For instance, constantly scrolling on social media—is an action that will reduce your mental health and well-being.
Boxing will improve your mental health by being a platform you can push yourself in. Likewise, it has many traits that will trigger your true self and better it; for example, it allows you to face other people and forces you to believe in yourself. Moreover, it’ll put you in socially difficult situations, which will strengthen you.
Your mental health is what matters. If your well-being is in a good position, you’ll also be more happy and feel more joy from life. Boxing, although of its aggressive nature, will help you become calmer and less stressed.
As one of my articles about boxing and its correlation to violence suggests; Focus and self-control are essential during boxing training sessions, since they help you eliminate bad emotions and relax your mind, reducing stress and aggression levels even when you’re not in the ring.
We can interpret many things from the table above. Your confidence will increase, as you’ll be calmer, even outside the ring. The effects are so strong that I believe anyone can change himself by dedicating himself to this beautiful combat sport.
Does boxing reduce fear?
Fear. One of the most important feelings you can have; if you don’t feel fear, you won’t sense danger around you. Our primal selves have this sense that something is off. For example, when someone starts running at us, we’ll get fearful (a sign of nearby danger).
Boxing doesn’t necessarily reduce fear, but it gives you tools to deal with the most fearful situation by making you more confident. You’ll become more sure of yourself, inevitably helping you to take action, even in fearful situations, such as a fight or in dangerous self-defense scenarios. So, no, boxing doesn’t eliminate nor reduce fear.
Nonetheless, it does make you more brave and filled with courage to act. If you’re a martial arts trainees, you also have more responsibility than the average citizen. Not only do you know how to fight appropriately and fiercely, but you also know how to act in situations that are filled with fear.
In these fearful situations, most people would step back and let the situation lead them. However, you can take control of the steering wheel and lead the situation. That’s why boxing is such a powerful and effective combat sport.
Concluding, while you want to always have fear inside of you, so you’ll sense nearby danger, boxing teaches you how to act, even when things get scary. Thus, you’ll slowly become more capable of acting, even in fearful situations.
If you want to learn more about whether martial arts decrease anger and stress, follow the link to read about the complete answer.
Here’s why boxing increases your confidence
As we’ve seen thus far, there are numerous reasons why boxing will eventually increase your confidence and mental health. But, in short, it helps you know you’re capable. Once you see yourself sweating like crazy every single session, you’ll slowly begin to appreciate yourself for all the hard work you’re investing.
Boxing increases your confidence because it allows you to overcome both physical and mental obstacles. Likewise, it’s a platform that forces you to believe in yourself; thus, with time, you’ll accustom to this feeling of confidence and bravery. Constantly overcoming obstacles—will increase your well-being.
I know that it may sound impossible for some of you. Boxing, isn’t, however, a magic spell. You can’t simply show up once a week and expect your entire personality to suddenly change. If you want that to happen, you’ll have to keep waiting for this magic spell.
You can, on the other hand, start believing in yourself, even when the odds are stacked against you. If you want to see yourself as capable of everything and anything, you must first start with the little things; start setting goals and obsess over them.
At first, let these goals be small. For instance, one of my goals was to drink 3-4 liters of water per day. Because it was one of my goals, I obsessed over it; I didn’t stop until my mind was accustomed to drinking more water.
Eventually, how much water I drank correlated to how confident I was at the time.
Final words
You might not currently be the most confident; I know how you feel, because sometimes I do too. However, you can improve your courage and bravery by doing martial arts, and specifically boxing.
Boxing will force you to face difficult situations. As such, you’ll accustom yourself to feeling more confidence and having higher self-esteem. With time and hard work, this will get easier and easier.
Now, with time, you’ll begin feeling more confident and less stressed outside the ring. Martial arts are no magic spell; so if you want to see changes in the way you view the world, you better be ready to work, and a lot.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about whether you can box without a coach. If you don’t know the answer, you’ll be surprised; do give it a read.