10 Ways to Build Confidence Today

What does every person want?

Confidence!

Confidence comes from within.  Confidence is about overcoming limiting beliefs. Confidence is about overcoming fear.

You were born with only two fears:  the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises.  Everything else is learned.

How can you become more confident?

1. Take Action—Action conquers fear.  Action is the most significant confidence-builder. Self-confidence builds with achievement and takes failures in stride by focusing on the learning experience.  Take action. Take baby steps toward achievement.  What little action toward a greater goal can you take today?  Pick one thing that you can do today.  Maybe that one thing is buying a book to motivate yourself.  Fire Your Fear! by Deirdre Van Nest is a quick read that can do just that!

2. Project a Positive Personality—A sense of optimism breeds confidence.  Looking for the good in yourself and others builds positive momentum.  Take a gratitude moment every day to reflect on the positive. Laugh often, even if you have to force it at first.  Do you need a quick Laughter Lesson?

3. Pursue a Passion—When you care about something so much that you forget to care what others think, you look at what you do and say as a gift you are giving to others.  Find a cause outside of yourself.  A dream coach, like Betty Liedtke, can help you if you need to break through to find and pursue your passion.

4. Participate—contributing to group efforts and looking beyond yourself will grow your sense of community and possibly even your leadership skills, which in turn build self-confidence.  Take your passion and find an outlet.  Check out non-profits, look for a Meet-Up group, look for events in your area.

5. Get Healthier—when you are healthy and energetic, it is easier to be positive and self-confident.  Pick one area to start with.  Examples:  Start every day with an 8 oz glass of water.  Go to bed 30 minutes earlier.  Do 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups every morning.  Park further away and walk.

6. Dress and Act the Part—Act “as if.”  Act and dress the part.  Action can precede feeling.  Acting confident and looking good can help you feel confident.  Start with your posture.  Sit up straight as you are working.  Before you enter a room, imagine a fishing line attached to your hip bones that runs through your chest and out the top of your head.  Imagine it is pulling you to stand tall.  Next, invest in at least one outfit that makes you feel like a million bucks and wear it often!  Put a shopping trip on your calendar.  If you feel clueless, hire an image consultant like Monica Molstad Baresh.  Worth every penny.

7. Stop the Negative Self-Talk.  Immediately nip it in the bud before it grows into a life-choking vine that strangles the self-confidence right out of you.  Practice thought displacement.  When a negative, confidence-busting thought takes hold, immediately root it out with a positive counter-thought.  For example, if your thought is something like “I’m not good enough,” replace it with, “I’m taking action to get better.  I’m  . . . [focus on the actions].”

8. Dump the Baggage—take a look at what’s weighing you down–from the smallest hassle of losing things on a messy desk to the big, energy-sucking messy relationships.  Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do to reduce the heavy load.  Start with the easy stuff.  Take 10 minutes to go through the piles on your desk.  Set a timer and really do it.  I dare you.  Do it now.   Take action.

9. Seek a Spiritual Foundation—If you are so inclined, consider that that you are a special creation, created for a greater purpose. You have confidence in something other than self.  Reflect, meditate or pray first thing in the morning to start your day.  If you didn’t do it today, do it now, even for just a moment.

10. Join Toastmasters. One of the biggest self-confidence building actions I have ever taken was to join a Toastmasters Club.  I didn’t join because I wanted to build self-confidence, but the fun and positive association of the club members and the fact that I took little baby steps of action to conquer fear of public speaking and then to improve my communication and leadership skills led to growing self-confidence.  Find a club today.

What do you do to build your self-confidence?