How to build your self-confidence in a positive way

The way you feel about yourselves greatly influences others how you feel and how you interact with others. If you are confident about yourself you tend to see everything positively and actually enjoy spending time with other people.

People who are perceived as confident are automatically believed to possess additional positive attributes like strength, trustworthiness, and being skilled. We could all use a boost of self-confidence (along with the resulting perceptions), and there are a few simple tactics you can employ right now to improve your confidence levels.

Say Something Positive

Why not say something positive?

Our brains are complex organisms that can be wired (and rewired) to think in a certain way. When we take a negative perspective on life, we tend to feel down about ourselves and insecure. Our confidence levels drop and we struggle to portray the aspects of our personalities we'd like to showcase. Rather than allowing your thoughts to drag you down a negative path, make an effort to say something positive. In doing so, your brain reacts and begins to shorten the distance between saying something positive and actually feeling good about yourself.

Have you ever read a farming journal? Unless you're a farmer, chances are you've never even thought about it. But reading a farmer's journal might help you better understand why your rooftop vegetable garden never produces a crop or how to properly cook a leg of lamb. Sometimes it's a simple matter of gaining a new perspective, but when you read something different, you challenge your mindset, learn new things, and develop confidence in the process. It doesn't have to be a farming journal, of course, but anything outside of your daily routine will do the trick.

Help Someone

One of the easiest things you can do today to feel better about yourself is to help make someone else feel better. A number of studies have unequivocally demonstrated that doing good for someone else can make you feel happier and more confident. Part of this comes from being needed or fulfilling a purpose. The opportunities are all around us, and you just need to take a look. If you want a quick confidence boost, find a friend, co-worker, or stranger, and help them with a task. Maybe it's walking their shopping cart back to the store for them, or it might be sharing some of your knowledge. Either way, it's a win-win for both of you.

Control Your Anger

There's no quicker way to feel guilty about yourself than losing your cool. And once you feel guilty, you inevitably feel unsure of yourself. You can improve your confidence instantaneously by controlling your anger and exercising self-control. More importantly, in irritating circumstances, you demonstrate strength by keeping a level head, which makes the people around you perceive you as a healthier, more confident person.

Walk The Walk

Want to feel more confident? Start acting more confident. Like most things in life, your confidence can be improved through practice. Remember Little League when you would practice swinging for the fences until you actually hit a home run? Confidence is the same way. The more you act confident, the easier it is to become confident. During the process, you create mental-muscle memory, and it becomes even easier to remain confident as a result of your practice.

Challenge Yourself

Life isn't just mundane when we don't test our own limits. Our confidence levels actually atrophy because there's no reason for them to grow. Challenge yourself to new adventures – eating new food, talking to strangers, taking a course – any new challenge creates a new opportunity for you to accomplish something and feel better in the process. The key here is keeping it reasonable. You don't want to sign up for a marathon if you've never even ran a mile. Tackle a small challenge first, and then grow from there. Your abilities and confidence improve after each win, no matter how big or small.

Follow The Leader

There are countless people to emulate in our daily lives, but some of the most important people we can copy are those who are confident. As we watch them speak and act with confidence, we can mirror their behavior and grow our confidence levels to new heights. Don't believe me? Go watch Unbroken and tell me you can't overcome anything. It's natural to feel more confident when you see someone else act confidently.

Next Steps...

Improving your self-confidence is a direct result of the action. You just learned seven ways to improve it. Take your first step right now.