3 Tips for an Instant Boost of Self-Confidence.
Self-confidence isn’t just vital when you’re on a job interview, on a date, or any other perilous social occasion when you need to make a good impression. Possess enough of it every day and your whole life will benefit. You’ll do things well out of your comfort zone just because you think it might be possible, and you’ll do enough “impossible” things to create a successful life.
While there is no shortage of books, courses, videos, and self-help programs on how to boost your self-esteem and raise your level of self-confidence, you may not need any of them. Why? It’s because assuming an attitude of self-assurance is a habit, and if you pursue a habit long enough it becomes second-nature.
With that in mind, here are 3 tips to exercise the habit of keeping your head up high and taking on the world, one challenge at a time.
1. Always dress well.
It’s difficult to walk with your head down when you’re looking good from head-to-toe. In fact, the occasion doesn’t even matter. You could look stylish wearing venous compression stockings when you’re on a walk to hit your 10,000 steps on your Fitbit watch or when you’re at the gym sculpting that perfect body. You could look strong and capable just pushing your cart down the supermarket aisle. The point is that when you look good, you feel good. And you can always look good, regardless of whether you’re at a formal, casual, or recreational event. Remember, you’re not dressing to impress others; you’re dressing to feel more alive and in touch with yourself.
2. Practice body language until it feels natural.
How you carry your body has an effect on how you feel about yourself. Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist, has researched the effects of body language on a person’s psyche. Describing her work, a CBS News story said, “Believe it or not, her studies show that if you stand like a superhero privately before going into a stressful situation, there will actually be hormonal changes in your body chemistry that cause you to be more confident and in-command.”
Positive body language isn’t something you have to formally study. You intuitively know the difference you feel when you stick your chin and chest out and straighten your shoulders. You already have a mental picture of how a confident person sits, stands, and gestures. You’ve seen countless movies about how heroic men and women walk and talk. While it might feel stiff and awkward in the beginning to assume a confident persona, it will begin to feel increasingly natural the more you practice.
3. Project positive images about future events.
While it’s normal to feel nervous about an upcoming event that could affect your future, it’s not necessary to feel that way. You’re not nervous because of the important event itself but because of the conversation you’re having in your head about it. If, for instance, you’re a project manager who has to make a presentation at a company meeting attended by top executives, you’ll feel nervous if you mentally rehearse all sorts of worse case scenarios. While all this self-doubt happens spontaneously, there’s no reason why you can’t take control of your own mind. When you think and feel like you’re doing a great job during the presentation, you’re instructing your subconscious mind to take care of the details. You’ll say the right things in the right way at the right time; you’ll answer questions deftly; and you’ll walk and talk like someone who’s managing a project well.
A simple exercise to boost your self-esteem is to make a list of at least 10 things that you’ve accomplished in your life. In particular, focus on things that you once didn’t know how to do at all but learned to master. Perhaps, you didn’t pay much attention in high school and didn’t get top grades, but you more than made up for it by becoming a straight A student in grad school.
Self-Confidence is Natural
The most natural way of living in the world is with a sense of self-confidence. Ironically, it feels phony assuming an attitude of self-confidence for no reason at all. We’ve all been socially-programmed to believe the opposite of what’s true. It’s time to regain your lost identity by practicing the art of self-confident dressing, body-language, and mental imagery. Self-confidence is a valuable commodity that is within your reach.
Building self-confidence is essential in so many areas of life! It’s something I’m still working on. Even though I work from home, I still get dressed, put on makeup, and fix my hair. As you said, body language and image affect self-confidence. I also like the idea of listing 10 accomplishments. I know my most recent BIG accomplishment was achieving my Doctor of Education degree!
This post resonates with my past experiences. I used to be so shy. However, I had to make a change and work on my confidence when I took on a job that made me conduct training seminars. A former mentor gave me some advice similar to yours. The funniest advice she gave me before my first attempt at speaking in front of an audience was “Hide your shaking knees behind the podium and keep a significant distance between your mouth and the microphone so you don’t accidentally hit your chattering teeth on the microphone.” With choosing the right clothes that flatter my figure, focusing on the positive and improving my posture and stride has given me a big confidence boost!
I always dress well. I am not very confident and I am working on building that and my self-esteem. When I am dressed well, I feel good, smile more, and approach things with an “i can do it” attitude. I catch myself slumping at times so posture is not perfect yet, but getting there.
Confidence is probably the most difficult thing for me. It is hard when you are going to the place where everyone’s job is to judge you. I usually go for “just do the best you can” and yes – practice makes it easier.
Interviews are the worst for me, especially after being a work at home mom for so long. I have just recently jumped back into the working world and self-confidence is a struggle for me. Mostly because I have anxiety issues, but I am getting better. I have had two interviews and with each one I am learning about body language, relaxing and being confident it’s still a work in progress but I am getting better at it. Self worth is a big one after being home so long, but I will get there,
I never realized to practice body language until you mentioned it! It doesn’t come naturally to me – I’m a little nervous when it comes to social situations and you could totally see it in my body language. Also, I agree with dressing up – getting ready in the morning and caring about how you put yourself together really helps your self-confidence!
In January I set an intention that I would start treating myself with the same kindness that I showed to other people. That included self-talk. Admittedly, it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and at the same time one of the best. My self-confidence increased a million fold when my internal tape recorder was filled with more positive words! x
Heading to an interview can be a stressful time especially when you know you are qualified for the job and yet the person interviewing you is threatened by you possibly taking their job. lol I am glad that I do not need to go on anymore interviews these days thanks to working from home but these are great tips for those who will go on interviews.
Dressing well is so important! I find that when I don’t get up and get dressed, I don’t accomplish as much. These are great tips and can be so important in your success.
You made some valid points. I have to agree that confidence is a must. If you don’t have that, I sincerely believe it makes life a little harder. Great post and thanks for sharing. I’m going to share this post myself because it’s worth sharing.
Great list for building confidence. There are times that I feel totally out of my comfort zone, especially in public. I need to really focus on these self confidence boosts. I think these tips are great for all ages too. I wnt to share these with my kids.