7 Practical Ways to Build Your Self Confidence and Become More Self Assured
Updated: Apr 19
Gain self-confidence so you can embrace life and conquer your goals. It helps you step out of your comfort zone, try new things, and face your fears.
“If you have no confidence in yourself, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.” –Cicero
We all have an inner critic, and it can derail our confidence. We often come across certain thoughts that could deflate even the most self-assured phase. Such thoughts often undermine your actions and hold you back from pursuing your dreams. Self-sabotage is more prevalent than we realize.
You need to overcome the lack of self-confidence to pursue your goals without any fear. Instead of vicious thinking, start to ponder questions like ‘how can I boost my self confidence’ and so on. With better self-confidence, you can push yourself out of your comfort zone for going after your goals.
7 Amazing Ways for Building Self Confidence
According to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Dictionary of Psychology, self-confidence is “trust in one’s abilities, capacities, and judgment. Because it is typically viewed as a positive attitude, the bolstering of self-confidence is often a mediate or end goal in psychotherapy.”
When low self-esteem persists for the long term, it can harm your mental health and your daily life. Let us share some practical suggestions that will help you to beat this vicious circle and answer your question ‘how can I boost my self confidence’ with some actionable tips.
1. Reframe negative beliefs into positive thoughts:
Identify the negative beliefs you may have about yourself, then challenge them. Recall some achievements from your life to combat such beliefs. It does not matter how small or old your achievements were. Write down positive things about yourself, along with some good things that other people say about you.
2. Recognise your strengths and skills:
Recognise the things you are good at. Determine the tasks you enjoy doing, which also transforms your mood. It may be singing, cooking, drawing or even gardening. You can draw mental strength through them. Doing pleasant tasks not only brings joy but ultimately helps in building self confidence too.
3. Embrace and build positive relationships:
Happy relationships with your colleagues, friends and relatives are crucial for self-confidence. Try to strengthen relationships with people who are like-minded, positive and who appreciate you. Meanwhile, cut those people from your life who tend to bring you down; try to spend less time with them.
4. Create a positive self-image:
Nobody is perfect thus, learn to accept and appreciate yourself as you are for a happy life. Being kind and gentle to yourself at times when you feel like being self-critical is crucial to avoid self-sabotaging behaviour. Do all the necessary things you need to do to create a positive self-image for building self confidence.
5. Be assertive and stop comparing yourself with others:
Avoid comparing yourself with others with a self-biased attitude. Be assertive while admiring other people’s perspectives and opinions. This approach not only helps in avoiding the chances of conflicts but also strengthens your self-confidence.
6. Learn to say ‘no’ at appropriate times:
One of the most visible symptoms of low self-confidence is to be a ‘yes man’. This approach can easily make you overburdened, resentful, confused and depressed. You don’t have to say yes to other people every time. Learn to say ‘no’ at appropriate times for the sake of your mental peace and self confidence.
7. Set practical yet challenging goals:
Challenges often make un anxious and nervous. But when you accomplish a challenge, you can easily sense an upliftment in your mood and confidence. Set yourself challenging goals regularly. Achieving them will enhance your self-esteem.
Commit yourself to consistently work on these feasible ways for building self confidence and eventually you will be able to create a meaningful and proud life.
Do you communicate smartly or need help to enhance your communication skills? Take the Free Communication Skills Assessment to take the first step to speak with confidence.
Smita D Jain is a Certified Life Coach, Executive Coach and NLP Practitioner. Smita’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Performance Enhancement Coaching Programs enable introverted executives to speak with confidence and communicate with impact so that they emerge leaders sooner than envisaged.
Prior to her journey as a coach, Smita had extensive experience of 14 years as a corporate and business strategy professional with Fortune 500 companies. She is also a TEDx speaker, a panellist cum speaker at various public forums, a published writer, and an Amazon bestselling author.
You can learn more about Personal Empowerment Life Coach and Executive Coach Smita D Jain’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Coaching Programs by visiting www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com and book a complimentary strategy session at https://www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com/booking.
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