When you’re depressed, it’s hard to be confident in yourself, and the less confident you are, the more depressed you can become. However, asking yourself a few simple questions can boost your self-confidence and help you beat depression by changing your point of view.

“Why not me? Why not us?”

American soccer fans may have heard these questions a lot lately. They’re the questions quarterback Russell Wilson asked himself at the start of last season, when he looked toward a seemingly impossible goal called The Superbowl.

To hear from the sportscasters, Wilson came to the Seattle Seahawks after being picked fairly low in the draft picks. As a rookie, there was no guarantee he’d get the quarterback job. He was considered too small and not powerful enough to lead a winning team.

“I’ve been told a bunch of times that if I was just two inches taller, I’d be a hot prospect,” Wilson told writer Peter King in July 2012.

Now those two inches mean nothing. Wilson has led the Seahawks to their first Superbowl victory, against one of the greatest quarterbacks and teams to ever play the game. All because he worked hard and wondered “why not me, why not us?”

Ask “Who says?”

When you are depressed, it can feel like the sun will never rise again. And when you ask yourself “why not”, you mutter something like “because I’m useless” or “because I can’t”. Whatever despondent answers you tell yourself, you can use them to start a new round of questions. Questions that could really make you think.

“Because I’m _____”, whatever. Fill in the blank with what your depression says is wrong with you. Then ask, “who says?” Did your parents tell you that you would never be pretty? Did your teachers say you were too lazy or just not smart enough to succeed? Did you get passed over for a promotion? Did you fail gym? Have you stored everything that you have received and formed your own image from what other people said?

If you think “because I could never _____”, well, why not? Have you ever tried? If you tried and you think you failed, what is it that makes you feel like you could never try again?

To beat your depression and boost your confidence, you can’t just dismiss these questions with damn retorts. You need to look deeply and try to find what created your bad self-image, then make an honest assessment of its truth.

Ask “What do I really want today and what will I want tomorrow?”

If you’re in the throes of depression, huddled in a corner somewhere, what you want today might simply be to be left alone so you can sulk in peace. If so, then admit it. But what about tomorrow? How long do you really want to stay like this? If you think about it a bit, isn’t there something you’d rather do that would be a lot more fun?

Believe it or not, depression can get a bit boring after a while. So if you could do anything you wanted tomorrow, what would it be?

Questions alone won’t cure depression, but they can get you out of bed. And, if you can get up, you can do anything. If you can take a step, you have all the strength you need. That first step alone won’t beat your depression, but it’s the step that gets you going and gives you the confidence to continue.

Citation-source: http://mmqb.si.com/2014/02/04/russell-wilson-seattle-seahawks-super-bowl-xlviii/?xid=si_topstories

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