Confidence is very attractive.
It has been proven that confident people have a higher chance of achieving success than those without, despite their skill.
There are so many skilful and talented people whose position has been taken over by confident people.
When you are confident, people naturally believe you know what you are saying and are more inclined to listen to you.
Although this is not actually the case, timidity immediately communicates that you don’t know what you are talking about.
Are you tired of being relegated to the background even though you do have the skills and talent? Do you want to be counted among successful people? You need to build self-confidence.
And trust me, it is possible.
What are the ways to build self-confidence?
Pretend You Are Confident
Ever heard the saying, “fake it till you make it?”
I know a lot of people associate that saying with the negative but the truth is that most of the seemingly confident people you see are not exactly confident – in the real sense.
What they do is that they have mastered the art of acting like they are confident – so much so it becomes a part of them.
Trust me, many of the greatest public speakers today started out being timid but they started their first public speaking “acting” confident and took it from there.
Practice makes perfect. It is only a matter of time before confidence becomes a second skin.
Focus On Your Strengths
We all have different skills and talents and we have areas we do not enjoy or do not find easy.
One of the ways you can build your confidence is by focusing on areas that come easily to you.
It is very natural that you will not feel confident when you are faced with doing something you are not very good at while you will naturally feel confident because you are sure you will ace certain ventures.
Concentrate on those things that make you feel confident.
Accept Your Weaknesses
Perfection eludes us as humans.
Apart from the fact that we will make mistakes, we will also not be good at everything. So, don’t pressure yourself to be perfect.
When you concentrate too much on your weaknesses, it can greatly injure your confidence.
Accept your weakness; make peace with your imperfections and be glad for your strengths. It is when you start bothering about your flaws that you are likely to start beating down your self-esteem.
Be Prepared
It is quite clear that when you are prepared and not afraid you will mess up; you are likely to be more confident.
Even if you aren’t, you can give yourself a pep talk, reminding yourself of all you have done to prepare.
But when you aren’t prepared, that would be difficult to do.
So, whatever you have to do, make sure to put in your best, preparing, so you can be confident in your ability to deliver.
Be Excellent At Your Work
In the same vein, try to pursue excellence at work or anything you find yourself doing.
The reason this is important is that there is nothing that gives us confidence like an affirmation from others.
If you do well at work, most likely, your boss, colleagues or someone will say something about how great you are at your job and that will definitely build your self-confidence.
Don’t Be Put Down by Rejection or Failure
Remember that failure and rejection are a part of life. The world’s most successful people are usually vocal about the number of times they have failed or have been rejected.
So, it is not peculiar to you. Failure is even defined as when one stays down because life knocked them off.
Also, remember that rejection doesn’t define you. Learn from it, improve on what you need to improve and keep pushing.
If you allow yourself to be put down anytime you fail, make a mistake or are rejected, your confidence will keep taking a beating.
Remind yourself that you are not defined by it and determine never to give up.
Look People in the Eye
When you are maintaining eye contact with people, you are basically communicating that you know what you are talking about, you are saying the truth or you are confident.
If you are still trying to build your self-confidence, this might be a little difficult. But learning to look people in the eye is important in helping you practice being confident.
Take Care of Your Body and Appearance
The way you are dressed is the way you are addressed.
If you take care of yourself and look good, people will automatically treat you with respect and accord you honour, which will increase your confidence.
Also, if you look good, you will naturally feel more confident because you will not feel like you don’t fit in.
Our appearance has a huge impact on our confidence.
Face Your Fears
Facing our fears is one of the best ways to build our self-confidence.
This is because one of the major reasons we lack confidence is that we are afraid of something. It could be being afraid of crowds, it could be failure or rejection, or it could even be fear of heights.
But when we start making a habit of facing our fears and we see how much we are overcoming them, it will definitely build our confidence in that area and others because now, we have a reference point.
Don’t Compare Yourself with Others
We are likely to have low self-esteem if we have a habit of comparing ourselves to others.
The truth is that there will always be someone who does something better than you do or has something you don’t have.
But always remember that you are unique and your journey is different from everybody else.
Face your own race, be in competition with no one and don’t judge yourself based on someone else’s journey.
22/11/2019 at 7:22 PM
Recognizing own’s weakness is so important and accepting it…
26/11/2019 at 9:49 PM
Exactly. Thanks for reading