5 Ways to Build your Self-Confidence
Working with women, I often notice that we allow a lack of self confidence to prevent us from living truly fulfilled lives. We get stuck in negative self talk, and then beat ourselves up for not achieving things or taking action. It’s a vicious cycle!
Sometimes, a lack of self confidence can be attributed to traumatic life events, toxic relationships, or mental illness – in this case I’d always advise seeking medical advice or the help of a therapist!
If your lack of self confidence is more generalised, however, then doing self development work and regularly practising positive self talk can really help!
When we feel confident we can achieve our goals more easily, overcome challenges, and lead a more fulfilling life. Sadly there’s no magic, instant solution to building self confidence, it requires effort and dedication. In this blog post, we will discuss five ways to build your self-confidence.
1. Set Achievable Goals
Setting achievable goals is a great way to build your self-confidence. When you set a goal and achieve it, you feel a sense of accomplishment that boosts your confidence – that “I DID THAT” feeling! Start by setting small goals that are easy to achieve, for example, ticking off jobs on your to do list, and gradually increase the difficulty level as you progress. If you want help setting goals and achieving them, check out my Instagram workshop on the topic (20th June 2023 @shineontribe)
2. Practice Self-Care
You know this already, but if you’re not taking care of yourself, you’ll feel less confident! The basics like getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and take time to relax and recharge. What recharges each person will be different, for example I love anything water related – swimming – especially wild swimming, kayaking, boat trips, beach days, river walks! And trying to do one or more of those each week makes me feel happy and confident. If I’ve had a long or stressful day, or need to decompress, I head for a long bath. If I want to wake up and revitalise myself, I have a cold blast of shower water or even an ice bath (best taken after a sauna, for me!).
3. Focus on Your Strengths
It can be so easy to focus on negatives and weaknesses rather than positives and strengths! In fact, it’s how our brains were wired, because back in prehistoric days, we needed to register threats and danger! However, numerous studies have found that focussing on positives, for example practicing gratitude, can actually rewire the brain and improve the way you see things, including yourself!
4. Learn from Your Mistakes
Making mistakes is a natural part of life, and it’s essential to learn from them. Instead of beating yourself up over your mistakes, use them as an opportunity to learn and grow. When you learn from your mistakes, you’re going to feel more confident in your ability to handle challenges. A useful tool for this is Gibbs’ Reflective Model – and after using this a few times, you’ll likely find it becomes natural!
5. Surround Yourself with Positive People
The people you surround yourself with can have a huge impact on your self-confidence! Finding positive, supportive people who encourage you to be your best self is one of the key ways I’ve progressed & grown, and my cheerleaders spur me on to achieve my dreams. Start by removing anyone from your life who makes you feel bad about yourself – either by cutting them out totally and directly, or avoiding spending much time with them at all! This can be really tricky if it’s a family member, but you deserve happiness, self confidence, and people around you who support you!
If you’re struggling with how to build your self confidence, coaching can be a great help too – a good coach can encourage you to reflect, help you set and achieve goals, and provide self help exercises!
If you want to know more about coaching, you can book a discovery call with me here.
