Confidence is more than just a state of mind when walking into a room, it’s a belief, a mindset! It’s belief in yourself and all of your abilities. There’s no one more important to have believe in you than you. Unfortunately, many lack confidence and therefore create their own life obstacles by doubting themselves and their capabilities. To help increase your confidence, I’ve listed 15 Conscious Strategy tips below:
1) Create a confident alter ego. This is one of my favorite strategies. First think about how and who you want to be if you placed all inhibitions and obstacles aside. Then create that alter ego with these traits. In fact, name it. Now, each time you feel like you need a boost in confidence, act as this alter ego. Face the situation not as yourself, but as this created ego that can go out and tackle anything with confidence and grace.
2) Don’t waste your energy on worrying. When problems arise, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Take a deep breath and look for solutions, take actions on what you can, and minimize risks on what you can’t.
3) Focus on your self-image. When you look good, you feel good. Therefore, if you need to workout to slim and tone, so be it. If you need to trim the hair, go for it. If you need to get a new wardrobe, hit the stores. Whatever it may be that makes you feel proud of your looks…pursue it.
4) Recognize and tackle insecurities. What is disempowering you about yourself? Is it your look? Your knowledge? Identify it. Then get honest with yourself – will having a smaller nose truly make you feel better about yourself? Or is it toxic thoughts you have focused on over and over throughout the years that made you believe you need plastic surgery to “feel” better about your nose & yourself? Then focus on finding a solution for it or stop worrying about it. Remember…no one is perfect!
5) Be appreciative of what you have. Many times people lack confidence because they are unsatisfied with a particular aspect of their life. Therefore, be thankful for what you do have and make a plan to create what you desire but may not yet have.
6) This is a no brainer, but I thought I had to list it. Gracefully accept compliments!
7) Eliminate feelings of chaos and confusion by simplifying your life and your surrounding. When life is cluttered, stress is increased. When stress is increased, doubt is created. When doubt is created, confidence is decreased. For more on simplification, please visit How to Simplify Your Life.
8) Increase your knowledge and competency. The internet, books, magazines, experts, etc…are all around you. Utilize such resources to learn and subsequently empower yourself. And remember, there is no greater way to learn than experience. So dive into what you want to learn about, and experience it first hand.
9) If you get scared when doing something for the first time, imagine that you’ve done it before. Imagine the experience and outcome. Then when you actually go out and do it, your mind will think you’ve done it before. This is a trick that Olympic coaches have used to instill success in their athletes – it works!
10) Discover who you are, what you want to be and do. Then set small goals to accomplish them. When individuals focus on achieving big goals they feel discouraged when it’s not accomplished within their set time frame. Take baby steps and celebrate each step towards success. A great tool to help achieve this is a to-do list. Check out How to Write a To-Do List for more information.
11) Stand tall, focus on posture, and walk with energy and purpose. When one is slouched, that’s a sign of low confidence to others. This is one of those tools you can utilize and before too long you will have shifted your energy to what you are exuding outside. So, when you walk or stand make sure you are standing tall, chin up, and chest out. Don’t look tired, down, or unhappy. Act with energy and drive and you will have precisely that.
12) Speak slowly. Those lacking confidence sometimes speak rapidly to get through what they have to say. Perhaps because they do not think what they are talking about is worthy enough for others to hear. If that’s you…change it. Talk slowly so that you know that every word you speak is valuable and heard exactly in that manner.
13) Think and stay positive. Life has it’s fair share of obstacles, so when a challenge comes your way, replace negative thoughts with the question of “how” you’re going to solve it. Look for solutions. Think with motivation. Move outside of your usual thinking or “box”. Act with confidence.
14) Stand-up for yourself. Don’t allow others to walk over or take advantage of you. If you disagree with someone, respectfully say so. If you don’t want to take on something others throw your way…say no. Stay strong in your beliefs and intentions.
15) Create a 30 second commercial. If you don’t know what a 30 second commercial is…it’s a short elevator speech. In other words, it’s your answer to the question, “tell me about yourself.” Create a 30 second speech about who you are, your strengths, your successes, and what value you bring for others. Not only will the act of creating such, increase your confidence, but as you say it more, your confidence will also rise.
“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” ~ Sven Goran Eriksson
