Paula Gurnett, C.C.C. December 8, 2021

Struggling with your confidence?

You are not alone. We all face times when we striveto have more self-confidence. We often hold ourselves to unreasonably high standards, and this can have a negative impact on our self-esteem.

However, if you can learn how to leverage and strengthen your self-confidence, you can generate some excellent outcomes.

For instance, self-confidence leads to:

● Healthier relationships. Confidence doesn’t just influence how you feel about yourself, but it also helps you to understand and appreciate others better too.

● Better performance. Rather than constantly worrying you’re not good enough, you can devote your energy to reaching your goals.

● Resilience. When you’re confident, you are more likely to open yourself up to new opportunities. At the same time, you’re also less likely to take a massive hit if something doesn’t go according to plan.

Here are some quick ways to improve your self-confidence.

Avoid Comparing Yourself to Others.

The most important thing you can do to strengthen your self-confidence is to avoid comparing yourself to other people. When you’re constantly comparing how you look, your job, your home, and other aspects of your life to what other people have, it’s much harder to be confident in yourself.

The reality is envy does have a direct impact on how you feel about yourself.

Researchers have discovered that people who compare themselves to others are more likely to feel envy, and envy impacts how these people feel about themselves. There is enough goodness for us all…so as you wish others well, you can start building and designing your life from a space of gratitude rather than of competition.

Look After Your Physical Health.

It’s difficult to feel good about yourself when you don’t feel good. Practicing good self-care and looking after your physical wellness means that you’ll be in a healthier position to look after yourself as a whole – mind, body, and spirit.

Start by looking at your current self-care routine. Where does it most need improvement?

For instance, if you’re currently eating a lot of fast food to deal with long hours at work, now might be the time to start thinking about how you can shift in a direction that nourishes your brain and body.

If you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer at work, then it may be an important shift to start creating pockets of movement and exercise into your routine, so you can feel your best.

It’s not just diet and exercise that makes a difference either. Think about how well you sleep. If you’re not getting the right amount of sleep, you’ll struggle to handle the everyday challenges that you have to face with the patience and level that you do when you are well rested.

Be Kinder to Yourself.

We could all do with a little more self-compassion these days.

It’s easy to be kind to others when you see someone struggling, but if you’re not being kind to yourself, your confidence will suffer.

Ultimately, no matter how much of a perfectionistyou consider yourself to be, it’s never a good idea to beat yourself up when you don’t achieve the goals you aimed for, or you feel like you’ve failed at something.

The reality is that we all make mistakes and being kinder to yourself when you do will make you feel a lot better than wallowing in the issue.

Look at mistakes as an opportunity to learn and growand forgive yourself for not always getting things right the first time around. Trust that your best is enough and that consistent steps in an intentional directions leads you to the destination you design.

If you’re having a hard time with self-compassion, imagine how you would talk to someone else who had experienced the same problem as you. What encouragement would you give to them?

Take Advantage of Positive Self-Talk.

Using optimistic self-talk can help you to overcome self-doubt, practice compassion, and improve your self-esteem on a massive scale.

A lot of people get into the habit of so often telling themselves that they can’t do something, they start to believe it.

With that in mind, maybe it’s time to start thinking about how you can protect yourself with some more positive self-talk. It all starts with challenging those common negative phrases. Instead of telling yourself that you can’t do something, try telling yourself you can.

Instead of saying you can’t do anything right, tell yourself that perfection isn’t required and you are allowed the time and space to grow and improve.

Creating self-confidence isn’t always easy, but the more time you devote to practicing these skills, the more you’ll find your self-esteem beginning to grow. Eventually, you may even be confident enough to start facing your fears head-on, and that will strengthen your confidence even more.

Inhale confidence. Exhale doubt.