Confidence is a vitally important character trait. It’s crucial because if you aren’t ok with you, no one else will be either.
Sometimes when people talk about confidence they mistake it for cockiness. But you know true confidence when you see it. It is attractive; unlike cockiness which drives people away. Confidence is quiet and unassuming but always ready when needed. Confidence builds others up because it’s sure of itself. While cockiness puts others down in order to feel better. When you see real confidence you understand why cockiness is a poor imitation.
Sometimes it seems like some people are born with confidence while others aren’t. So how can you nurture self-confidence? How can you become a more confident person? The great thing is that no matter how much confidence you have there are several ways to develop more.
Let’s discuss just three:
1. Surround yourself with people who are confident and encouraging.
Show me who your friends are and I will show you who you are. The people you spend the most time with are the people who will influence you the most. They are also the people who you will start to become like. So surround yourself with confident people and their strength and confidence will rub off on you.
Make it a habit to spend time with people who encourage you. There are enough people in the world who want you to fail and who will point out your weaknesses. You should give these people no more of your time than you have to. Instead spend your time with people who compliment and encourage others. These people are easy to find because usually they have others gathered around them. People are naturally drawn to other people who are encouraging and uplifting.
Surrounding yourself with confident and encouraging people might mean that you have to winnow out your friend list. But that’s ok. Sometimes you have to be strong enough to let go of one thing so you can grab something better.
2. Start exercising.
As a trainer, my favorite thing to see in a client is the self-confidence that working out brings. It literally changes people’s lives on the inside as well as the outside. There are several reasons why beginning or maintaining an exercise program is good for your confidence level and the biggest reason isn’t even the fact that when you are healthy you feel better about yourself. Exercise also releases chemicals into your system that help you feel better overall. Exercise can help regulate your hormone levels. And the act of simply finishing a workout gives you a sense of accomplishment. The habit of achieving your exercise goal can help you realize you have the power to set and accomplish other goals.
Your workout doesn’t have to be fancy or even extremely difficult. Just get in the habit of showing up to exercise and the rest will come later. And a new confidence in yourself and what you can accomplish will as well.
3. Make the voice in your head positive.
We all talk to ourselves. You’ve probably spent your entire adult life telling yourself that you couldn’t do something. That you are too tall or too short, or that you aren’t smart enough, or good-looking enough, or…you fill in the blank.
As children we naturally think we can do anything. But as we grow older people start to tell us the things we cannot do. Then after we fail a couple of times we eventually start to believe them. Then to make it worse we start telling ourselves the same types of things. Before long we only know how to talk ourselves out of being able to attempt something great and we don’t even remember how to believe we can.
The key is to start making that voice a positive influence again. This is easy to say and very hard to actually do. The voice has been given so much ammo by people through the years; often even by people we trust. And we have given this voice too much leeway. We have let that voice talk us out of trying for too long. But with consistent practice we can start to make this voice work for us.
God gave each of us the gift of only being able to think one thought at a time. For one thought to enter your conscious mind another must leave. So you have to practice choosing and listening to that voice you had when you were younger. The one that always told you that you could do it. With daily practice this encouraging voice will get louder and the other voice will have to remain quiet.
So start a workout program, surround yourself with encouraging people, and stop telling yourself you can’t. You will have a new self-confidence before you know it.
Final thought:[Tweet theme=”tweet-box-normal-blue”] Confidence is the best wardrobe choice you can make. Put it on like an undershirt; wear it like an overcoat.[/Tweet]
