2012 Research shows that students with more confidence achieve more academically than less confident students. Low self-confidence makes you doubt that you can’t do some things even when you can do them. If you lack self-confidence, you will find yourself unattractive not just to yourself; others may also find you unattractive to this cause. If that’s you, you should read this and boost your self-confidence.
This article will teach you how to boost your self-confidence with seven simple tips. Keep reading!
What is Self-Confidence
In simple words, self-confidence is a sense of trust in your abilities to do something. It can also be said believing in yourself as capable of something is self-confidence. It can be more specific; you can be confident in one field and not in the other.
American Psychology Associations define self-confidence as “a belief that one is capable of successfully meeting the demand of the task”
Having a good level of self-confidence helps you live a more happy life. Your self-esteem increases with self-confidence, and your self-image gets better. You look at yourself as a sufficient and good person. This avoids many psychological shortcomings and sets you up for the best.
Tips to Boost your Self-Confidence
Fortunately, you can build or increase your self-confidence in several ways, whether you lack self-confidence in a specific field or struggle with confidence in anything. These seven tips will help you to boost your self-confidence.
Practice Positive Self Talk
If you talk negatively to yourself, that lessens your self-confidence by convincing your subconscious brain that you “can’t do this” specific task or it is “too hard” for you and “it’s not for me.” If you find this kind of thing to you, that is why you don’t feel confident.
On the other hand, if you optimistically talk to yourself, it shows the opposite effect. It fosters your self-confidence and helps you overcome self-doubt.
Whenever you begin to think that you are not enough for a specific job that you worked a lot for or you are so out of shape to hit the gym, try and turn these thoughts into positive self-talk.
Let me give you some examples of turning negative talks into positive talks;
“This is impossible.” → “I can do this; all I have to do is try”
“I suck at everything” → “I can do better next time. At least I learned something.”
Don’t Compare Yourself with Others
Do you compare your salary with your friend’s salary? If you use social media and compare your looks with people on Instagram. This will be your mental health and self-confidence → 📉.
Comparing yourself with others is normal, but it doesn’t reap anything good for you. In the means of boosting self-confidence, it won’t help you in any way. A study in 2018 found a direct link between envy and how you feel about yourself. It was noted that people who compare themselves with others experience envy, which makes them feel bad about themselves, likely to reduce their self-confidence.
What to do if you find yourself comparing yourself with others? First of all, remind yourself that it is not healthy. The only person you should compare yourself with is the “past you.” It is going great if you are better than the past version of yourself. Everyone is running their own race, and you should too. Beat your past self in the race.
Here are some things that you can do if you catch yourself comparing yourself with someone else;
- It is great to remember your strengths and your successes.
- Remind yourself to do better than you did yesterday.
- Show gratitude for what you have rather than complaining about what you don’t have.
- Keep a gratitude journal and write down things you are grateful about. It can be your phone’s notepad.
Stay Among Positive People
Take a moment and think about how your friends deal with you. Do they lift you and encourage you? Or do they judge you and put you down? If you are unsure about it, tell them your plans for life or any business plan. If they judge you, make you feel stupid, and discourage you. You are not among positive people.
The people you spend your time with influence your thoughts. They can turn your positive self-talk into negative self-talk, making you less self-confident. If your friends negatively influence your thoughts, it doesn’t mean you should leave them. Instead, don’t be among them and keep your life private from them.
The next step will be finding new positive people to spend most of your time with. Be friends with the people who love you and want the best of you. It will make you feel better about yourself, boost your self-confidence, and help you in many other ways.
Care About Your Body
It is hard to feel good about yourself if you abuse your body. It is hard to feel good when you are obese and suffer from acne and are not doing anything about it. When you take care of yourself, you know you are doing something good with yourself, and you will feel confident.
Here are some things you should practice to take care of your body and boost your confidence.
- Meditation: Meditation is the best thing you can do for yourself. In meditation, you give rest to your thoughts and focus on your breath with an empty brain. This process allows you to get rid of negative thoughts. It helps you to recognize yourself and increase your quality.
- Exercise: A study in 2016 shows that regular exercise improves your self-image, and a better self-image increases your self-confidence. Doing this improves your physical health, and you become better than “past you” daily.
- Sleep: This 2012 study shows that your optimism and self-esteem are affected by your sleep. Having a quality sleep gives you many mental health-related benefits. Around 8 hours of sleep is recommended, and it is advised to stop using your phone 2 hours earlier than you sleep.
Stay Kind to Yourself
Being kind to yourself means treating yourself with kindness when you make a mistake, fail or experience a setback. It enhances your connection with yourself, allows you to become emotionally flexible, and helps you better navigate challenging emotions.
This way, you avoid negative talking with yourself and degrading yourself whenever you do something wrong. Showing yourself kindness motivates you to do the right thing again, increasing your self-confidence.
A 2015 study connects self-confidence with self-compassion. Whenever you face a challenging situation or a setback, remember that making mistakes is part of being a human. Learn from your mistake, talk positively to yourself, be kind and move on. This will help you with your self-confidence.
Face Your Fears
When you fear “something,” you automatically have low trust in yourself that you will be able to do that “something.” Like having a fear of asking someone for a date, you push your self-confidence down by keeping that fear.
The best in these situations is to face your fears. It will increase your belief in yourself and your self-confidence.
Many times, we have a fear of embarrassing ourselves or fear of messing things up. Go ahead and face your fears in this situation. It will remove your self-doubt, and as you get over your fear, you will gain a good amount of confidence.
Wrapping It Up
To wrap it up, I will summarize everything told in this article.
To boost your self-confidence, follow these tips;
- Talk to yourself positively.
- Don’t compare yourself with others. Only compare yourself with your past self.
- Stay in the company of positive people.
- Take care of your body and work on it.
- Be kind to yourself when you make a mistake.
- Face and get over your fears so they don’t push your confidence down.
Following these tips in your life will help you boost your self-confidence along with other benefits like mental health and groomed personality.
What do you think, which one of the tips will be most helpful for you? Which tip has your special attention? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
You may also find it interesting: Doing These 5 Things Will Make You a Very Likeable Person.
