How to be more confident
The majority of us probably want to be a little more confident. But cultivating and maintaining confidence isn’t easy and it’s an easy thing to lose when you feel like you’ve failed or made a mistake. That’s why actively working on building up your self confidence is so crucial, it’s something you have to maintain. As cheesy as it sounds you have to believe in yourself!
Surround yourself with positive people
Take a moment and think about how your friends make you feel. Do they lift you up, or do they bring you down? Are they constantly judging you, or do they accept you for who you are? People you spend time with have influence on your thoughts and attitude about yourself so get rid of the negative people in your life.
Take care of yourself
It’s hard to feel good about yourself it you have let yourself go. When you practice self care you know you are doing something positive for your mind, body, spirit and you’ll naturally feel more confident as a result. So eat well, get plenty of sleep and invest in self improvement where possible.
Be kind to yourself
Self compassion involves treating yourself with kindness when you make a mistake, fail or experience a setback. So the next time you’re in a challenging situation, recognise that being imperfect or falling short at times is a part of being a human being, so don’t be too hard on yourself.
Practice positive self talk
Negative self talk can limit your abilities and lesson your self confidence by convincing your subconscious that you ‘can’t handle’ something or that it is “too hard” and you “shouldn’t even try”. Self talk that is optimistic on the other hand can help you overcome self-doubt and take on new challenges.
Face your fears
Stop putting things off until you feel more self confident, one of the best ways to build your confidence is to face your fears head on. So when you feel you are due a wage increase or want to apply for promotion, be brave and do it. Practice makes perfect and you will eventually find your confidence builds and builds.
Do things you’re good at
What happens when you do things that you are good at ? Your self confidence starts to soar. Your strengths become even stronger which helps improve your belief in yourself. Taking this approach also has another benefit – it can increase how satisfied you are with your life.
Know when to say no
While doing things you’re good at can give your self confidence a boost it’s equally important to recognise situations that can cause your confidence to plummet. Maybe you find that every time you participate in a certain activity you feel worse about yourself instead of better. Next time someone suggests doing something that you’re not good at respectively decline.
Set realistic goals
Pursuing your goals often involves failing several times until you figure out what works. This can make you wonder if you have what it takes to succeed. It can also leave you questioning how to be more confident whilst still achieving your dreams. The answer to this is by setting yourself realistic goals.
Being confident in yourself just feels good. That said having self confidence can also bring many additional benefits at home, at work and within your relationships. Everyone struggles with confidence at one time or another but take it from me learning how to ACT confident can actually make you FEEL more confident.
Good Luck