Self-confidence isn’t just important, it’s imperative to your business and your life—10 Easy Ways to Build Your Confidence and … Build Your Life™
You can be confident.
Just the word “self-confidence” conjures up a multitude of emotions depending on your own personality. One person might spike their blood pressure just thinking about it, and others may not even give it a second thought. It’s important to know, however, that no matter who you are, your own self-worth, value, and your view of that worth and value leaks into the everyday workings of your life: both business and personal.
The beauty of self-confidence? While your environment can play a massive part in how you feel about yourself, it’s not genetic! You have full control over where that takes you. Can changing your environment be difficult? Absolutely. But it’s all about how badly YOU want to change.
The rest of this post is chock full of ideas and options you’ve heard before and likely are things you’ve looked past and thought, “It won’t make that big of a difference.” But, let’s look back and remember how big goals are reached … through the small things! You don’t finish eating an entire cake in one bite, and you don’t run a marathon in one day. You take it one bite or one step at a time. One foot in front of the other.
The importance of building self-confidence.
Why is confidence-building important to you? That could honestly be another post entirely. Here’s a quick list to help get you started. Less fear, less anxiety, more freedom, and the ability to better handle stress. Need a few more reasons? Learn to influence others, become a better leader, and feel valued by those around you, but most importantly … feel valued by yourself.
Here are 10 “bites” to start boosting your confidence today.
#1. Self-confidence versus arrogance.
One trap that many of us fall into is telling ourselves that if we’re confident in ourselves, it makes us arrogant. The truth is, there’s a big difference between believing in yourself and feeling the need to have others validate what you’re doing in order to believe in yourself. It’s a slight difference but a powerful one. When you believe in what you’re doing, you’re not likely to come off as “braggy” but you will come off as capable of standing up for yourself and knowing what you believe to be true.
#2. Break a habit.
By this, we don’t mean you should pick the worst thing you can possibly think of about yourself and try to change it. Instead, pick something attainable that you can start today, right now. Examples? Walk around the block once today instead of scrolling through social media on your lunch break. Set a timer for 3 hours and focus on not biting your nails during that time. Extend it to 4 hours tomorrow, and so on. Eat a healthy snack instead of a candy bar when you get the afternoon “munchies.” Find something manageable and work toward being better. Need help getting started? Try an app like Habitify to get you going!
#3. Stop slouching.
Not only does bad posture hurt your back later on, but it makes you look less confident, which in turn makes you feel less confident. Sit up straight, shoulders back, use those core muscles! There are apps that can remind you throughout the day if you need that kind of accountability! (Let’s be honest, most of us do.)
#4. Learn from someone.
We’re all good at something (yes, everyone), so it makes sense that we’d be able to learn something from someone else. The beauty of learning from someone else is that that new information is now information that you have. Information doesn’t belong to any one person and once it’s learned by you, it can be shared by you. Learning, teaching, and sharing information helps you feel more confident in yourself; it’s a win-win!
#5. Practice.
Yes, practice your self-confidence. You wouldn’t walk into a Biology class on test day without studying and expect to do well, right? Read the books, listen to the podcasts, try out some of the ideas that others have had success with. See what works for you and little-by-little you’ll find a way to move forward.
#6. Look for the solution, not the blame.
During times of difficulty it’s very easy to focus on why everything is awful and nothing is going right. We often spend our time looking for someone to blame. Try challenging this way of thinking: Think of something in your current situation that’s a challenge and come up with logical ways to resolve or help make that situation better in some way, no matter how small.
#7. Dress the part.
Look at someone you look up to in your life—this could be a peer, a boss, a celebrity, a mentor, etc. Find someone you idolize to some extent and look at them. Really look at them. Odds are they take some pride in their personal hygiene and their look. Follow their lead! There’s no shame in looking up to someone and if they help you find your own personal style or routine, go for it! The idea is that you create your own daily routine and that you’re dressing for the job or life you want, not the job or life you currently have.
#8. Value yourself.
Know that every single one of the billions of humans on this planet has value. If every single person on Earth has value, know that you are included in those billions of people. Your accomplishments are just as important as your neighbors’; your goals are just as valuable as the next person’s. If you don’t recognize the things you’re doing well and you don’t celebrate those wins (all of them!), you can’t expect to have others understand and know your value and ability. Not sure the value of your own strengths and weaknesses? Read about it on our blog post!
#9. Be your own cheerleader.
Think of the compliments that you’ve received and how they play to your strengths. There’s a meme going around that says, “One nice way to feel better about yourself is to imagine what Steve Irwin would say about you if you were a little snake he found in the desert.” Be your own Steve Irwin! Write down your accomplishments and look back on them when it’s been a long day (or week!).
#10. Stop the negative self-talk.
If there’s one takeaway from this post, one thing that can derail your self-confidence more than any other, it’s talking badly to and about yourself. Do you talk yourself out of new ideas or goals because you think you can’t do it? Would you talk to your friends, parents, or your children the way you talk to yourself? If not, it’s time to re-evaluate and re-train your brain. Catch yourself in the moment when you can—and say whatever it is you’re thinking out loud. Change that narrative to something positive. It’s hard to do initially, but you’ll find it’s much easier to grow and change when you’ve got your own back. Even if you don’t want to believe what you’re saying at first—fake it ’til you make it.
Boosting self-confidence takes time, but it’s time you’re already spending, and you’ll see the positive results branch out into every aspect of your life.
What makes you feel confident? Share in the comments below!
