5 Ways to Dramatically Boost Confidence

Confidence is a fickle thing. And if you aren’t careful, a lack of confidence can hold you back in your personal life and career. Thankfully, with a few tangible strategies and techniques, you can give your self-confidence a dramatic boost.

Why Self-Confidence Matters

Self-confidence is a word that we throw around a lot, but what does it actually mean?

According to University of South Florida, “Self-confidence is an attitude about your skills and abilities. It means you accept and trust yourself and have a sense of control in your life. You know your strengths and weaknesses well, and have a positive view of yourself. You set realistic expectations and goals, communicate assertively, and can handle criticism.”

Having a healthy level of self-confidence yields numerous benefits, including:

• Less anxiety and fear. As you become more confident in who you are, you’ll become less fearful of things that really don’t matter. You’ll feel strong enough to accomplish things that you otherwise would have run from. And even if you do fail, you won’t let it define you. 
• Greater resilience. As psychologist Barbara Markway puts it, “Confidence gives you the skills and coping methods to handle setbacks and failure. Self-confidence doesn’t mean you won’t sometimes fail. But you’ll know you can handle challenges and not be crippled by them.”
• Healthier relationships. When you have a high degree of self-confidence, you’ll be able to spend your time engaging with people in a genuine manner, rather than constantly worrying about how they view you. This relaxed state puts people at ease and makes you a more attractive person. 

These are just a few of the advantages. As you improve your own self-confidence, you’ll see a number of other positives emerge and your life will be transformed for the better.

5 Tips for Boosting Self-Confidence

If you’re suffering from low self-confidence, you probably feel anxious, timid, uncertain, and confused. Here are some ways you can boost your confidence and reclaim the life you were meant to live:

1. Improve Your Posture

People with low confidence tend to slouch, while those with lots of confidence are much more likely to have straight posture. But guess what? You can actually trick yourself into being more confident simply by altering your posture.

Sitting/standing straight with your chest out, shoulders back, and chin up actually makes you feel more confident and poised. (In turn, this will make it easier to maintain good posture. So it becomes a self-feeding cycle.)

2. Get Clear on Your Priorities

One of the simplest things you can do is get clear on what your priorities are in life. If you have too many priorities, or they’re misaligned, you’ll never feel satisfied or directed. Instead, you’ll be tossed around by every wave and current. 

One theory says that you only have enough energy to devote to five things at any one time. What are your five? It could be family, work, health, spirituality, and social life. Or perhaps it’s something very different. Just get clear!

3. Take Care of Your Body

Whether or right or wrong, we often draw some of our self-confidence from the way we look (outwardly). While it’s smart not to get too caught up in your appearance, there is something to be said for taking care of yourself.

If you’re going bald, find ways to regrow hair. (A laser cap is one good option.) If you’ve put on 25 pounds too many, pick a good exercise regimen and get back in shape. If you have problems with acne, find a product to clear up your skin. 

4. Affirm Yourself

Positive affirmation is critical to driving self-confidence. Something as simple as repeating positive statements throughout the day has been shown to help. Try writing a list of five truths about yourself and make them part of your daily internal dialogue.

5. Get Rid of Toxic People

Nothing hurts self-confidence quite like having toxic people in your life. If there are negative people in your inner circle, it’s time to cast them out and replace them with positive, encouraging people who support your best interests. 

Are You Ready to Grow?

You don’t stumble upon self-confidence overnight. It’s something that takes weeks, months, and even years of hard work to finally discover. But there’s no better time to begin then now. Are you ready to give it all you’ve got? The process will be filled with resistance and friction, but it’ll all be worth it in the end.