Five Ways to Increase your Self-Confidence

Trusting in your own judgment, abilities and personal power is the essence of self-confidence.  One of my favorite quotes is from Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” It’s a great reminder that self-confidence is an inside job.

Self-confidence can be like the weather. Some days your trust in your abilities and judgment may feel a little off and other days you may feel very confident. Hot, cold, cloudy or rainy, the weather is always changing.  Like the weather, some days I wake up feeling fantastic! Other days, I want to crawl back under the covers and wait for a new day.

Yes, as human beings with thoughts, emotions, and feelings, we have moments when our confidence changes.  That’s life.

And that is okay. Life is still happening all around. The sun rises. The seasons change. There will be traffic for most of us to consider.

Your self-confidence is not controlled by the weather or traffic. These things may affect how your day flows; they don’t ultimately affect your confidence.

I’ve heard older people say many times, “keep living.” My response now is, that is so true. As we continue living there may be factors that affect your self-confidence including:

• losing your job
• moving to a new city
• changes in your relationships

Our lives are filled with constant images, sights, and sounds that impact even the most confident person. The 24-hour news, tweets, posts and social media notifications can also take a toll on you.

I’ve learned to be in my own head and to limit the voices of others in order to maintain a strong sense of self-confidence. I am the creator of my life experiences and I will have to live with the choices I make.

Just remember that you have the power to maintain your self-confidence, it is not dependent on outside forces.

Try these three tips to maintain or increase your self-confidence:

1. Breathe. Trust. – Stopping to breathe and check in with yourself on a regular basis allows you to trust your inner guidance system, your intuition. The more you practice this, the stronger your instinctive feelings become and your trust grows.
2. Go to Bed Early – Sometimes we are over stimulated by daily living. Sleeping can be the only time many people are still or quiet. Make sleep a priority by picking one or two days of the week you will go to bed early. Rest is restorative.
3. Be Adventurous – Make trying new things a regular practice. Buy music from an unknown singer or artist. Take a painting class. Buy something new from the grocery store. Take a different route home from work.
4. Limit Notifications – Check your technology to see what types of notifications you have turned on. Decide which ones are most beneficial and keep only one or two active. Turn all the other notifications off. You will thank me later.
5. Be Your Own Best Friend – Learn to enjoy your own company more than the company of others. In doing so you can take time for self-discovery, try new experiences and decide what you like and don’t like.

Enjoying your own company, being adventurous and getting adequate rest are great confidence boosters. Be kind and gentle with yourself as you remember to stop, breathe and trust your intuition. Trust and believe that you have the power, abilities and judgment to know what is best for you because you do.