Self-confident people can often be admired by others as well as inspire confidence in them. People who have self confidence are more apt to be risk takers and the sort of people who like to face challenges head-on. They know that no matter what obstacles come their way, they have the ability to get passed them. Self-confident people will often see their lives in a positive light even when things aren’t going so well.
Wouldn’t it be great to have this kind of self-confidence, every day ? Guess what? You can!!
“Low self-confidence isn’t a life sentence. Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered–just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better.” –Barrie Davenport
Learning to be self-confident is something you can work at. Below are 5 ways to help increase your self confidence so you can increase your quality of life.
- Stay away from negativity and bring on the positivity: Be positive, even if you’re not feeling it quite yet, you will. Stop focusing on the problems in your life and instead begin to focus on solutions and making positive changes. Positive energy leads to positive outcomes, so set your mind to the can-do side of a situation, avoiding any negative self-talk. Also, smile, laugh and surround yourself with happy, positive people. Positivity, like negativity, is contagious, so choose to be positive. Spread laughter and love 🙂
- Change your body language: This is where posture, smiling, and eye contact come into play. Just standing up straighter can make you feel good and gives others the impression that you are a confident person. Smiling will not only make you feel better, but will make others feel more comfortable around you too. Making eye contact when speaking will make you appear engaged and confident.
- Get rid of the negative voices in your head: Low self-confidence is often caused by the negative thoughts frequently running through our minds. Remember, your subconscious is always listening. When we engage in this negative self talk, we start to believe in it. So if you are constantly bashing yourself and saying you’re not good enough, aren’t attractive enough, aren’t smart enough or athletic enough, etc… you are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. You are becoming what you are preaching inside your head. The next time you hear that negativity in your mind, switch it immediately to something positive. Love yourself and engage in positive self talk. Believe in yourself and others will too!
- Identify your talents: Everyone is good at something, so discover the things at which you excel, and then focus on your talents. Give yourself permission to take pride in them. Express yourself whether it’s through sports, yoga, art, music, writing, etc… Find something you enjoy and and do it, share your passion with the world.
- Create a gratitude list or journal: Sit down right now and make a list of all the things in your life that you are thankful for and a list of all the things you are proud of accomplishing. Once your lists are complete, post them somewhere you can see them often, i.e. on your refrigerator door, at your desk, on your bathroom mirror; someplace where you can easily be reminded of what an amazing life you have and what an amazing person you really are. If you feel your self-confidence going down hill, take a look at your lists and let yourself feel and be inspired all over again. If you don’t want to post your list, keep them in a gratitude journal. Carry the journal with you and look at it as needed to boost your self confidence. Another idea is to write down the high points of your day so you can see all the good things you do on a daily basis and feel grateful for them all. When you are in a grateful state of mind you begin to develop more peace and confidence.
