There are times when all of us need to boost our confidence. Confidence gives us that important belief in ourselves, which enables us to perform at the best of our ability. Real confidence is generally developed by experience. Self-esteem and self-efficacy feed into confidence. People with high self-esteem accept and value themselves, whilst people with high self-efficacy believe in their ability to succeed. There are a number of actions you can take to boost your confidence.
- Change Your Body Language
Imagine looking at a person with low confidence, how they sit, their posture, how they walk and their facial expressions. One way to boost your confidence is make your body language positive. Sit up straight, have a power pose when standing, walk in a positive way. Make sure you have a positive facial expression.
- Write Positive Affirmations
A good way to sustain your confidence is to write positive affirmations. By writing encouraging, positive and affirming statements about yourself, you can influence how you feel and behave. Make sure your affirmations are accurate and positive. Keep your affirmations in your purse and read them out aloud on a regular basis. Think about all your achievements, no matter how small they seem at first.
- Carry out a Silver Lining Exercise
There are times when events reduce your confidence. One way to deal with this is to carry out a silver lining exercise. So, think of a situation that made you feel negative. How do you feel about it? Now find the silver lining from it. Write down any positives you can find from the experience. Even if it is just what you learnt from it.
- Thought Stopping
Sometimes our mind goes in a negative direction and we fall into negative self-talk which reduces our confidence. A useful way to deal with this is known as thought stopping. Firstly, be aware that you are having negative thoughts about yourself. Then say STOP to yourself aloud. Replace the negative thought and replace it with a positive thought.
- Make a Gratitude List
Writing a gratitude list comes from positive psychology. Gratitude is a positive emotional response. Writing a gratitude list focuses our mind on positive aspects of our lives and makes us feel better. When we feel better about ourselves, we feel more confident. So, whether it is family, friends, community, hobbies, write them down.
- Look your best
Take some pride in your appearance. Make sure you are clean and wear clothes that suit you. Being physical fit will also help you feel better and feel more confident. Though, it is not helpful to become obsessive about your appearance. Best not to spend hours getting ready to go out to buy a loaf of bread!
- Change Your Behaviour
One way to increase your confidence is to change your behaviour. Confident people tend to be proactive. Make sure you use your time well. It is also important to do activities that make you feel uncomfortable and push you out of your comfort zone. Even if you have to pretend to be confident in situations, it will boost your confidence.
- Change Your State
Another technique to boost your confidence is to change your state to a time you felt really confident. This is done by closing your eyes and thinking of a time you felt really confident, see what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel what you felt. Then press your thumb and index finger together. Anytime you want to feel more confident, press your thumb and index finger to go back to that confident state.
- Focus on Others
Many people feel shy in social situations and worry about a lack of confidence. The reality is that you are the only person who really cares about what you think. You will be more socially competent and confident if you were not so self-obsessed, but rather pay attention on others and focus of what they are saying.
- Self-hypnosis Recording
Making your own confidence self-hypnosis recording can help you get into a regular routine of boosting your confidence. You can choose your own music and your own positive statements. Think of all the achievements in your life, however small they may be. Listen whenever you need a confidence boost.
