Being more confident may seem a lot easier said than done, especially if you suffer with anxiety, but putting simple, easy practices to work may ease you into becoming much more confident within yourself. Here are seven ways to be a more confident version of yourself.
Practice gratitude
Taking note of your surroundings, both physical and mental, and understanding how positive these things really are, can go a long way to boosting your confidence.
If you feel negatively towards your body, for example, try to think about how wonderful it really is; it allows you to live, love, and enjoy life. You can do so many things thanks to your body; being grateful for it rather than shunning it will do you good.
Investing in a gratitude journal is also a wonderful idea; it causes you to think about what you have to be grateful for in life, what your worries are and how to combat them, and your goals for the day.
Visualise your goals
Thinking of the goals you wish to achieve may not be enough to help you gain some confidence, so why not try some other methods?
Creating a mood board or something similar, and then placing it somewhere in your home where you will see it every day, is a brilliant way to visualise your goals and manifest them into existence.
This increases your confidence as you start with smaller goals that are easier to achieve, so when you get to the bigger ones, you know you will have the confidence to follow through.
Think of previous success
There will have been a time in your life, whether you choose to admit it to yourself or not, where you succeeded at something.
Whatever this may be, from doing a great job at work and getting a compliment from your boss, or completing a DIY project at home by yourself, think about it the next time you feel you might not be able to get something done.
You will have succeeded so many times in life, so keep these events in your mind and you will begin to feel much more confident within yourself.
Note down new successes
If you really struggle to think of a time where you succeeded, then wait until your next success comes along (which it will!), and write it down.
Remember to take note of any new accomplishment, from a raise at work to a milestone in a relationship, to pretty much anything else.
Success can look like anything, so if you believe yourself to have done something, and done it well, then write it down so you can look back on it and realise that you can do it.
Eye contact
This may seem like an odd step, but it can actually become a great way to instil confidence within yourself.
If you are in a meeting, or even just ordering a coffee, keeping eye contact with the person/people you’re speaking with (without staring at them and freaking them out) forces you to live in the moment, and maintain the confidence it gives you.
Think about your ‘Top Human Need’
Every one of us has six human needs: certainty, significance, variety, love/connection, growth and contribution; figuring out which one is most important to you will help you greatly.
Each need affects our confidence, in this case if you believe variety to be your top need, you may not feel confident in trying new things.
Use this idea to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and try something new! If love is your top need, why not try a dating app or even speed dating? Realising what your need is will give you the confidence you need to see it through.
Improve how you speak to/about yourself
Reducing your image in your own mind can be a very hard thing to overcome, and may take time for you to turn this around; which is perfectly normal!
Try a simple exercise: if you feel yourself saying/thinking something like ‘I can’t do this’, try to flip this around and say ‘I should try this’. This type of thinking will show you that you are more than capable of doing anything you set your mind to.
Thinking badly of ourselves is a habit some of us find hard to kick, but changing one word into a positive, such as swapping ‘can’t’ for ‘can’, is a really simple way of boosting our own confidence and self-worth.
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
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