I don’t know about you, but sometimes my self-confidence is not what it could be. Sometimes I am just not my vibrant, shiny, nothing-can-stop-me-self. Here are some of the things I do when I have to polish my self-confidence. It is easy to do and works wonders with a wilting confidence. The more I do these things, the more my confidence lifts up it’s face to the sun again. You can do the same:
Take some time out to groom yourself. It is amazing what a difference a nice shower and a shave, or a nice haircut and some make-up can make in your self-confidence. Paint your nails and dab on some perfume, even if you just do it for yourself.
Put something on that you feel good in. If you dress nicely, you’ll feel good about yourself. You’ll feel successful and presentable and ready to tackle the world. Now, dressing nicely means something different for everyone … it doesn’t necessarily mean wearing an expensive outfit. Casual clothes that are presentable with perhaps an eye-catching pair of earrings can also work. .
“Photoshop” your self-image. We all have a mental picture of ourselves, and it determines how confident we are in ourselves. But this picture can be changed and edited to produce a better version of ourselves to ourself. Use your mental “Photoshopping” skills, and decide what you want to present to the world, what you want yourself to look like, sound like and be like. Change happens in our minds first.
Keep your thoughts positive. Yes! We hear this all the time! Become aware of how you talk to yourself and what you say to yourself. Are you being “nice” to yourself or are you slamdunking yourself all the time? It takes practice to identify and erase negative thoughts from your mind. It takes practise to replace those negative thoughts with “better-thinking thoughts. I always have a bit of fun with negative thoughts and you can do the same. Imagine that a negative thought is a bug. Be on the lookout for these bugs. When you see one, stomp on it! I find that sometimes actually physically stomping my foot when I have a negative thought helps me to create positive reminders to keep my thoughts positive.
Speak slowly. The way you speak makes a big difference in how others perceive you. A person with authority speaks slowly. It shows confidence. A person who feels that she isn’t worth listening to will speak quickly, because she doesn’t want to waste other people’s time. You are worth listening to. Make your words count.
Always be kind and generous. Being kind to others, and generous with yourself, your time and what you have, is a tremendous way to improve your self-confidence. The old adage of “do onto others as you would like to be done to you” helps a lot to let you feel good about yourself.
There is so much that one can do to feel more confident out in the world. Try these simple tips and see how it works out for you. Be on the look out for more self-confidence tips. They will be coming your way soon!