One of the traits that successful individuals share is confidence. But how do you get more of it, exactly? Apply these 5 confidence building tips.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Money Kinetics, Singapore’s definitive guide to financial literacy, from understanding costs to achieving financial freedom.
Before getting into the strategies though, let’s define confidence.
What is confidence?
Confidence is what enables you to handle the challenges of daily life. Everyone has the ability to learn how to be confident in every area of their lives, from school and work to relationships.
A self-confident individual inspires other people to develop their own sense of confidence. And is usually admired by others around them too.
Self-confidence consists of being able to do two things well:
- Take calculated risks, and
- Confront fears directly
Regardless of what challenges come your way, you have the assurance that you can move beyond them.
When you have confidence, you are likely to observe your life from a positive perspective, even if things go wrong. A confident person usually has respect for who they are and is content with their choices.
Mastering confidence building tips
A high level of confidence on a daily basis is an awesome thing. And the good news is that you can have that.
Lacking self-assurance is not a situation that you must live with for the rest of your life. Just like other skills in life, confidence is learnable.
Yes, you can master it. But before anyone else can believe in you, first you have to believe in yourself.
And here are the ways you’re going to start doing exactly that.
5 confidence building tips
When you first start using these strategies, they might feel forced. Okay, it’s more likely than not you’ll feel that way.
Inside you’ll probably feel like it only seems you’re confident. Over time though, your poise will grow from an authentic place.
As the saying goes, fake it till you make it.
Let’s do this!
1. Stay positive
One of the key steps to grow your confidence is assessing your group of family and friends. This activity can be challenging but take the time to honestly look at those relationships.
It’s essential to think about excluding anyone who diminishes your independence and continually puts you down. Even a short break from a negative person can have a significant impact on your sense of self.
That break (or full disconnect) from a particular person might be exaclty what you need to move towards a high level of confidence.
Essentally, you’re building a positive, supportive network. One that helps you gain assurance of your self and boosts your esteem.
Of course, you can’t be Debbie Downer in this environment. At least not if you want these confidence building tips to work.
That means that even if you do not really feel positive, you need to make an effort to be more enthusiastic when interacting with other people. To do so involves first reflecting on your thoughts and actions.
Now that you’ve taken out any negative people from your family and friends network, hopefully this process is a bit easier than before.
Create excitement about the things you want to do. Set goals so that you will have something to look forward to (if it’s changing your career then read this simple guide).
And here’s a must:
Rather than paying attention to the difficulties in your life, start to focus on finding solutions to your problems. And make positive changes to reach those end points.
2. Body language and appearance
Next, focus on aspects such as making eye contact, smiling, and maintaining good posture.
Stand tall
Simply standing upright can give an instant air of poise.
Smile
You can make people feel more comfortable by smiling, which will also make you feel good. Of course I’m loving that smiles are part of the confidence building tips!
Envision a confident person who has a bright smile and good posture. Then become her.
Eye contact
Do your best to look at people when you talk to them. Eye contact indicates confidence. Take time to speak clearly and ensure that people understand what you tell them.
Appearance
Your appearance positively relates to your self-confidence.
Dressing well and styling your hair, those are worthwhile steps towards improving your image and overall sureness. Looking good helps you feel good and other people will perceive you as being poised.
If you buy new clothes, put them on a day or two before you wear them out of the house. Make sure they fit well and you’re comfortable in them before going out. That way you’ll feel your best and make the best impression possible too.
More confidence building tips
3. Stay on track
Everything in life has a solution, which means that you do not have to quit every time things get tough.
Succeeding under difficult circumstances is a major confidence booster. Negative thoughts often lead to fear and self-doubt.
Thus, if you dismiss yourself constantly, and believe you are not capable of achieving anything, you will be predicting the worst outcomes for your own life. And make them come true possibly too (boo, hiss).
So switch off negative thoughts and focus on positive affirmations instead.
4. Preperation
You should always be well prepared for the things that you think are likely to come your way. Take time to learn all the things you need to know about your next presentation, for example.
On a broader level, get to know those things about your job that you’ve been putting off, study industry trends, and finally join Toastmasters to conquer public speaking.
Really you can brush up on anything that you are expected to deal with professionally as a way to boost self-confidence.
While you can’t prepare for everything, a lot of it you CAN. If you want to take out a loan, for example, do ample research before choosing a financial institution and ultimately signing a contract. From student loans to home loans; they differ considerably, and so research can make you feel more confident.
Proper preparation combined with the required knowledge will cause your confidence levels to rise. For positive results.
5. Create a list of achievements
As you follow these confidence building tips, there will likely be times when self-doubt starts to creep in.
With all the challenges that can arise in life, it happens. So, it’s always a good idea to create a list of things that you are grateful for. As well as a list of the things that you have achieved professionally or personally.
After making these lists, post them somewhere that will constantly remind you of your purpose. A few suggestions for where to put those lists are:
- The bathroom mirror
- Refrigerator door
- Side of your computer desk
Looking at the great life you have and believing that you are a great person will help to revive your sense of self when it starts to waver. Using these lists as reminders will hopefully inspire you over and over again.
Writing in a journal is also helpful for observing your thoughts and getting to know yourself better. One day you will look at the list you made and realize how far you’ve come.
Benefits, bring on the benefits!
Self-confidence is important for many reasons that have likely become clear during this read. It enables you to have a positive approach to life and increases the possibilities of doing new or enjoyable things.
It also increases self-worth that makes it easier for you to maintain your confidence over the long-term. With poise, you can also take control of your life and achieve your goals.
There are different ways to build confidence. During the process you get a chance to learn many more things about yourself and become more positive.
All while doing things that might have previously scared you.
More and more possibilities can arise from applying these confidence building tips. That’s because you’re changing your mindset towards accomplishing the things you want to do.
In other words, your focus is on what’s doable rather than what’s missing.
Conclusions on confidence building tips
These strategies range from getting rid of negative thoughts and changing your body language to surrounding yourself with a supportive network. Oh and and learning more about yourself too along the way!
Confidence is something that everyone can develop as time goes on. That’s true even if you’re on the low end of it right now.
Although everyone has self-doubts occasionally, low self-confidence can make you feel insecure. So you have to analyze what things are having an adverse effect on your assuredness, such as loneliness or comparing yourself to other people.
No matter what influences your self-confidence and overall opinion of yourself, there are many things you can do to improve your confidence. Even if you takeaway just one of these confidence building tips, that could have an great effect on your life.
With practice and time, you can be a more confident person and become a source of inspiration for others.
Great tips to growing someone who don’t have
That’s wonderful feedback
Excellent article! Thanks for sharing!
Loving your enthusiasm!
Such a great read! Just diving in to the concept of helping other increase their confidence! I’ve kinda come up with a fill in the blank mantra- She, Confident….. Example: She, confident in her abilities, set out to change the world. Anyway- Thank you for this post. It was awesome.
Love that “She, Confident”!!
Confidence is a tough one, Christy. People who should be confident are often the ones who aren’t and the people who shouldn’t be, because they actually don’t know, overflow with it. Good tips.
I like when you say “overflow with it.” Yes.
LOVE!!!
!! :)
Your professional website is your list of achievements for the world to see.
OH Resa, thank you xx
xx
Another great read!!!! I am always stressed about lack of confidence in certain areas… preparation is an issue for me, as well. I tend to like to avoid something that makes me anxious so I am not prepared for it…
It’s part of the proscrastinating nature of humans ;) But I love seeing you here and the appreciation you have for this post xx
Great tips. I used to be scared to step out at work because of a fear of not knowing and answer at the time I might be asked, but someone told me, you can always say – I will investigate and get this answer back to you soon. A tip I have used – alot.
Yes! That’s a great tip to say “I’ll go check and get back to you” :) Love that you shared that one!
Wonderful tips! It is a fantastic idea to remind ourselves often with our own achievements, thanks much for sharing these tips.
Oh Megala, thank YOU for appreciating the insights here.
The benefits of following this simple plan is infinite. NUmber one: staying positive may be the most challenging of all. It is so easy to fall into the familiar traps of getting down or being hard on oneself. Maintaining a positive attitude prevents from one sprialing into a free fall of negative thoughts and events.
It really does take effort to stay in the positive column without sliding into the negative one. Some days are easier than others! Your comment is well-written, thank you for it.
I am a firm believer in public speaking as a means of improving one’s self-confidence. I was that kid who was afraid to put himself out there, but conquering that fear empowered me. I also tried to give my students plenty of safe public speaking opportunities in a supportive classroom environment. You’ve nailed this one, Christy!
Wow, I am so pleased by your comment, Pete! I think that as I was once very UNconfident I was able to get to the heart of it in some of the points. Like you, I overcame and am stronger for it.
A great article chock-full of helpful tips for self-improvement :-)
Good ideas Christy :-)
Excellent and simple advice!
High praise, thank you!
Good tips 👍🏽
What a wonderful article Christie – I am bookmarking this!
Wowowowow being bookmarked is awesome :) Thanks Joan
Thanks Christy! Hope you are having a great summer!!
Thanks and you too!
Thanks brother, confident brother!
And I thank you, my confident sister!