Having high self-confidence is crucial to your success in all areas of life. Confident people are happier, more fulfilled and have higher self-esteem. They are also less anxious or stressed.
The ability to boost your confidence is essential to success. Confident people are happier, more fulfilled and have greater levels of self-esteem. They are less stressed and anxious because they believe that they are better able to handle whatever comes their way.
However, if self-confidence doesn’t come naturally to you, there are many things that you can do to give your confidence a boost. In this article, I cover ten powerful ways to boost your confidence.
If you feel that you lack self-confidence, there are many ways to boost your confidence. In today's article, I cover 10 of them.
1. Use Positive Self-Talk
Your thoughts affect your feelings which then affect your actions. So to feel confident, you first need to think confident and positive thoughts. Repetitive negative thoughts like “I can’t do this” or “This is hard” become negative affirmations. As you’re unconsciously using negative affirmations anyway, it’s time to switch these to positive affirmations.
To do this effectively, I suggest that you memorize some affirmations so that you can repeat them immediately as soon as a negative thought arises. Here are some good ones:
- I accomplish my daily goals with ease.
- I am prepared to meet any challenge that comes my way.
- Confidence radiates from me at all times.
Affirmations can dramatically change your life, one thought at a time!
2. Challenge Yourself
Pushing yourself to do new things will help boost your confidence. Find things that challenge you and take you out of your comfort zone. We are able to do far more than we realize. It’s only when you tackle the challenge head-on that you will get that feeling of elation. You will also discover that you can do things that you never thought you could. This will massively boost your confidence.
3. Fake it using Body Language
If you don’t feel confident, you can still take steps to look confident. Here are some things you can do.
- Stand (or sit) up straight
- Hold your head up
- Have a relaxed open posture
- Maintain eye contact with other people
- Smile
The body and mind are linked, so by “faking it” using body language, your thoughts and feelings will start to become more positive. Try it today. You’ll be surprised at how effective this is.
4. Set Goals
There is something different about a person that has goals. They have a sense of purpose and direction. They act decisively as they have a roadmap to follow. Once you achieve the goals you set, this will boost your confidence as well. However, make sure that your goals are realistic and attainable. Setting extremely challenging goals that are very hard to achieve could have the opposite effect on your self-confidence.
But more importantly than setting goals is ACHIEVING them. You can create the steps small enough that you can celebrate COMPLETION as well as SETTING goals.
5. Be Prepared
If you haven’t prepared for a presentation, exam or meeting, then it’s natural to feel unconfident. This is the minds way of protecting us and rightly so too. Whilst you could use positive affirmations or body language to look and feel confident, a part of your brain (known as the critical faculty) will continually remind you that you haven’t prepared fully. This will cause a conflict.
So ensure that you prepare to the best of your ability. Then however the presentation, meeting or exam goes, you will know that you have done your best. This in itself will boost your confidence and reduce stress and anxiety.
6. Be Grateful
We naturally tend to focus on what is not working in our lives. This is not a good way to boost your confidence. Take a few minutes each day to pay attention to the things that went well. Give yourself a pat on the back for the things that you are good at.
Here is a wonderful quick reflective exercise that you can do at the end of each day.
- Identify 3 things that went really well for you today.
- Notice 3 things that you are grateful for today.
- List 3 things that you would do differently or better next time.
7. Speak More Slowly
People that lack confidence often speak more quickly, especially when talking to people in authority. Subconsciously, the person feels that he or she isn’t worth listening to. To counteract that, they speak more quickly, so that they are not wasting the other person’s time. So consciously speak more slowly to people in authority. This will slow down your thinking, keep you in the present and start to increase feelings of confidence.
Also, notice how highly confident people speak. What is the pace of their speech? What specific words or phrases are they using? Noticing what other people say gives you a good idea of how they are thinking.
8. Focus on Solutions
A wonderful way to boost your confidence is to focus on solutions. So how do you do that? When you notice yourself thinking something that is negative, ask a question that will help you find a solution. Here are some examples:
- This is far too hard for me – How can I make it easier?
- I can’t seem to lose this weight – What new things could I try?
- I hate my job – What things can I do today to love my job or find a better job?
We often get stuck in a negative mode of thinking. Simply asking yourself questions that help you focus on solutions will give you a confidence boost. Why? – because you have given yourself new choices, new solutions and a sense of personal control over the situation.
9. Do Something that you have been putting off
Things that have been on your “to do” list for weeks or months can really sap your confidence and energy. Choose one of these items and do it first thing in the morning. Notice how it feels to get that job out of the way and off your mind. It feels good right?
10. Embrace Uncertainty
Confidence comes when you have certainty over the outcome. When you know that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to make something happen, you will be 100% confident.
However in many situations, having the knowledge, skills, and ability does not always mean that you will achieve the outcome. There are other factors at play, such as interactions with other people.
What you can do is be 100% confident that you will do your best, irrespective of the outcome. This will allow you to let go of predicting the outcome and base your confidence on the fact that you will do your best, then notice what happens and be okay with that. So your now basing your feelings of confidence on something that is now within your control. This is a great way to boost your confidence.
Now is the time to apply these 10 powerful ways to boost your confidence and notice your self-confidence skyrocket!
I'm sure these tips will help give your level of confidence a massive boost! The last step is my favorite.
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