How to Build Confidence
Confidence can be tricky — but everyone knows it’s a positive trait which can help you not only in your career, but in life. It can give you courage to try new things, wisdom to make good choices and the ability to take on new challenges.
When you are confident, other people feel they can trust and rely on you, making you an indispensable employee. This can assist the climb up the corporate ladder in your industry, because if you’re too meek, people will assume you can’t handle the tasks at hand.
Building confidence is easier said than done, and you can’t decide one day to be instantly self-assured. It requires consistent conscious choices to believe in yourself and your abilities, and practice showing the world your boldness to really make it authentic.
Here are a few tips to help you build your confidence:
Picture It
As I mentioned before, building confidence takes time. To begin the process, picture your goals on a daily basis; think about what you want to do, how you want to act and what that looks like in everyday life. Then start to mirror what you see in your minds eye and practice it in your day-to-day.
For example, do you see someone who sticks to a daily routine and prioritizes self-care? Take tangible steps towards that: wake up and go to bed at the same time every day, make time for exercise, and do whatever it is that you think will get you where you want to be.
Be Consistent
Adding to the previous section, not only do you need to visualize your goals and take steps to achieve them, consistent work daily to help boost your confidence. If you feel confident when you dress well, then dress well. If you feel confident when you practice a speech/presentation, then practice it multiple times to be consistent.
Give Yourself an Ego Boost
Congratulate yourself when you do things well! The same way compliments and acknowledgement from others can boost your self esteem, so can compliments you give yourself, so encourage yourself when you do things well. When you mess up, acknowledge it. Think about how you can improve and use what you learned from the mistake in future lessons; be comforted knowing it was a one-time mistake.
Take Care of Yourself
Make yourself feel good — this means hygiene, dress, and how you portray yourself to the world. It may seem cliche, but you have to look your best to feel your best.
I am by no means saying you have to be a runway model. But for instance, if you have a favorite outfit you feel great in, wear it on a day you have something important going on to give yourself a little confidence boost.
Think Positive
Stay calm and positive. It can be easy to dwell on the things you did wrong or could have done better, but it makes more sense to learn from those things and move on. Think about what you did right and build off of that.
Take on Challenges
Challenge yourself to do things out of your comfort zone — when something tough comes along, you know you’ll be able to tackle it the same way you tackled all the other challenges. Keep growing and expanding, it will give you the confidence of knowing you can handle anything.
If you incorporate even just a few of these tips into your everyday routine, I guarantee you will begin to feel and act more confident.
Originally published at Chris A. Petersen.
