Being confident is one of the things that you often read of or hear about when you learn to enhance your presentation skills, speaking skills, interview skills or any other soft skills. Indeed, self-confidence is one of the most essential factors in any social situation that you need not only to get a good grade in college or land a job; it helps you become better and more successful person in life. A person with a high level of self-confidence is more likely to take risks and challenges to achieve his or her goals.
Some people are born with high confidence. But for the majority of us, we need to learn and keep building our own self-confidence. In case you are wondering what the most effective ways to boost your self-confidence are, check out these useful tips below.
Let’s take a look at 5 tips to raise your self-confidence:
1: Show Other People That You Are Confident
This first tip will help you to boost your confidence instantly (or at least make you seem to be confident). When you take part in a seminar or deliver a presentation, you’ll get a bonus point if the teachers think that you are confident. Believing that to yourself is not enough; you need to show it out. The key factors here lie in your body language and your voice.
With regards to your body language, you should always stand tall with your chest up and your shoulders back. Relax your muscles to make you look as tall and relaxing as possible. While you speak, make eye contact with your audience. You don’t have to look at other people’s eyes directly. Just keep your head straight- not up or down.
Your voice needs to be clear, and your speech needs to be precise as well. Your volume should be loud, but you should not overbear it. Try to avoid mumbling. If you forget what you are about to say, pause a little bit instead. It is also better to speak slowly for you to control your voice and your volume fully.
How you dress also helps to show how confident you are. If you feel good on something, you will surely feel more positive about yourself, which in turn helps to boost your self-confidence. So before an interview or a presentation, think about the set of clothes that you are about to put on, choose the one that you get a lot of compliments on.
2: Think Positive
We have to go through both ups and downs in our life. When life is bad, we tend to have negative thoughts. These negative thoughts will kill your self-confidence. That is the reason why you need to learn to think positively, not only when your life is good but also when it doesn’t go your way as well. You should know that there is no way that you can do to avoid tough times.
Nevertheless, you can still learn how to deal with them. Consider these times as opportunities for you to learn from mistakes. If you surrender, you will never learn or get better. You should also consider these positive affirmations such as “I can be successful if I try my best” or “people will listen to me”. These thoughts will help you remain positive and help to boost your confidence.
You might have a negative thought that you are not as good as other people. There is no point in comparing yourself with other people, so you should stop comparing yourself to other people. It is essential that you know both of your strengths and weaknesses. You should also know that everyone is different; therefore, any comparison is irrelevant.
3: Have A Positive Support Network
Your friends or your family can help you to enhance your self-confidence. You can seek help or advice from the people who you think would have a high level of self-confidence. You should also spend time around friends and family members who appreciate and understand your own attitude as well as your decisions you have made in your life. Also, spending time with people who often do something out adventurous and out of their comfort zone will encourage you to do the same thing.
While some of your friends are helpful in uplifting your perspective, some people are not so. For instance, some tend to give your negative remarks or criticise you without giving you any constructive feedback. In this case, you should limit your contact with them and learn not to overthink about their opinions.
4: Do Something Out of Your Comfort Zone
It means that you need to do something which you don’t commonly do or the thing that you often feel uncomfortable about. It helps you cope with your fears, learning how to deal with them and preparing for the worst that might come.
When doing something out of your comfort zone, you need to be patient with yourself. The thing is you might try something new, and it will not be as you have planned. Once again, try to eliminate negative thoughts and consider this as a chance for you to learn more. For instance, you can ask for a raise from your boss and get a “no” at the first time. Instead of thinking you don’t get it because you don’t deserve a rise, reconsider your request and reflect upon how you deliver this request. You might want to learn more about the tips that can help you get a pay rise effectively.
However, you should keep in mind that the goals which you set out of your comfort zone need to be achievable. Unattainable or unrealistic goals are dampers to your confidence.
5: Take A Good Care Of Yourself
Finally, it is worth knowing that the root of self-confidence lies in a healthy body and mind. You must have heard of various ways to improve your health physically and mentally. They include working out regularly and having a balanced diet. Having adequate sleep also helps to boost your self-confidence.
Studies have shown that exercising on a regular basis helps you to have a positive outlook and create a “can do” attitude, which in turn, helps to boost your self-confidence.
Anyone can be confident, but it will take times to learn from different experiences to boost your self-confidence. It is indeed a trait that you would need to be successful in college and in your career later on. I hope with all of the tips above, you can learn a little bit more on how to gain your self-confidence. If you start working on it now, you will reap a huge advantage later on in everything you do- from delivering your presentation to fulfil a challenging work project.