What Is Self-confidence and 5 ways that you can build it.

I looked up the Collins English dictionary for a definition of self-confidence. It says ‘Confidence in one’s own powers, judgement, etc’. The same dictionary defines confidence as a ‘belief in one’s own abilities’. So self-confidence can be said to be a belief in your powers and abilities.

So now we know what it is, how can you build on it? Here are five ways that might help.

1. Smile

This might sound silly but you don’t smile if you’re feeling unhappy or nervous. The simple act of smiling, even if you have to force it at first, will make you feel better. A smile is something everyone associates with positive feelings, so by smiling you make yourself feel better, you will appear confident, other people will notice and they too will feel less nervous and more confident. Before you know it you will fit right into the situation that you were nervous or lacking in confidence about.

2. Good Posture

How you carry yourself tells a lot about you. If you slouch or walk around with your shoulders slumped forward with your head down, you don’t give off any feelings of confidence to yourself or anyone else. So always stand up straight, with your head up and make eye contact with everyone you meet. This will make a positive impression on those you meet which will reflect back on you making you feel more confident.

3. Be Grateful

When you thing about what you want, your mind comes up with reasons why you can’t have it e.g. you don’t have the money, you don’t deserve it, you don’t need it. This leads you to think about lack and brings on more negative thinking which does nothing for self-confidence. The best thing to do is to focus on what you have and be grateful for it. It is something you should do daily and you should go through a list of things you are grateful for. Think about the friends you have, good things you have done in the past, any skills you may have, good relationships you have or had. This will bring about positive thoughts and when you are having predominantly positive thoughts you feel better, more motivated and definitely more self-confident.

4. Appearance

I don’t know about you but I know when I’m wearing tatty old clothes (we’ve all got that part of jeans and shirt covered in paint with holes in that we use for odd jobs around the house) I don’t feel that good. I look at myself and think ‘you look a mess’ and then I don’t feel that great either.

Nothing beats getting out of the old clothes, having a shower and a shave and getting into something clean and tidy looking. The improvement to your confidence is amazing.

5. Say Something

Now strange as it may seem, if you are with a group of people you have just met, one of the best ways to help increase your confidence is actually to say something. You’ll quite likely find that other people in the group are just as nervous about speaking as well. If you make the effort to speak, even once, within a group you’ll become better at speaking in public and become more confident.

So there you have 5 pretty easy ways that you can use to help build up your self-confidence. As with all things it takes a bit of perseverance, but even if all you do is smile and stand up straight that is a good start to developing your confidence.

If you would like more ideas to help improve your self-confidence and other useful information have a look at http://selfimprovementtipsforyou.com/