BUILDING SELF-CONFIDENCE
You would have come across people who can walk up to anybody and have a conversation or give a colleague honest feedback. When you look at them, you wonder ‘How is he so confident?’, ‘How can I be like him?’
On the other hand, there are people who find it difficult to express their thoughts and feelings because they are worried about being judged or mocked. So, let me ask you, do you fear to make a mistake because you feel you will be judged? Or are you worried about upsetting a colleague or a friend while giving an honest opinion? While it's natural to feel this way, a lack of self-confidence could actually hold you back and prevent you from reaching your goals. On the other hand, being self-confident has many benefits. It can get you noticed and appreciated not only in your professional life but also in your personal life.
What is Self Confidence?
Self-confidence is having trust in your ability or judgment. It is not the same as self-esteem. Self-esteem is the assessment of your self-worth, whereas self-confidence is trust in your ability to achieve your goals.
It is partially based on how you have been raised or what you have been taught and partially as a result of your own experiences and how you have learned to react in various situations. Self-confidence can be a tough thing to build, but keep in mind, confidence is like a habit. And like any habit, you can create and nurture it by practicing it consistently. Tips to Build Self-Confidence
● Develop a Positive Mindset
You often judge yourself more than others. You often reflect upon your mistakes instead of focusing on your achievements. Avoid negative thoughts and align your thoughts to be positive. Remember that everyone makes mistakes. Consider mistakes as stepping stones and learn from them to avoid repetition in the future.
● Identify strengths and weaknesses.
Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses can help you in building self-confidence. It is important to identify things that you can do well and things that you need to improve. Celebrating and nurturing your strengths will help boost your confidence. On the other hand, working on your weaknesses to turn them into strengths will make you feel even more confident.
● Act confident to feel confident
Building self-confidence takes time. Till the time you become confident, it is essential to keep reminding yourself that you are confident and over a period of time you will start feeling confident. You can use different methods to reassure yourself such as making a note of your achievements no matter how small, celebrate when you do something new or something you have been procrastinating. Whenever you feel under-confident, you can read through those achievements in order to get some confidence.
● Wear your confidence
Never underestimate the power of being well dressed and groomed. A well-dressed image in the mirror will not only lift up your spirit but also make you look important. This will make you feel that you can overcome your inhibitions and boost your confidence.
● Open Body Language
When working on your self-confidence, you often tend to overlook your body language. A person can be confident but if the body language is closed, the opposite person will not be able to see it. Therefore, it is vital that you work on keeping a open body language. Some of the signs of a confident person are they walk with their head held high, they will look you in the eye and will use gestures while they express themselves.
● Track your journey It is important to track your journey to self-confidence, as it will help you realize how far you have come.
Make a journal and note down the responses for the following:
What makes me feel important?
What are my strengths?
What are my weaknesses?
What makes me successful?
Every week, note down the responses. After a period of 6 months, go back and look through these responses. Do you see a change? Have you worked on your weaknesses and turned them into your strengths? Has the list of things that make you feel important and successful increased?
These entries will not only help you track your journey but also boost your confidence.
Now that you have a few tips that you can use to build confidence, you can begin your journey to boosting your confidence and achieving your dreams.
For more tips and guidance on building self-confidence, you can visit www.search4excellence.com
