“Without self-confidence, there wouldn’t be any successful people.”
All successful people are confident. It’s obvious that they are confident in themselves and in what they are doing. But it’s not their success that makes them confident. The confidence was there first.
Every time we want to pursue a goal or an idea we tend to get scared and we might never take the plunge. You need to be self-confident in order to overcome all the fears that are holding your back, so you could pursue and achieve all your dreams.
To make sure you will have enough self-confidence to tackle the world, I compiled for you a list of 10 powerful ways to improve your self-confidence.
You don’t necessary have to use all of them as if it’s a recipe, use all what you can and what fits you. What matters is that you will soon notice a difference and feel more confident.
So here they are, in no particular order:
So here they are, in no particular order:
1.Evaluate and know yourself
Every time a side want to beat another, either in a war, football game, boxing game, or whatever else, they learn and analyze the enemy very, very well. It’s impossible to defeat the enemy without knowing him. The same applies to you in order to gain self-confidence. When you are trying to get rid of all the self-doubt that is submerging you and impregnate yourself with self-confidence, your enemy is yourself.
You need to make an objective self-assessment of yourself. Find what are your strength, weaknesses, abilities, skills and don’t lie to yourself. Work on every weakness you find and try to improve it and make it a strength. Don’t ignore your weakness or pretend they are strengths, this will not let them go away.
Having a clear understanding of your strengths and to be working on your weaknesses will make you feel comfortable knowing who are and who are going to become, and this will improve your self-confidence.
2.Improve your body language
The way we stand, sit and walk directly represents how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive us. But what most people might not know is that improving all our gestures will lead to huge improvements on our self-confidence.
Here is a tiny tweak that will bring you huge benefits: spend just one to two minutes a day by yourself with a position of victory -like the one that you would have if you finish first in a race-, it might seem weird and too little, but it has been proven that it works.
If you need more explanation, I think there is no one better than Amy Cuddy and her Ted Talk: “Your body language shapes who you are” to give details about that.
Don’t hesitate to watch it if you have time. Otherwise, bookmark it to see it later.
3.Be prepared
How do you feel when you are going to an exam without preparing anything for it? Unless you are a total genius or it’s an exam in a field where you are already an expert you will usually tend to stress and panic.
This same simple concept applies to everything in life.
No matter what you are planning to do or have to do, just prepare yourself for it, you will feel much comfortable and confident to do it.
4.Exercise
I think there are a lot and a lot of scientific studies that proof that working out always brings many benefits to our bodies, mental and health overall.
Cool thing: it doesn’t stop here.
Exercising relieves endorphins that bring a positive vibe, and positive thinking and behaving -as we will see later- improve self-confidence a lot.
If you are super busy and you don’t have any time for it, don’t worry, all you need to do is to take a walk a few times a week, and you’ll see benefits.
5.Dress nicely
Like it or not, the way we dress has a huge impact on how others perceive us. Not only, it has also an impact on how we perceive ourselves!
So, dress nicely and you’ll feel good about yourself. You’ll feel successful and ready to face the world.
Just remember, dressing nicely doesn’t mean the same for everyone. It might be to wear a $500 outfit for some, as it might be for others, to wear casual clothes that are looking nicely and presentable.
6.Get away of negativity
You need to be careful of any negative thought that might get into your head. They are dangerous. They will run in circles in your mind and try to push you to do things you don’t want to do, to procrastinate, etc.
Negativity will make you feel weak and unable to reach your goals.
When you have a negative way of thinking, you usually tend to imagine the worst possible scenario for everything you want to do. But guess what? That scenario almost never happen.
So stop letting negative thoughts ruining your life, and try to be more optimistic and positive.
7.Be positive
It goes hand in hand with getting away of negativity. First you need to adopt positive thinking it will help you to encourage yourself to do what you want to do.
And since thinking is never enough and is through action that you can build self-confidence, you have to start acting positive. When you start acting positive you are changing yourself, one action at a time.
You might have heard the saying “You are what you do”, so if you change what you do, you change what you are.
You are starting to act more positively, you will become a better person and you will soon start to notice a difference.
8.Talk slowly
It’s easy to talk, but it’s not given to everyone to be able to talk in a way that everyone want to listen to.
Talking is like an “Art”, you need to find the perfect tone, speed, and posture while you are talking.
One of the biggest mistakes many people make is that they talk too fast because they think that’s the only way people will listen to them. They are scared to take their time while talking and loose all the attention they got.
But if people listen to you when you speak fast, that’s mean that they are giving almost no attention, and it’s frustrating!
Try to talk slowly -with moderation of course- every time you get to talk. People who talk slowly are people that are confident because they are sure what they have to say is worthy and people will make time and give all the attention to listen to them.
9.Set small goals and achieve them
Confident people tend to always challenge themselves and compete, even if it’s just for small victories.
Every time you achieve a goal, no matter how small it is, it will have a positive impact on you.
So, set a small goal you are confident to achieve and achieve it. Then go to another, and then another… and keep going like that.
Every small victory will make you feel better and you will start feeling more confident to achieve bigger goals.
10.Say “No”
It’s a fact that the more difficult you find it to say no, the less you are self-confident.
You must be able to say no when you want to say it. Don’t be ashamed or scared of the judgment of the others on you. It’s your choice and your life, you shouldn’t be living it doing what you don’t want.
Also, don’t try to replace no by others excuses like “I don’t think I can” or ” I am not sure”. Say no with confidence and don’t see it as a negative word.
By saying no you are refusing new commitments in order to fulfil all your old ones.
Of course, it might be difficult in the beginning, but just start, and it will soon become a habit.
Confidence is the most important required ability in order to go and achieve your dreams, some of the brightest minds and successful people said once:
With these 10 powerful ways to improve your self-confidence you have no excuse to not acquire the required confidence you need to achieve your goals.
So, what are you waiting for?