Confidence is a skill that I’ve lacked all throughout my life. While I am an ambivert, I find myself shying away from new experiences, people, and opportunities because I’m not confident. One of my goals this year is to become more confident in myself and my abilities. Here are some tips to become more confident! –
1. Face a fear
Fear is usually the root of lacking self-confidence and is the real reason we don’t do things that are important. You should make a commitment to do at least one thing each day, week, or month. By facing your fears and doing things that challenge you, you will soon find yourself becoming more confident.
2. Befriend Failure
In order to be truly successful, you must become comfortable with the possibility of failure. The more you fail, the more you learn and grow. While failure may sometimes seem like the ‘end of the road’, you should view them as an opportunity and not as a block. Becoming more comfortable with the possibility of failure, as well as taking risks, you will come to believe in yourself and your capabilities more.
3. Doubt Your Doubt
We sometimes find ourselves doubting ourselves and what we can and can’t accomplish. This leads to pessimistic thinking and stops us from doing things we want and need to do. Instead of doubting yourself, you should doubt your doubt – question why you feel like you can’t do it. In most cases, it’s just because you are worried about the end result or the consequences that doing something will bring.
4. Affirm your Strengths, Talents, and Accomplishments
People who lack self-confidence tend to focus on their weaknesses rather than their strengths. To remind yourself of your strengths, write down a list of all your strengths, talents, and accomplishments. Be honest with yourself, and use this list as a reminder of your greatness.
5. Embody Confidence
A constant tip that I’ve found to be more confident, is to fake it till you make it. If you act confident, then you feel confident. Your opinions of yourself can influence other people’s opinions of you, meaning that if you act confident, others will see you as a confident person too. Do things that make you feel good, such as wearing a certain clothing style, or your posture.
6. Listen to Empowering music
Whenever I’m not feeling the most confident, I usually listen to upbeat or rap music. Music is a great way to evoke emotion, and listening to motivational music will make you feel more confident in yourself!
Here are 2 of my empowering playlists! –
7. Set a realistic goal, and take action to achieve it
Your achievements contribute greatly to your self-confidence. By making and following through with a commitment, you will learn to trust yourself and your capabilities more. Often we make goals, such as New Year’s Resolutions that are unrealistic and unattainable. These goals are usually very broad and unspecific, making it hard for us to follow through and complete them. New habits take a long time to build, which is why having clear, specific, and small goals, when consistent, can help you feel more capable of doing tasks and confident in yourself.
8. Make a Difference
Do something to give back to your society. By making a personal contribution, it reminds you that your individual choices have an impact on the world. Realising your true significance as an individual will empower you and increase your feelings of self-confidence.