How to Improve Self-Confidence

How to improve self-confidence

Here are ten ways you can improve self-confidence:

1. Stop comparing yourself to unrealistic standards.
2. Compare yourself only against yourself.
3. Strive to improve upon your performance.
4. Build your confidence brick by brick, day by day.
5. Start by improving your appearance and dress code.
6. Work to improve your knowledge-bank, especially in relation to your profession.
7. Strive to improve your health by improving your nutrition, sleep and exercise programme.
8. Set goals for a better future and write plans for their accomplishment.
9. Change the way you talk to others about yourself. Re-brand yourself.
10. Learn to like yourself.

1. To build more confidence

Stop comparing yourself against an unrealistic standard, such as perfection, or the world's best. Many people imagine they are not good enough because they compare themselves against impossible standards, such as fictional movie characters, or world class athletes, or the mythical "other people". It is a mistake to compare yourself against others, since you are not them, nor did you have their upbringing.

You can improve your self confidence by comparing yourself only to "yourself, yesterday".

2. You can build more self-confidence

Compare yourself against your own performance, from yesterday. Each day, your task should be to improve on your yesterday's performance, in at least one area of your life. Confidence will come when you see yourself making progress.

3. Work to improve your performance

To do so, you should make it your goal to improve upon yesterday's performance. Everyday, make yourself a little stronger, faster, better. At first, other people won't notice. But you will. And as the small improvements begin to accumulate into larger improvements, you will feel a surge of realistic self-confidence, based upon improved performance.

4. Every day strive to improve yourself

Let your confidence build naturally over time, as you see yourself improving. Rome was not built in a day. It was built brick by brick. You can build your confidence brick by brick, by working on yourself in many ways.

5. Work to improve your appearance

In terms of your dress-code, when you look better, you'll feel more confident.

6. Work to improve your knowledge base

Especially in relation to your profession, since knowledge is power. If you know more, you will feel an improvement in your self-confidence. It is difficult to feel confident if you don't know what you're doing. Remember that confidence and competence are like twins; they are often found together.

7. Strive to improve your health

By eating properly and exercising three times per week, you will feel healthier and better about yourself. When you feel better about yourself, this will positively affect your self- confidence.

8. Set goals for a better future

Set goals and write plans for their achievement. Confidence is built on a belief that your future will be better than your past. One way to build confidence is to set goals and make plans for a better future. You need to give yourself reasons to believe that the future is going to be good. Then that optimistic belief will build your self-confidence.

9. Change the way you talk about yourself

Never say anything derogatory about yourself to your friends and family, since if you say you are useless, then other people will tend to believe you, and downgrade their opinion accordingly.

Whenever you talk to others about yourself, verbalise only positive messages, such as, "I feel much better today", or "I believe that things are going to get better for me". The more you repeat these messages to other people, the more likely they are to believe you. They will then upgrade their opinion of you, and that upgrade will rebound back to you and will help you to feel better about yourself.

But I hear you ask, "What if you don't really feel it? Is it right to say things that aren't true?"

In this case, YES, it is GOOD to say these things that aren't true.

It is good to say things that are not YET true, because if you say them enough times, they will become true.

The following statement is very important for you to understand: "You become whatever you say about yourself."

10. Learn to like yourself

Remember that we are all "a work in progress" and today, you are who you are, and that is a good place to start.

Your task is to like yourself and to improve yourself everyday in lots of small ways, and as you do, your self-confidence will improve naturally and at a pace dictated by your improved performance.