Last Updated on November 30, 2016 by Michael Brockbank
A lack of confidence is one of the biggest problems a lot of people have when it comes to just about anything. Dating, career choices and even mental and physical health can all be affected when you don’t think highly of your own ability. However, you don’t need to stay this way. There are several things you can do to improve all facets of your life when it comes to building yourself up.
Boosting Your Confidence for a Healthier You
There is a big difference between confidence and conceit. For one, someone who is confident doesn’t overly flaunt it to make others look inferior. At any rate, being sure about yourself and your abilities can influence how you approach life in general.
If you think about it, even a lack of confidence when you approach a stranger for that first chance meeting can be bad for you. The stress, anxiety and pressure you feel will all have negative impacts on your mental and physical health.
Here are 12 ways how virtually anyone can boost their level of confidence for healthier living.
1. Focus on Easier Goals
I often talk a lot about goals and achieving even the most impossible by breaking them up into smaller chunks. For instance, my goal is to lose 75 pounds. Instead of focusing on the whole, I break it down to what I can do on a daily basis.
Why is this important? It’s the idea of accomplishment. Once you start achieving goals and realizing your victories, it can spill over into your everyday life. With each achievement, you begin to feel confident about the next.
The hardest part is being realistic with your goals. You don’t want to set something that is too absurd. You’ll do nothing but set yourself up for failure that way. Instead, be realistic about the things you want to achieve and break it down into smaller sections that you can carry out today.
2. Get More Exercise
What health and fitness website would have a list like this without including exercise? It’s actually quite a beneficial addition when you’re trying to boost your self-confidence. And not just because you’re working towards a ripper body.
Physical activity increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. As a result, your mind is capable of processing information more efficiently. Essentially, your brain will work better. This means you can make better choices while improving your emotional state. Both are influential for confidence building.
Don’t get me wrong. A lot of people will feel great about themselves when they can look better. I know I am looking forward to it. However, sex appeal doesn’t have to be your only motivation for working out.
3. Write Down Your Daily Achievements
I know this may sound a bit corny, but writing down your daily achievements can help you put things into perspective. When you can actually see all that you accomplish throughout the day, it may help you feel good about yourself. In turn, it may also help you feel confident about what you can do tomorrow.
Personally, I take the opposite route. Instead of writing down my accomplishments, I try to remove things from my “to-do” list. The problem with this is that it’s easy to overwhelm yourself by adding too much to your plate. In the end, you may wind up stressing yourself out even more.
Be realistic with your lists. When you get to understand what your capable of throughout any given day, then you can focus on greater things. First, try to show yourself what you can do today to make your life better.
4. Quit Dwelling on the Negative
When things go bad, it can be ultra-hard to not dwell on the negative aspects. I know this all too well. Instead of focusing purely on what went wrong with any given situation, realize that what is done, is done. All you can really do now fix it and learn what went wrong in the first place.
And that’s the real point here. Learning from a mistake. If you’re able to absorb some knowledge from any circumstance, then it’s really not a failure. I know, it’ll be very difficult not to feel bad or dwell on what could have changed. But the truth is that you don’t have the keys to a time-traveling DeLorean.
Quit sinking in misery and move on. Negativity can lead to a variety of issues including damage to your level of confidence. Humans make mistakes, but you don’t have to repeat them. Try to embrace the positive results, even if it’s something as small as learning what not to do next time.
5. Avoid Instant Gratification
Too many people are attracted to the quick fix or instant success. When you work hard to achieve a goal, there is far more at stake. Success through hard work can be greatly beneficial for self-confidence. You’ll feel better that you can accomplish much more than what you have.
I’m not into fat-burning pills or operations. Personally, I’d rather earn my body through demonstrating to myself that I can do it. I’m like this in many things, as well. I don’t even use cheat codes when playing video games because I want to prove it to myself that I can succeed without them.
And that’s what it’s really all about. Proving to yourself that you got this and that you can be successful without the get-it-now scheme. This kind of accomplishment is far better for your level of confidence and can be easily reflected in your life.
6. Understand Who You Are
One of the most difficult things to accomplish for anyone is understanding who they are as a person. It can take a great deal of soul-searching to discover yourself. As long as you’re honest with the process, though, you can figure out a lot about who you are and what you can do.
Too many people lose sight of who they are simply because they try to be something for someone else. Instead of focusing on what makes you happy, you sacrifice those parts little at a time until you’re nothing more than a shallow husk of yourself. This can lead to severe mental problems.
Getting to know yourself is not something that can be done overnight. There are people who may spend years trying to figure out who they are and what truly makes them happy. There’s no magic pill that can fill you with purpose and insight about how you are.
7. Being Realistic with Yourself, Really
Not everyone is willing to be realistic with themselves. A lot of the time, it’s because reality can show us things we don’t want to admit to ourselves. But without being realistic, you’ll never truly understand much about who you are and what you can do.
One problem many people have, including myself, is realizing limitations. However, some people impose these limits on themselves without actual basis in fact. For instance, I can’t say that I am a failure at being an author simply because I have never published anything professionally before. Is this a fair limitation in my abilities as a writer? Absolutely not.
Being realistic with yourself doesn’t all have to be centered around the negative. You can also discover things about yourself that are positive that you don’t really embrace regularly. For instance, I am coming to the belief that I am a good ghostwriter simply because of the feedback from my clients and blog readers.
8. Find External Support
One of the best things you can do to give yourself an emotional boost is surround yourself with people who support you. When others have faith that you can accomplish a certain task, you can start to believe it yourself. This is especially true if many people are saying the same thing who do not know each other.
Don’t be afraid of jumping into social networking either. Sometimes even the reassuring words of a stranger can be influential in building confidence. This is helpful because then it removes your personal belief that friends and family are just blowing smoke up your butt.
Being a social hermit is one of the worst things when trying to build your confidence and self-esteem. Don’t be afraid of what you can find out there in the world, even if it’s something simple like participating in a Facebook social group.
9. Finish a Project
Here is one that I am guilty of, not finishing a project I start. However, I am working on fixing that part of myself.
Finishing a project that you start can be monumental in building confidence. It gives you the satisfaction that you were able to complete the task. Depending on what you’re project was, it may drive a social element that can make you feel good about it as well.
The more of these you do for yourself, the more empowered you’ll feel to continue. This is true whether you’re sticking to a specific diet plan, exercise routine or writing a horror story on Wattpad. It all centers around your dedication to yourself to accomplish your project.
10. Embellish the Hobbies You’re Good At or Enjoy
Hobbies are a great thing to have. They can keep your mind busy while being very therapeutic. What’s more is that you can fixate on a hobby and build yourself up. This could almost fit in with finishing a project depending on the type of hobby you enjoy.
For example, I love playing Magic The Gathering. I have a green and black deck that I love and it does fairly well against other players. Competition such as this can go a long way to boost confidence, even if it’s just in your game.
The point is that you can influence your self-esteem by giving yourself into your hobby and getting the most out of the experience. If you like to draw in colored pencils, be the best artist you can be. Hobbies are something that you have near absolute control over. This can be helpful in a world that feels like you control nothing or very little.
11. Chart Your Progress
Yes, I know I am a geek when it comes to data and charts. I have spreadsheets that manage everything from the amount of writing I do every day for work to tracking my weight over time. One of the reasons why I do this is so I can actually see a chart of my progress.
Giving yourself a visual can be very helpful when you’re trying to achieve goals. By keeping track of various aspects of your life, you can see trends and figure out forecasts about how to improve yourself. Of course, this means you’ll have to collect the data.
From a fitness perspective, you can get some kind of tracking through various apps like MyFitnessPal or by using devices like a Fitbit Charge HR. This can be a bonus when you’re trying to gauge personal performance and give yourself a pat on the back.
12. Spruce Yourself Up
There’s nothing wrong with dressing up once in a while. It’s got the point where I actually get dressed when I work, even though I am a writer and my clients are all online. It gives you the sense of professionalism and pride when you take time to make yourself look nice for nobody but yourself.
Many people will spruce themselves up for the sheer purpose of boosting their own self-esteem and ego. In reality, this is probably the best way to go about it. While there’s nothing wrong with getting all fixed up for your date or spouse, doing it for you is what can affect your mindset the most.
Taking pride in your appearance will also get you noticed by those at work and in your personal life. When you feel as good as you look, it’s hard not to be positive about yourself and exude confidence.
Keeping Your Level of Confidence Up
You don’t want to allow your confidence to become faded and non-existent. Having faith in yourself and your abilities is paramount if you want to truly have an easier time succeeding at anything. From maintaining workouts to making career choices, how you feel on the inside is vastly important.