How Much Do You Trust Yourself?

If you were frequently shamed, betrayed, or suffered significant loss as a child, you may have difficulty knowing when to trust your own feelings. This often causes simple misunderstandings to flood you with self-doubt. Changing old beliefs that undermine your self-confidence is a necessary step toward developing more self-trust.

Take the following quiz to find out how you balance self-doubt and self-trust. Give yourself a score of 0 to 5 for each statement. 0 means it doesn't apply at all, and 5 reflects a thought or feeling that affects you often enough to be troublesome.

1. ____ I often sacrifice my own needs for others.
   
   
2. ____ I feel ashamed when I have strong reactions like anger, fear, and depression.
   
   
3. ____ I worry there is something wrong with me, even if I don't know what it is.
   
   
4. ____ I am not as capable or "good" as others think I am.
   
   
5. ____ I play down my mistakes, fearing others will think less of me.
   
   
6. ____ I am out of control about food, spending, drugs, or alcohol, and too ashamed to seek help.
   
   
7. ____ I often think I'm being selfish when I resent that others are not contributing what I think is their fair share of work or money.
   
   
8. ____ I believe that others are more open and honest about what they think and feel.
   
   
9. ____ I want to do something big, like write a book, go back to school, or relocate, but can't speak of it or explore how to proceed.
   
   
10. ____ I am afraid of failing this quiz.

Scoring: This quiz points to aspects of self-confidence you may want to strengthen or change in some way. It is not another means to fail! Wait a month and take it again. You will be surprised how much just taking this quiz can boost your self-trust. Here are what the numbers mean:

31-50 Distrust of yourself is destroying your self-confidence.
20-30 Indicates a level of honest self-doubt. More confidence would be nice.
0-19 You are independent and confident, but do you sometimes feel lonely?