If you often feel that you’re not confident enough and are looking to change it, there are some steps you can take in order to do so. Today we’ll explore 15 tips on how to boost self-confidence that you can start implementing in your life starting today.
Sometimes, people underestimate what they can achieve. They feel like they are incapable of achieving particular things. This is similar to that feeling you get when you lose faith or belief in yourself. You become pessimistic where you can choose to be optimistic, you find reasons to withdraw where you can simply try…
If the above descriptions are similar to what you have experienced or are currently experiencing, then keep calm because you are not alone.
Having low or high self-confidence doesn’t just happen. Certain things must occur for one’s confidence to either grow or diminish.
How To Boost Self-Confidence
It is worth considering that some people grew up to be highly confident while others grew up to be relatively low in confidence. More often than not, such cases are as a result of their early socialization.
When growing up as a kid, if you were surrounded by people who exhibited high self-confidence, who created an enabling environment for your confidence to grow, and who believed in you and your abilities, you would likely adopt their strategies. You would exhibit high self-confidence even at a tender age and such confidence would continue till adulthood.
On the other hand, if you grew up among people who withdrew themselves from the society as a result of low self-esteem, people who didn’t believe in themselves or in you, you would most likely have low self-confidence even as an adult.
However, when trying out something new, I mean something you have little or no prior experience in, usually, you’ll be excited because you don’t know if you will succeed or fail. That first-time excitement is not necessarily because of low self-confidence, but simply a product of uncertainty.
Meanwhile, when your first attempt results in failure and you give up and conclude that you are simply not good enough, that is when low self-confidence comes into play!
That is to say, inasmuch as failure can be a contributing factor to low self-confidence, the greatest factor remains lack of perseverance. The more you persevere, the more likely it is for you to win and the more you win, the greater your confidence.
If you are a person who either grew up to be negatively influenced into having low self-confidence or yours is as a result of failure and lack of perseverance, then this article is for you.
We’ll be looking at 15 tips on how to boost self-confidence. Because even though people believe that self-confidence is something you are born with, on the contrary, it can be learnt and improved!
Don’t settle for the myth that you can’t do anything about it. Say it with me “Yes I can!”. Let’s dive right in.
1. Understand that it is not bad to try
One of the first steps to take if you want to boost your self-confidence is to consider the fact that trying is not bad. For the fact that there are two different, possible and inevitable outcomes anyway (either to succeed or fail), you have to give it a try. And even if you fail, you shouldn’t just give up.
As long as you see nothing bad in trying, failing once should not stop you from trying again and again. Once you develop this “always try again” mindset, your confidence will continue to rise with each success you eventually record.
I actually like the idea that there is no such thing as failure, there’s only gaining experience. So if you try something and it doesn’t work out, you haven’t failed, you only gained experience in knowing what doesn’t work. So now you can move forward and try something new.
2. Embrace optimism
Optimism plays a vital role in the development of self-confidence. Its importance can never be overrated. In order for you to believe in yourself to achieve anything (self-confidence), you have to first of all expect the best out of anything you want to attempt (aka optimism).
Moreover, being optimistic motivates you to get started because when you fully expect the best outcome, you will definitely be pushed to at least make an attempt.
As an optimist, you will always say “it’s possible” when others are saying “it’s impossible”. And by the time all you see is possibility, your confidence level will rise astronomically.
3. Embrace perseverance
Indeed, most confident people didn’t just gain self-confidence all of a sudden (I repeat, there is no such thing as being born with self-confidence). It took a lot of failures but persistence. They simply never gave up.
Even amidst failures, someone who doesn’t give up and who still finds reasons to keep pushing, is more likely to develop higher confidence with the progression of time. This is because their consistency will yield better results and those better results will improve their confidence.
In other words, although multiple failures can bring about low self-confidence, the greatest attitude that counteracts whatever failure brings to the table is perseverance.
4. Stay clean from the inside (embrace personal hygiene)
As little as it is, hygiene can play a big role in boosting self-confidence.
For example, one who practices poor oral hygiene might not be confident enough to stay close and hold a conversation because he may be uncomfortable with the resulting bad breath. The same is applicable to someone who does not bath regularly. A simple hug might become a big deal.
Moreover, regular household hygiene will give you enough confidence to welcome your friends whenever they feel like visiting.
Staying neat from the inside gives you confidence from within which will enhance your social life. In fact, if you can achieve something as little as cleanliness, then you can build on that to achieve even greater things.
5. Wear what makes you comfortable
There is a popular saying that the way you dress is the way you are addressed. Don’t just dress for the sake of it. Rather, dress in those clothes that make you feel great. Acknowledge what suits you and embrace it.
Note, I’m not saying you should dress to impress people, but rather, dress to satisfy yourself. It’s when you are satisfied with yourself as a result of your appearance that you’ll carry yourself in confidence, knowing fully well that you look good.
6. Love and appreciate yourself
Learn to appreciate your individuality. Love yourself and learn not to be too hard on yourself. As much as you are to accept your errors, don’t be your own worst critic if you really want to learn how to boost self-confidence. Criticizing yourself too much will only result in self-hate.
Now, remember the fact that no one believes in what he or she doesn’t love or appreciate. In other words, for you to be confident in yourself, you have to love and appreciate yourself first.
7. Learn to give to/help people
When you give to others or when you render help to people and end up solving their problem, thereafter, there is this sense of fulfillment that comes with it. The sense of fulfillment that you derive from solving people’s problems will definitely boost the confidence you have in yourself.
Plus, people often appreciate you when you render help to them. Most times, these appreciations come in form of the positive things they say about you. And there is a tendency that when people always say positive things in appreciation for the help you rendered, your self-confidence will be boosted.
8. Let your opinion be heard
Low self-confidence can actually make you shy away from saying a lot of things which ordinarily, you would prefer to talk about. Well, you need to learn not to hesitate to voice them out. You can start by giving little compliments, by telling others the good things you noticed about them. At the end, you will be pleased with yourself that you were able to give them your opinion.
If you can compliment others successfully, you can actually build on that to voice out your opinion even when the situation becomes more complex. With that, your confidence will grow enough for you to start saying things you never had the guts to say before.
9. Be content… Avoid comparisons
One of the simplest ways to kill your self-confidence is by comparing yourself to others! Remember, nobody portrays his or her bad sides. People are more likely to show you their successes and will always hide their failures. Simply put, they will reveal their strengths and hide their weaknesses.
When you start comparing yourself to others who only portray their best, you’ll think the world is a bed of roses for them (which is so not true). Consequently, you feel very bad about your little achievements, and you start wishing to be in their shoes. If only you knew all about them, but alas, you don’t….
As a matter of fact, comparison is an easy way to self-discontentment and you are more likely to hate yourself if you are dissatisfied with yourself.
Shun comparisons totally if you truly want to boost your self-confidence.
10. Learn to acknowledge your worth
When you acknowledge your worth, you add more value to yourself. Knowing your worth and valuing yourself more will certainly make you never settle for less. Resultantly, people will treat you with high regard and your self-esteem will grow. And guess what? Your self-confidence will too.
11. See the positives in others
It is worthy of note that you can only see the good in others when you feel good about yourself. Hence, a popular saying has it that “No one gives what he doesn’t have”.
When you only see the positives in others, you will develop a lasting positive mindset that will make you start seeing only positives about yourself and about life in general. Adopting such a positive mindset will do a lot to put you on track to boosting self-confidence.
12. Always be ready
Readiness is one key that leads to self-assurance. When you are ready, the tension associated with uncertainty or unforeseen circumstances will be curtailed. Being ready will make you expectant. Now, because you are expectant, you will plan ahead and be in the right shape to tackle any eventuality.
For example, getting prepared before presenting a speech will go a long way to reduce stage fright. You will as a result, deliver the speech with increased confidence.
In essence, the readier and more prepared you are, the more confident you will be at any given time.
13. Know your strengths and accept your weaknesses
When you find out your strengths and weaknesses, accept them. Then, you can embrace your strengths, maximize them, put them into good use and become productive. Also, you will work on yourself and improve on your weaknesses.
The more you maximize your strengths and improve on your weaknesses, the more your confidence will reach extra heights.
14. Let your insecurities be best known to you
It is expected that your weaknesses are things you are definitely not proud of. Some of your weaknesses are probably your biggest insecurities.
Although you accept those weaknesses, they still make you insecure. Therefore, while you work on yourself to get better, you don’t necessarily have to tell them to everyone you come across. You don’t want to be an object of mockery because most people will use your insecurities against you.
If you really want to talk to someone about your insecurities or weaknesses, you can meet a counselor or close friend.
15. Mind the people you keep around you
The people you mingle with can go a long way to either boost your confidence or bring it down to its lowest. Some people you call friends might harbor negative energy. They are the ones who only exist to torment you.
Sit down, take a glass of water and relax. Think of the friends you keep… Are they the type that always make fun of you and lay emphasis on your weaknesses and insecurities? Are they the type that never compliment or have any positive thing to say about you? Do they always criticize you?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you have to shun their company. They will destroy your ego and self-esteem before you can say pop-a-doodle-doo (I don’t know if that’s a real word, but you get the point). In fact, your self-confidence is in danger of imminent damage if you keep such friends.
In conclusion, it is highly recommended to tap from the idea in one of Socrates’ popular quotes which says; “Man, know yourself.”
Everything about self-confidence starts from within. It starts from knowing yourself, your worth, strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, etc. Knowing these essentials about your individuality will give you major clues on how to boost your self-confidence, one step at a time.
You might also like to read about:
- 20 Deep Self-Reflection Questions To Ask Yourself
- Top 10 Morning Habits To Supercharge Your Day With Positivity
- Journal Prompts For Self Discovery: 35 Questions To Ask Yourself
- 30 Easy Ways To Improve Yourself Little By Little Every Day
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