TeamLow self-esteem can cause you unnecessary problems in both your professional and your personal life. Being self-confident means trusting your judgment, qualities, and abilities. It’s important for your well-being as well as your relationships with other people. Learn to believe in yourself by using these 7 ways to be more confident:
1. Ditch the limiting beliefs.
Your past left you with limiting beliefs instilled in you by your family, society, or even yourself. These beliefs are often about what you can’t ever do and what might not ever be possible. For instance, you might be thinking that you’re too old to go to college, that you’ll be single forever, that you could never love your job, and similar. Realize that these are self-limiting beliefs that most likely aren’t even true. So, challenge these thoughts when they occur. Is there any proof that these thoughts are correct? Could something positive be equally possible?
2. Don’t always trust your memory.
Your memory might do you well, but it might also play tricks on you and make you feel bad. The thing is, we don’t remember things the way they happened. Our memory is based on self-perception, personal values, and pre-existing beliefs. Low self-esteem means that your brain tries to confirm your ideas that cause the lack of confidence. When you think back on something that happened, you focus on the bad parts and the mistakes you’ve made. Let someone else share their perspective on what happened. Most likely, things weren’t as bad as your mind makes you believe.
3. Don’t engage in negative self-talk.
Maybe you feel silly about engaging in positive self-talk, but how is engaging in negative self-talk fine then? These negative thoughts are harming your self-esteem so always try to challenge them or replace them with positive ones. Often, this can be as easy as adding a “but” or “and” to the negative thought. That way “I’m not in shape” turns into “I’m not in shape but I’ve joined the gym” and “I have weird quarks” turns into “I have weird quarks and someone is going to love them.” Talk to yourself as if you were talking to someone you love. When you think about your mistakes or talk to yourself badly out of self-doubt and fear, remind yourself of all your good qualities, skills, and accomplishments.
4. Challenge negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.
Be aware of your negative thoughts when they occur, whether it’s during self-talk, remembering your past, or thinking about your future. Acknowledge these thoughts as the result of your lack of confidence and make a conscious effort to be more confident by thinking positive thoughts. Focus on everything that’s great about you. Think about your accomplishments and all the things that you are yet to accomplish. Don’t wait for anyone else to point these things out to you. Tell them to yourself and make yourself constantly aware of them. This is one of the best ways to be more confident.
5. Reach your goals and face your fears.
Set short-term goals that you can quickly achieve and it will boost your confidence. Make it your goal to become successful in what you enjoy doing or take more care of your appearance. These things are most likely to give you a confidence boost but achieving any goal will work. Reach your goals and enjoy feeling accomplished. One of your goals could be to face your fears and finally beat them. Feeling more in control will make you feel more confident, and when you’re scared you’re feeling most out of control.
6. Be curious and keep learning.
Curiosity leads to growth, so be open-minded, and motivated to try different new things. Be interested in fresh ideas and perspectives. Become curious about learning more too. Work on self-improvement, consider taking classes, mastering new skills, and gaining new experiences. Whenever you get better at something, your confidence will increase. In addition, being curious keeps your mind occupied so that it doesn’t bother you with negative thoughts.
7. Don’t compare yourself to others.
On social media, it looks like everyone is having the time of their lives. They all have more success, admiration, and money than you do… Or so it seems. But you have to understand that people’s lives are not the same as they make them be on social media. Avoid comparing yourself to others because your lives are different and you don’t know enough about their lives anyway. What you see on social media is not the reality of someone’s life, just the part of it that they wanted the public to know.
