Maybe you’ve had a major life event that has shaken your confidence, or maybe you are finally realizing that a lack of self-confidence is keeping you from being happy and having the life that you deserve.
Whatever the circumstances, when you realize that low self-confidence is an issue, you might also realize that you have no idea what to do about it.
Luckily, realizing that confidence is an issue is the first step you need to take in feeling better about yourself. Here are 5 things you can do to improve your self-confidence.
1. Take Care of Yourself Physically
Society may have its beauty standards, but those don’t matter – what matters is how you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror. Let’s be honest. If you can’t stand to look at yourself it is hard to be confident about much else.
If weight has always been an issue for you, taking charge of that is a great first step to gaining self-confidence. You don’t have to make changes overnight; as a matter of fact, expecting quick changes is a sure path to frustration, followed quickly by giving up.
Start slowly by adding more veggies and fruits to your diet.
Look up some healthy recipes online, and commit to trying one new one per week. Cut out those soft drinks and sugary fruit juices, which have no benefit at all. Even limiting soft drinks to a couple of times a week is a start.
As for exercise, you don’t have to invest in a lot of equipment or an expensive gym membership. Start by taking a walk on your lunch hour or starting a workout regimen; thanks to workout classes available on streaming apps, you don’t even have to leave your home.
And you don’t have to do it alone. A Le-Vel Thrive patch is infused with beneficial ingredients and is a revolutionary way to help you to get a start on weight loss and living a healthier life. And all you have to do is wear it, just as you would a nicotine or a seasickness prevention patch.
If you still have questions about it, you can check out the Le-Vel Thrive Review page to read about this healthy way to help manage your weight.
2. Take Care of Yourself Mentally
This doesn’t have to be a big, drastic, daunting project, either. It can be as simple as deciding to read more (even for 10 minutes a night before bed), or finally signing up for that continuing education class that has always sounded interesting to you. And don’t discount the value of “brain training” apps. They aren’t just games, they are a great way to have fun while building your brain power and your confidence!
3. Think and Act Positively
Negative thinking may be so deeply ingrained that you don’t even realize you are doing it. But years of always thinking negative thoughts about yourself and your life take a toll on your level of confidence. It takes effort to recognize negative thoughts, and it takes even more effort to fight them. But it is a vital step towards self-confidence and leading a better life.
As a small first step, and one that is much harder than it sounds, when you do have a negative thought about yourself, fight it with a positive one.
For instance, if you catch yourself thinking, “I can never do anything right,” don’t let yourself get away with that. Switch it instead to a list of all the things you have done right – you know there are plenty!
There is a lot of help out there for developing a more positive attitude. Check out this Positivity Blog for some tips on banishing negative thoughts and self-talk.
4. Take it Moment by Moment
Sometimes, poor self-confidence comes from dwelling in the past and anxiety about the future. (It is hard to feel good about yourself when you are always expecting something horrible to happen!)
What if you try to just get through just one day without worry, anxiety, and self doubt? And if that seems too daunting, how about trying to get through 5 minutes, just 5 minutes, only thinking about the present? For 5 minutes, don’t worry, just live in the moment. It gets easier the more you practice controlling anxious thoughts (with the added benefit that such control is empowering, which leads to a more self-confident you).
5. Celebrate Your Victories
Many people go through life knowing they aren’t confident, and yet they are content to live that way, even with all of the problems and issues this can cause for themselves and others.
If you have decided to put the work in to increase your self-confidence, you should celebrate this decision and your effort, because it’s no small feat.
It also isn’t easy to lose weight, improve your diet, take care of your brain, and retrain your brain to get rid of negative thoughts and anxiety. So congratulate yourself for the steps you take every day, no matter how small you think they are and no matter how you think you have fallen short. You deserve some credit, just like you deserve to live a confident life.
Creating a new, self-confident you will take a lot of work but in the end it will be worth it. Just the fact that you are undertaking such a challenging life change is something to be proud of.
Identity Magazine is all about guiding women to discover their powers of Self-Acceptance, Appreciation, and Personal Achievement.
We ask that every contributor and expert answer the Identity questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the current article they have written. As a team, we hope to encourage and motivate each other, thus inspiring you to Get All A’s.
1. What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? Additionally, what are you still working on accepting? Now, we’re not talking about resignation, rather stepping into, embraced, and owned.
I have accepted that I will never find the perfect balance as a mom, and no matter how others perceive me as a working mom, both being a mom and a professional help me to progress as a woman.
2. Appreciation is everything. What have you learned to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? On the other hand OR in contrast, are there elements of who you are that you’re still working on appreciating?
I’m grateful for the resilience that my trials have instilled in me. As hard as my trials have been they have helped me empathize with others more and to become a better person.
3. Share with us one of your most rewarding achievements in life? Tell us not only what makes YOU most proud but also share the goals and dreams that you still have.
Becoming a mother and feeling the love of my children has been the most rewarding experience of my life. That love coupled with a desire to maintain their love and respect is one of my biggest motivators in life.
