Self-confidence in a broad sense generally refers to trust in your abilities, qualities, and judgment. Having a healthy level of self-confidence can help you be more successful in your personal as well as professional life. To help in building self-confidence focus on these steps.
First, stop comparing yourself to others. Making comparisons is natural but it isn’t likely to boost your self-confidence. It will probably have the opposite effect. To stop yourself from doing so, remind yourself that doing so isn’t helpful as everyone is running their own race. It also helps to keep a track of your own strengths and weaknesses if you’re feeling particularly envious of someone. You may even keep a gratitude journal to recall areas of life where you’re blessed.
Second, surround yourself with positive people. Surrounding yourself with people who love you and want the best for you can go a long way in helping build self-confidence. Seek out people who are positive and can help build your confidence as self-confidence and a positive attitude usually go hand in hand.
Third, take care of your body. It’s hard to feel good about yourself if you keep abusing your body. If practicing self-care, you can see yourself doing something positive for your mind, body or spirit and would naturally feel more confident about yourself. A healthy diet, exercise, meditation and good sleep can go a long way in improving the way you view yourself.
Next, be kind to yourself. Self-compassion involves treating yourself with kindness if you’ve made a mistake, fail, or experience a setback. It allows you to be more emotionally flexible and helps you get through challenging emotions, thereby enhancing your connection to yourself and others.
And lastly, face your fears. Stop putting off tasks till you feel more confident in doing them. One of the best ways to build your confidence in a situation such as applying for a job is to face the fear head-on. Try tackling tasks that you wouldn’t have because of a lack of self-confidence in the particular area. If you are worried about messing up or embarrassing yourself, try anyways. A little self-doubt can help improve performance. This could help you see that being a little anxious or making a few mistakes isn’t the worst thing and with each step forward, your confidence would increase in yourself.
Being confident in yourself just feels good, but on top of that, it also helps you have additional benefits at home, at work, and in relationships.