SELF - CONFIDENCE

SELF - CONFIDENCE

Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to find it. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality: the more self-confidence you have, the more your success is guaranteed. Sadly, this can be a vicious circle because people who lack self-confidence can find it rather difficult to become successful.

Building self-confidence is readily achievable, just as long as you focus and determine to carry things through and the best part is that the things you’ll do to build self-confidence will also bring success as your confidence will come from real, solid achievement only. No-one can take this away from you!

The three main steps to self-confidence for which we use the metaphor of a journey:

(i)                             Preparing for your journey

(ii)                           Setting out

(iii)                         Accelerating towards success

(1.) Preparing for Your Journey

First of all you have to be prepared for your journey to self-confidence. You need to know where you are, then think about where you want to go, prepare your mind to move ahead towards out goal, and commit yourself to start it and stay with it.

In preparing for your journey it is very important to look at what you've already achieved and pen down the some of the best things you've achieved in an your "Achievement Log." For example you came top in an important test or exam, played a key role in an important team, produced the best sales figures in a period, did something that made a key difference in someone else’s life, or delivered a project that meant a lot for your business etc. and then spend a few minutes each week enjoying the success you've already had! This will give a big boost deep within.

After thinking about your strengths and resources, plan your actions, utilise your strengths and resources wisely to move forward, it is very important to think about what's most significant to you, and where you want to go to achieve your goal in life.

Setting and achieving goals is a key part of this, and the real self-confidence comes from this. Goal setting is the process you use to set yourself targets, and measure your success by hitting on those targets. Set goals that exploit your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, realize your opportunities, and control the threats you face and having set the major goals in your life, identify the first step in each making sure it’s a very small step so that it does not take too long to complete!

Start managing your mind because controlling your mind is of most importance in developing confidence and you should flush out all the negative self-talk as it can destroy your confidence. Stay on top of that positive thinking, keep celebrating and enjoying success, and keep these mental images strong. Also on the other side, learn to handle failure as accepting the mistake that happens when you’re trying something new, you get into the habit of treating mistakes as learning experiences to see them in a positive light.

Commit yourself to success as you have to be self-committed to make a clear and unequivocal promise that you will leave no stone unturned and will do all in your power to achieve it.

(2.) Setting Out

This is where you start moving slowly towards your small goals by doing the right things the right way. This the path to success with small and easy wins shall start building the self-confidence you are in need of and it is indeed very simple if carried out in a proper way. First and foremost focus on the basics and then gather the knowledge needed to succeed making sure that while looking at your goal, you are also identifying the skills you’ll need to achieve them with your entire focus on how you can acquire these skills confidently at the earliest in an easiest manner. Set small goals and achieve them to get in the habit of setting them as well as achieving them and then also celebrate that achievement. You should always look for a solution, a program or a course that fully equips you to achieve what you want to achieve and, ideally, gives you a certificate or qualification you can be proud of. You should never try to reach for perfection, but enjoy doing simple things successfully and well. Never make goals particularly challenging at this stage in order to get into the habit of achieving them and celebrating them. And, little by little, start piling up the successes! This shall start building up you self – confidence within you.

Accelerating Towards Success

By this time you shall feel the self-confidence that you craved for once is within you and you’ll have plenty of success to celebrate! This is the time to start stretching yourself. Make the goals a bit bigger, and the challenges a bit tougher. Increase the size of your commitment. What's more, you'll have earned your self-confidence – because you’ll have put in the hard graft necessary to be successful!  

Apart from this there some other factors affect self-confidence which are beyond your control and you can consciously work on them to boost up the self-confidence you have built within you the hard way. By using these ten strategies you can get the mental edge you need to reach your potential because your body language along with appearance should be acceptable on the front as this is the most important crux to be kept in mind while building self-confidence:

1. Dress Sharp

Clothes certainly affect the way you feels about yourself. No one is more conscious of your physical appearance than you are. When you don’t look good, it changes the way you carry yourself and interact with other people. Use this to your advantage by taking care of your personal appearance.

2. Walk Faster

One of the easiest ways to tell how a person feels about himself is to examine his walk. Is it slow? Tired? Painful? Or is it energetic and purposeful? People with confidence walk quickly. They have places to go, people to see, and important work to do. Walking 25% faster will make to you look and feel more important.

3. Good Posture

People with slumped shoulders and lethargic movements display a lack of self-confidence. They aren’t enthusiastic about what they’re doing and they don’t consider themselves important. By practicing good posture, you’ll automatically feel more confident. Stand up straight, keep your head up, and make eye contact. You’ll make a positive impression on others and instantly feel more alert and empowered.

4. Personal Commercial

One of the best ways to build confidence is listening to a motivational speech. You can fill this need by creating a personal commercial. Write a 30-60 second speech that highlights your strengths and goals. Then recite it in front of the mirror aloud (or inside your head if you prefer) whenever you need a confidence boost.

5. Gratitude

When you focus too much on what you want, the mind creates reasons why you can’t have it. This leads you to dwell on your weaknesses. The best way to avoid this is consciously focusing on gratitude. Set aside time each day to mentally list everything you have to be grateful for. Recall your past successes with unique skills and loving relationships along with a positive momentum. You’ll be a lot more motivated to take the next step towards success.

6. Compliment other people

When we think negatively about ourselves, we often project that feeling on to others in the form of insults and gossip. To break this cycle of negativity, get in the habit of praising other people. Refuse to engage in backstabbing gossip and make an effort to complement those around you.

7. Sit in the front row

In schools, offices, and public assemblies around the world, people constantly strive to sit at the back of the room. Most people prefer the back because they’re afraid of being noticed. This reflects a lack of self-confidence. By deciding to sit in the front row, you can get over this irrational fear and build your self-confidence. You’ll also be more visible to the important people talking from the front of the room.

8. Speak up

During group discussions many people never speak up because they’re afraid that people will judge them for saying something stupid. By making an effort to speak up at least once in every group discussion, you’ll become a better public speaker, more confident in your own thoughts.

9. Work out

Along the same lines as personal appearance, physical fitness has a huge effect on self-confidence. If you’re out of shape, you’ll feel insecure, unattractive, and less energetic. By working out, you improve your physical appearance, energize yourself, and accomplish something positive.

10. Focus on contribution

Too often we get caught up in our own desires. We focus too much on ourselves and not enough on the needs of other people. If you stop thinking about yourself and concentrate on the contribution you’re making to the rest of the world, you won’t worry as much about your own flaws. This will increase self-confidence and allow you to contribute with maximum efficiency. The more you contribute to the world the more you’ll be rewarded with personal success and recognition.

When you are self – confident, you gain a sense of effectiveness on seeing yourself mastering those skills and achieving the goals that matter only in the skilled areas. This is that confidence that leads people to accept difficult challenges, and persist in the face of setbacks. This overlaps with the idea of self –esteem, which is a more general sense that you can cope from the sense that you are behaving honourably and are competent to compete successfully once you put your mind to it.

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