Increase Your Self-Confidence

We all know them.

You know the ones, those self-confident individuals who always seem to be in control. They make snap decisions, appear to be more successful, and possess an inner strength that is almost palpable.

You admire their self-assurance and strong opinions. Those characteristics come from an inner belief in one’s ability. Self-confidence doesn’t always come naturally and developing it takes deliberate, conscious effort.

To become more self-assured, practice the following tips that can help you develop a strong, healthy self-image, full of conviction and self-confidence.

Recognize Your Strengths…and Weaknesses

Self-confident people know what they are good at and what they aren’t very good at. Confidence definitely means feeling good about your ability to do certain things. However, it also means understanding the specific areas that need improvement. A confident person readily accepts that they aren’t great at everything.

Be Positive

Bad things happen all the time. You need look no further than the daily news to see that the world has a lot of problems. Self-assured individuals understand this. However, they don’t focus on negative things. They can always find the silver lining in every cloud and put a positive spin on any negative event.

Don’t Let Failure Stop You

A failure is an event, but it isn’t what you are. The most successful, self-assured individuals with true conviction in their beliefs and abilities have failed hundreds and even thousands of times – it is almost a prerequisite for being a success.

Self-confident people aren’t scared of failure and certainly don’t allow it to keep them from future success. Norman Bernard Larsen invented WD-40 on his 40th try. The world wouldn’t have benefited from this all-in-one household product today if Larson had given up on his 10^th, or 25^th, or 39^th attempt.

Find Positive Friends

Confident people surround themselves with other confident people. These people tend to have positive mindsets instead of negative ones. Their self-belief is contagious; people want to be around them. Negative people bring others down to their level; therefore, positive, self-assured individuals spend their time with other confident people. This pushes everyone to be even more confident.

Use the Correct Body Language

You can “trick” your mind into believing that you are self-confident. This will lead to confident, assured actions and behaviors.

• Pull your shoulders back.
• Stand erect.
• Look people in the eye.
• Practice good posture.
• Don’t slouch.
• Shake hands firmly.
• Smile more often.
• Speak slowly and clearly.

These are all traits of self-confident people. By  adopting these postures and confidence-boosting tips, you’ll begin to feel more self-assured. Over time, you’ll be surprised how naturally they come to you.

For example, I’m not above having to work on my self-confidence at times, depending on the situation. I have had to use one (or all) of the tips throughout school and residency – especially number 5. There were situations where I had to present a topic in front of people who I knew understood the topic better than I did. Faking it until you make it indeed! But it got easier –the more you use these strategies, the easier it gets.

Here is a freebie Positive Self-Talk Affirmations Cheat Sheet that can help you with your confidence.

What do you do to increase your self-confidence? Tell us about it in the comments.

Loving Life – The Reboot

Dominique