Boosting Your Confidence One Step At A Time

 

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There are many things that can affect your self-confidence. Not everyone is naturally confident, but that doesn't mean that this is something you have to live with forever. It doesn't matter how low you feel your self-confidence is; there are always things you can do to help you build your confidence or to give you a boost in any given situation.

The following tips can help you to find that extra confidence when needed and help you to overcome low self-esteem.

Dress Comfortably

The more comfortable you feel in the clothing you wear, the more confident you will be. Don't try to impress if you don't feel comfortable in what you wear, as this will shine through in how you act. To avoid fidgeting, adjusting your clothing, or feeling overly self-conscious, pick an outfit you know fits you well and you like to wear. This is especially important for things like a job interview, meetings, going somewhere alone for the first time, or anything that increases your anxiety. Remove at least one stressful thing from the equation by avoiding dressing in something new or trying to update your style and opt for what you know and like.

Pamper Yourself

If you feel good about your body and are treating yourself well, then chances are this is going to show through in your confidence. So treat yourself to something new; buy the good hair care products, treat yourself to some new makeup, and see how good it can make you feel. If you neglect to put yourself first, this will only compound feelings of inadequacy, which is the last thing you want.

Book in at the salon for a hair or beauty treatment, get that message you have been wanting, or treat yourself to a freckle pen to give your face that sunkissed look and glow effortlessly regardless of the season.

Challenge Yourself

You will never overcome your obstacles if you don't face them head-on. While you don't need to do everything at once, you do need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and do odd things that scare you. 

Start by writing a list of things that you don't feel comfortable with, or you wish you were able to do. Start off slow with smaller items before working your way up. It can be forcing yourself to smile at people on the street and see how they react. Start with one or two people and build from there. Then, move on to saying hi to strangers, talking to someone who intimidates you, or applying for that promotion you didn't think you were good enough for. Challenge yourself, ask why you can't do things, and do them anyway. Over time, you will build habits that will become part of your daily life.

Remove Negativity

Whether it's coming from yourself or from others, if it's pulling you down, you need to free yourself from the weight and rise back up. Cut out toxic people from your life who are telling you you can't do things, or you shouldn't do them; if they are holding you back, you don't need this in your life.

If the person holding you back is you, then you must address why you think this and how you can change your thought pattern. Tell yourself three things you like about yourself each day or three things you are grateful for. When negative thoughts infiltrate your mind, push them out with positive ones. If the voice tells you that you can't do something, tell it what you can do and how good you are at that. 

It won't come easy and might take you some time and practice to remove negativity and harmful thinking from your life, but this is something that you need to work on if you want to build your confidence and self-esteem.

Practise Makes Perfect

Rome wasn't built in a day, and your confidence won't be dramatically improved from just trying to make changes in one day. It will take you some time to get to where you want to be, but by putting in the work, paying attention to your feelings, and the changes you want to make, you will progress. Consistency is the name of the game, and if you put the effort in, you will reap the rewards of your hard labor. So don't stop once you start, and prepare yourself for a journey that you deserve to go on.

Building your confidence isn't an overnight endeavor; it is about building habits that you can put into place to enhance the quality of your life, boost your mental health, and allow you to support yourself the way you need to. Make the changes, start small, and watch yourself blossom right before your very eyes.