Have you ever looked at someone and been dazzled by their presence? Some individuals seem to win people over wherever they go, and there’s just something magnetic about the way they carry themselves. You may try to emulate this but it’s not easy and often the thing that we’re trying to emulate is a sense of confidence. Confidence seems like one of those things you are either born with or not, however, there are ways to increase your own confidence and become more like those magnetic people you keep noticing in your life.
Whatever you do in life, self-confidence is key. Your confidence brings out your personality and helps you succeed. You may ask yourself, “How can I improve my self-confidence?” Here are a few things you can do to boost your confidence and shine in your professional and personal life.
Why is it Important to Build Self-Confidence?
Confidence plays a very important role in our lives. Confidence is what sets you apart from others and prepares you for success. There are a lot of people who might be extremely talented, smart and knowledgeable. However, the one thing many of them lack is self-confidence. Why is self-confidence so important?
- High self-confidence is directly linked to high self-esteem. According to studies, high self-esteem has many physical and mental health benefits. It is linked to improved health, a healthy social life, and overall mental well-being. When you have high self-esteem, you can easily come up with effective coping strategies to deal with challenges.
- Confidence makes you an effective communicator as it helps you become more assertive and put forth your demands clearly. Assertiveness is a crucial skill in professional, as well as personal relationships.
- If you feel confident, you can easily spot opportunities and avenues for growth.
- Confidence also gives you a more positive outlook on life. A confident person is more likely to experience greater satisfaction and enjoyment in life as compared to someone who lacks confidence.
- Confidence also helps eliminate self-doubt and improves your self-worth.
So, if you want to be successful in life, have healthy relationships with those around you and feel fulfilled, you need to work on improving your confidence.
How to Boost Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem?
Building confidence is a skill, and the good thing is that everyone can learn it. Here are a few simple, yet effective ways to boost your confidence.
1. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Very often, we tend to get very comfortable with where we are in life. This causes us to become complacent and can hamper our growth and progress. It may feel really scary to do something that is outside your comfort zone, but ultimately, that is what will fuel your self-confidence. Whenever you hold yourself back, ask yourself these 2 questions-
- What will happen in the next 6 months if I don’t step out of my comfort zone?
- How will my life change if I take the leap of faith and just go for it?
Start by identifying the things you’re afraid of, and then devise a strategy to face those fears and obstacles. If you’re someone who’s afraid of public speaking, you could try speaking in front of a small group of people in your neighbourhood. As you start getting comfortable with small groups, you can push your limits by participating in a public speaking competition. Take risks, and allow yourself to make mistakes.
2. Practice Self-Care
A confident person is someone who is comfortable in their own skin, and that comes with self-care. If you want to build your self-confidence, you need to take care of your physical, mental and emotional well-being.
- Set aside some time every day to exercise or do some kind of physical activity like running or dancing. Exercise releases endorphins in the body, which will improve your mood. This causes you to feel more motivated and confident. When you make physical exercise a consistent practice, you will start feeling healthier and fitter, boosting your self-confidence.
- Have a balanced and nutritious diet. Your body is one of your most important assets. When you feel healthy from within, your self-confidence will show!
- Make time for things you like. It could be a hobby you had as a child, or something that makes you feel relaxed and productive.
- Meditate or journal to get more in touch with yourself. These mindfulness practices can really help you feel more centered and connected to yourself, and only require 10-15 minutes per day.
These simple activities can help you feel happier, more energetic, focused and in turn; will give you the confidence you need to achieve your goals!
3. Dress Well
The way you dress can significantly impact your confidence and overall sense of self. When you choose clothing that reflects your personal style and fits well, it can enhance your mood and self-esteem. Dressing well sends a positive message to yourself and others, indicating that you value and respect yourself. This boost in self-confidence can influence how you interact with people, approach tasks, and handle challenges. On the other hand, wearing clothes that make you feel uncomfortable or unkempt can lead to self-consciousness and diminished confidence. Therefore, investing time and effort into your appearance can be a powerful tool in building and maintaining your confidence.
4. Invest in Your Personality
Enhancing your personality to build confidence involves a combination of self-awareness, personal development, and positive habits. Developing one’s personality is something that absolutely anyone can do to increase their confidence. Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Reflect on your qualities, skills, and areas where you can improve. This self-awareness is the foundation for growth as is self-love. Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations. Encourage yourself with kind and motivating words to build a positive self-image. It’s important to continue learning and investing in your personal growth by acquiring new skills and knowledge. This could be through reading, taking courses, or attending workshops. These activities can all help you build self-confidence and a stronger, more magnetic personality.
5. Read More
Knowledge and being well-read is one of the most powerful assets one can have. The more you know about the world, the more interesting conversations you can have and the more information you are armed with. One of the spaces where people feel least confident are in large groups of people they don’t know. When you have a little bit of information on different topics, you’ll find you’re able to connect and converse with others more freely, removing your self-doubt and fear. Reading can help you broaden your perspective by giving you information about various cultures while improving your problem-solving skills, increasing your emotional intelligence, and also helping you learn from the experiences of other people.
6. Do More of the Things You’re Good At
One of the easiest ways to feel more confident is to do things you know you are good at. If you lack self-confidence, pick up an activity that you know you are comfortable doing and enjoy. This is going to give you a guaranteed win with minimal efforts. A win makes you feel better about yourself, and thus instantly increases your self-confidence. Once you have identified your strengths, build on them. When you believe in your abilities to develop your strengths, your life satisfaction levels also increase. This is a great way to improve your self-confidence.
7. Have a Circle of Positive People Around You
“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” Oprah Winfrey
Positive people impact your life in a significant way. They influence your thoughts, ideas, and your personality too. Surround yourself with people who are encouraging, and who motivate you to do better. You may want to limit your interactions with people who are overly critical, and those who constantly seem to put you down. Form a circle of people who value you and have your best interests at heart. This will boost your confidence and restore your faith in your abilities.
8. Embrace Failure as an Essential Step Towards Success
Whatever you do, you will experience failure at some or the other point in life. The important thing is to not take these negative experiences personally or let them slow you down. Treat them as opportunities for growth, and learn from them. Another thing that leads to low self-esteem is the negative self-talk you have with yourself. Do you tend to be hard on yourself when you are not able to achieve something or perhaps you talk down to yourself when you’re unsure or nervous?
Observe your self-talk, and replace self-judgement with self-compassion. According to a 2015 study, self-compassion is closely linked to your confidence levels. When you make a mistake, rather than putting yourself down and judging yourself, just try to give yourself some grace. Assure yourself that you can do it, no matter what happens. Being able to have positive self-talk is not something that happens overnight. Practise this every day, and slowly, you will start seeing the difference.
9. Set Realistic Goals and Achieve Them
We sometimes tend to overestimate our abilities, and thus set overly lofty goals for ourselves. Naturally, when we aren’t able to achieve them, we feel demotivated, which affects our self-confidence. A great way to build your self-confidence is by setting goals that are realistic in nature. You can use the SMART goal-setting method for this.
- Specific: Evaluate the things you need to do and break them down into smaller tasks. For example, rather than saying, “I want to save money.”, specify the amount you want to save. “I am going to save Rs 5,000 every month.” is a good way to specify your target.
- Measurable: Make sure your goal is measurable in some way. This will help you assess the progress you’re making. For example, if you are looking to make sales in your business, your goal can be making 10 product sales in a month, which you can further break down. Set a benchmark of a minimum of 2 sales in a week, which will make it easier for you to track your progress.
- Achievable: Whenever you’re setting a goal, make sure it is something you know you can achieve. It would be unrealistic to try to lose 15 kgs in a month if you have a sedentary lifestyle in general. Your goal should be reasonable and should align with your lifestyle and your core values. When you set an achievable goal, you are much more likely to accomplish it, which will increase your self-confidence, thus motivating you to persevere.
- Relevant: Whenever you set goals, ask yourself, “Is this going to contribute to my ultimate vision in the long run?” If it is something that helps you get to where you want to reach, make it a part of your goal-setting. If not, modify it in a way that aligns with what you ultimately want to achieve.
- Time-bound: Set a timeline to achieve your goals, and stick to it as much as possible. This will give you a clear and tangible roadmap and will help you keep yourself on track.
Once you have your plan in place, be disciplined and go after it. When you start achieving your targets, you will automatically start feeling more confident.
10. Have Faith in Yourself!
If you want to be confident, you need to start believing in yourself. Of course, that is easier said than done. Start by taking small steps.
- Choose 3-5 affirmations and say them aloud every day. You can either do this in the morning before you start your day or before you go to sleep. The time does not matter, as long as you’re doing it consistently. This will help rewire your mind into believing that you can do it.
- Write down 3 small wins every single day. We often tend to ignore the things we have accomplished by only focusing on the long-term goals. Celebrate your accomplishments, even if they seem insignificant. When you start celebrating your small wins, you’ll realise how much potential you have, which will do wonders for your self-confidence.
Building your confidence is not as daunting as it may seem. Once you start following these simple steps, you will start noticing positive changes in yourself. Each one of us, at some point or the other, feels like we aren’t good enough. Even if you occasionally have self-doubt, it’s alright! Ultimately, what matters is the effort it takes to build that confidence and get back up. Try these simple tips and experience personal transformation! If you need some guidance on your journey towards becoming a more confident version of yourself, get in touch with our experts at SoulSensei.
“Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.”
Michelle Obama
Sources
- Ackerman, Courtney E. “What Is Self-Confidence? (+ 9 Proven Ways to Increase It).” PositivePsychology.Com, 9 July 2018.
- Boogaard, Kat. “How to Write SMART Goals.” Work Life by Atlassian, Atlassian.com, 26 Dec. 2023.
- Bridges, Frances. “10 Ways To Build Confidence.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 July 2017.
- “How to Gain Confidence in Yourself: 13 Tips for Self-Confidence.” Edited by Dr. Chris Mosunic, Calm Blog, Calm Blog, 8 Feb. 2024.
- Indeed Editorial Team. “How to Build More Self-Confidence (And Why It’s Important).” Indeed, Indeed, 19 Mar. 2023.
- Morin, Amy. “How to Be More Confident: 9 Tips That Work.” Verywell Mind, 25 Apr. 2024.
