Boosting self confidence

By boosting self confidence, and by that I mean both your own self confidence and that of others, you’ll notice that any self esteem issues that you may have had should begin to wane.

How does that stand to reason I hear you ask.

It’s important to understand that, as a human race, we need to feel important and we crave for others to recognise our importance. As I mentioned in improving self image we all have egos and they do, at one time or another, need to be stroked!

How do I boost my self confidence?

If you’re really keen on boosting self confidence it will be necessary for you to turn your thinking around for a while. Instead of thinking about yourself, and thinking about all the self esteem issues you think you have, you should now think about other people.

The reason for this is that if you acknowledge and recognise other people’s importance, then slowly, over time, they will begin to do the same with you. This isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight though. And be aware - if you compliment someone, you shouldn’t expect them to compliment you back. Boosting self confidence means “giving” to others, and in return you will feel great about yourself. And once you begin to stop feeling worthless then your confidence will grow.

We all focus too much on ourselves and how we feel rather than understanding that our feelings are, to a large extent, the reflection of others and how they see us. It’s only when we are in front of others that our confidence is tested.

Boosting Self Confidence – Step #1

You need to start noticing others. Once you start that process, others will start to notice you, and ideally, that is what you are looking for. At the same time, it also takes your mind away from yourself.

If you walk into a room and feel a total lack of self confidence, remember to focus on the other people and notice something about them that you can genuinely compliment, by which time you will have forgotten about how worthless you were feeling. Start to unlock your hidden potential.

Boosting Self Confidence – Step #2

Once you have got into the habit of noticing others and your confidence grows, then, and only then can you concentrate on yourself.

Your lack of confidence has more than likely materialised from your childhood beliefs that you held onto, and you allowed them to manifest and build into real self esteem issues. Think of it this way – as a child you crave recognition, and if you don’t get, or if you feel you aren’t living up to the expectations of those around you, you make sure you find a way to get that recognition, be it screaming, not eating or sulking.

This is what is happening to you now (albeit in a more grown up adult way!). You are craving recognition, and when you don’t get it, you have learnt to label yourself as someone who has little or no confidence.

Boosting Self Confidence – Step #3

Ask yourself this question - What positive qualities do you have? Assuming that you want to boost your self confidence, I hope that you are able to come up with at least some positive qualities. If you can’t think of any, ask those closest to you, your friends and family and make them come up with some great qualities. We all have some, but maybe you have hidden yours from view! It’s time to get out of your comfort zone and start talk your self up, and to realise that you do have hidden potential.

It’s time for you to realise that you do have some excellent qualities. It doesn’t matter what they are, or how small you think they are, you do have some. When you begin to understand and take hold of this fact, then boosting self confidence will naturally improve your self image.

But, if you continue to think you are good at nothing, then be prepared to stay where you are now. That may sound harsh, but it’s true.

Boosting Self Confidence – Step #4

Next, when you have a good list of qualities, write all these out on paper so you can begin to see that you can begin to think more highly of yourself than maybe you previously have. Without this action, you won’t know your starting point for improving your self image. As an example, it may be something on the lines of people being able to depend on you for a weekly task, or the fact that you stick at things where others don’t.

Self esteem issues are common place and one of the most common questions is “how can I boost my confidence”. You are not alone, believe me.

Boosting Self Confidence – Step #5

Now you are in the swing of writing down what you are good at, take the time to also think about what you have achieved so far. It doesn’t matter how big or small these achievements are, they are still things you have achieved, and you need to remember that.

Boosting self confidence means that you need to start patting yourself on the back for things you have done a little bit more. What have you achieved or accomplished, even if it’s a simple task like reading a book or something a bit more energetic like running a charity race.

Boosting Self Confidence - Step #6

You need to try and stay away from negativity. Personal growth development means associating yourself with those around you who are positive.

The world around us today is very negative, and boosting self confidence is not helped by all this negativity. A great way to compensate for this is to take a few minutes of your busy day and read something positive. It doesn’t have to be for an hour, 10-15 minutes is a good start. Why not try it and see what happens. Take a look at my range of positive books and there’s bound to be one which “hits the spot”.