How does it feel when you are on the verge of accomplishing something great, but suddenly you feel low, have no energy left to continue, feel anxious and start doubting yourself. Do you know what the reason behind this is? The answer is low self-confidence.
I know you must be thinking is it something we are born with or can it be nurtured?
It is challenging to overcome this feeling but don't worry because today we are going to go through 8 things you can do today to feel more confident.
Let's begin, shall we?
1.Celebrate the small wins and aim for realistic objectives
I remember when one of my blog posts was popular among readers a few years ago. The views were in thousands. I celebrated that day with my family and my team.
You must be thinking, what is so grand about this achievement? Some various goals and visions go differently than our plan. Agreed? So, while you wait for those visions to be accurate, these mini victories are passing by in front of your eyes. Is it fair to your hard work? Is this fair to you? My purpose is precise, I am ambitious, and I work on projects with those clients with whom I align. But if I see my blogs getting thousands of views, closing a deal, or finishing a book, I will celebrate them. You should try this.
These are one of the impactful things to do to boost confidence.
Aim for the achievable goals, and once you accomplish, celebrate them to get encouragement from your work. See the magic of confidence when you acknowledge your win.
2. Address and reframe your negative self-talk
Self-talk is effective because what you repeat stays in your memory and transforms into a belief rather than just a momentary idea.
Don’t believe it? Imagine what would happen if you repeatedly told yourself you were horrible at public speaking and you were invited to speak at a networking event. Why would you self sabotage yourself in this manner? Reframe your negative self-talk into a pep talk!
I know you all participate in this kind of negative self-talk every day.You had a setback, and your confidence graph got instantly low. You can't eliminate this negative self-talk, but you can reduce it. But one of the things to do to boost confidence is to observe and change your negative statements into strong, goal-oriented ones. This is also one of the unique traits of a self confident person.
3. Shift your focus to outside if you feel insecure
Your attention tends to turn inside when you feel anxious. You start overanalyzing situations, dissecting the conversation you participate in, and questioning your verbal and nonverbal cues.
The best thing to do in this situation is to focus on your external environment. You can also try the 5-4-3-2-1 'coping technique.'
Here is how it works when you are anxious -
- Five - Name five items you notice while looking around the room. It can be scenery, a glass of water, desktop. The idea is to count those things.
- Four - Next, mention 4 things you can touch. It can be your nose or the sofa you are sitting on.
- Three - Steady yourself. Listen to the sounds you can hear around you. Call out those three sounds. It can be a bird chirping.
- Two - It's time for your olfactory sense. Note two things you can smell. It could be a snack or dinner cooking near your house.
- One - Now, the last thing. What did you eat or drink half an hour ago? Notice the taste.
You can merge this activity with deep breathing. Once you complete this, you will feel an immediate shift in your emotions, and a sudden sense of calmness will take over. That's the feeling you are looking for. Isn't it?
4. Play to your strengths
Going with your strengths instead of (merely) correcting your flaws considerably increases your chances of success if you want to become more self-confident and happy. You may change your thinking to become more positive by consistently recognizing and emphasizing your abilities, which will dramatically boost your self-confidence. Trust your gut voice. You have the power.
5. Remember the day when you were extremely confident
I like to conduct different activities to boost my confidence whenever I have bad days. One of them is "Recalling my best versions." It's a very fun and light activity. You need to sit down, take deep, slow breaths and recall any day when you were confident.
I know it sounds like a normal activity. But wait, while you recall that day, remember how your confidence in your abilities and skills kept you focused on your work rather than the challenges.
My readers, this is it! Being confident doesn't negate the fact that you will not face any challenges, you will be more aware of them. So recall that day when you are about to give up. Dust your negative pep talk, get up, and feel the confidence.
6. Learn the art of accepting criticism
Even if internal factors account for the majority of confidence issues, how people treat you occasionally might hurt your self-esteem. You can't always let them drag you down. Accept that criticism is unpleasant and develop the skills to get over it if you want to overcome this.
7. Practice different breathing patterns
It's common advice to breathe deeply and slowly to calm yourself down when stressed. Breathing is again the best thing to do to boost confidence, particularly during stressful situations.
If you are unsure, take the help of a coach or a guru. In your self-confidence journey, a good mentor is required to guide you when you are not your best self. Listen to your coach if you have one, practice the discipline of breathing, and within a few days you will see yourself growing beyond the challenges.
8. Let yourself have bad days sometimes
Allow some days to feel bad or unpleasant. Yes, you heard that right! I said that because if you try suppressing those emotions, that will negatively affect your confidence.
Understand this: when you accept the bad days and conflict, you are liberating yourself that it is a part of life and this is natural. Once your mind is at peace with the bad day, you regain confidence to stand tall and face the next day.
Conclusion
Problems are there to encourage you to make efforts in your life. Make the best of it. Don't get stuck in your mind; accept it and start acting on the things you are good at. You will go back to your best version.
Shellye is committed to helping people from diverse backgrounds to achieve their aspirations in careers and life. The content published above was made in collaboration with our members.
Shellye Archambeau is determined to help you with all possible strategies to climb the ladder of success. She values your feedback. Do mention them in the comment section below.