I don’t know who originally said this quote. I have just seen it online without any credit given. If it was you who wrote this quote, or if you know who wrote it, please let me know so I can credit them.
“The secret of self confidence isn’t to stop caring about what people think - it’s about caring about what YOU think. It’s to make your opinion of yourself more important than anyone else’s.”
Then comes the task of working out what it is that YOU really think about something, rather than your own opinions and beliefs being a by-product of what you have learnt and heard from others during your life.
One little exercise that might be helpful, if you are contemplating anything in particular, is to imagine that no one else's opinions exist for a moment. Imagine that no one else in the world could have an opinion about anything - so it is all up to you. Or you can imagine that you have just been born - so you are free and unconditioned and without any external knowledge of things. Then ask yourself within what YOU think about something - whether it's about yourself, a plan of action, a situation - ask yourself as if you are asking the intelligence deep within you - the intelligence of your soul, if you like. Then see what answers come.
This can help you to become in tune with your own voice. Once you learn to give this voice space to be heard, and give it an importance over other voices around you or in your head, then you can start to experience what the quote above is referring to.
I hope that helps. If you have any questions then let me know in the comments below.
I wish you a wonderful week,
Adam