When you project self confidence you get further ahead. You feel
better about yourself and people like to be around you. More
opportunities open up for you naturally. Not everyone is "born"
with self confidence but even if your confidence is low, there
are some things you can do to improve on it.
The first thing you must do to gain self confidence is to accept
and love yourself. Remember that no one is perfect so don't beat
yourself up over a few flaws. You must accept them and think
about all your great qualities. Doing so will free your mind of
a heavy baggage of unnecessary worries and you will instantly
feel light and cheerful.
Another thing you must do is to participate in activities that
you enjoy. When is that last time you enjoyed a walk outdoors or
some activity you loved to do when you were young? This might
seem like a little thing but these
simple things have the power
to add on to build great confidence and fulfillment. Take some
time each day to do something you enjoy and reflect on your
special abilities. Since you enjoy doing that activity, it means
that you have all the aptitude and intelligence necessary to do
the job effortlessly even though you may not realize it.
Setting and achieving your goals is another step in gaining self
confidence but many people set unrealistic goals and when they
fail to achieve them it undermines their self confidence. Even
if you have a lofty goal, break it down into smaller steps. Then
you can check off each completed step as a goal successfully
reached and be that much closer to your ultimate "big" goal.
The people you associate with play an important role in your
self confidence. If your loved ones are always criticizing you
then this will do
nothing for your self confidence. You need to
stay away from people like this and gravitate towards those with
a positive outlook that will support you. This will do wonders
for your self confidence!
In addition to listening to what others have to say about you,
you need to be aware of your own self talk. Do you think "I
could never do that?" or "I didn't do a good job" a lot? You
must change this type of self talk to be more positive. How
about 'I did my best and it came out pretty good" instead? You
need to realize that you are a unique individual with your own
special place in the world and realize you can succeed at any
reasonable task and can handle lifes daily tests. The key is to
not become so over confident that you stop listening to others
and think that you know everything. Taking in others
perceptions, criticisms and praise and filtering it so that
you
only take in what will help make you better will help in your
self confidence in the long run.
Your self picture is what feeds your self confidence and this
needs constant monitoring and care. Don't underestimate yourself
and guard against letting feelings of inferiority in. Always
shoot for your best and most reasonable goals and keep your
strong points in mind.
A good practice is to write down some short term and long term
plans. Where would you like to be 5 years from now? Break that
down into smaller steps and go about executing your plan. Also
write down all your strong points - what you do well and the
things you usually receive compliments on. At the same time,
write down a few things you would like to work on improving.
Have a self image of yourself as confident and proceed to act
this way even when you are not feeling confident, this will
go a
long way in adjusting your attitude. When negative feelings or
feelings of inferiority creep in, simply push them away. If they
insist on coming back, set them aside to think about at the end
of the day and go on with your business using your confident
attitude.
Taking responsibility for your thoughts and actions and
practicing self confidence will go a long way toward improving
your self confidence helping you reach your goals and enriching
your life!
About the author:
Lee Dobbins writes for Better Self where you can
learn more about self help and self improvement. Visit
www.better-self.com for more on h
ow to acheive better self confidence.
