How To Boost Your Self Confidence

Feeling good about yourself is essential to the type of life that you lead. When your self confidence is high you are more likely to achieve your goals in life, whatever they may be. Ultimately, this will make you happier and make you feel better about yourself. Here are six easy ways to help you build your self confidence if you struggle with esteem issues.

1. Focus On The Good - Everyone has some things in their life that they have accomplished. Whether it's graduating from high school, getting a job, buying your own car or whatever. Start focusing on the good things that you have done in your life. This will remind you that you are a competent person and capable of achieving things.

2. Exercise - Exercising can make you feel powerful and give you a renewed sense of self worth. It also relieves stress and allows you to relax. Relaxation is essential to your self confidence because it helps you to think more clearly.

3. Live In The Moment - By living in the moment you're not focusing on what could or could not happen tomorrow or even in the next hour. Living in the moment allows you to focus on what's going on right then and there and nothing else. There is a sense of freedom and liberation in living like this which is great for your self confidence.

4. Do Something You're Good At - An instant self confidence booster is to do something you're good at. It doesn't matter if it's cleaning a room, washing a car or organizing a junk drawer. Everyone has something that they're good at. You will get an immediate sense of accomplishment during and after this task. This is great for building self confidence.

5. Dress Nicely - Grooming yourself nicely is always helpful in boosting your self confidence. This helps you to feel attractive and powerful. This is something that can be done everyday to remind yourself that you are worthy and can help you to feel stronger about your presence in the world. This doesn't necessarily mean dressing up. It just means looking clean and well groomed.

6. Do Something Good For Others - Take the focus off yourself. A lot of times we spend too much time thinking about ourselves and what we have or don't have. Doing something for others will help your self confidence by letting you know that you are capable of making a difference in someone else's life. A lot of times it will also show you that your life is not as bad as it seems.

7.  Invest in a full-length mirror. - Try on your favorite outfits and model in them. Strut your stuff. Look at yourself in the mirror. Touch your body. Talk to yourself. Stand the way you stand when you're talking to people. Really investigate yourself.

What this does is make you feel more confident when you're talking to other people because you know exactly what they see. You will learn how to 'hold yourself' and how to have a commanding presence.

8. Become aware. - While a lot of people will tell you that confidence comes from the inside, only a small portion comes from there. Humans are social creatures and we become confident mostly because of our interactions with others. You aren't looking to project confidence alone in your bedroom; you want to be confident in the world... with others!

Become aware of yourself in interactions with others. Try to put yourself in their shoes. What do they see when they look at you? What impression are you making? Though you do NOT want to live your life according to how others see you, it is wise to know how you come across so that you can create your reputation and be an effective communicator.

9. Practice saying "no". - Out-of-town family members want to drop in last minute and stay at your house rather than getting a hotel. NO!

You're already late and your child is screaming about forgetting their homework at home (after you reminded them over and over to get it) and begging you to turn around. NO!

Boss wants you to work overtime (and you're a salaried-employee) and you're feeling burnt out from the week. NO!

Exercise your "no". Stand up for yourself and your time. This is being assertive... and an excellent way to boost self-confidence

10. Face whatever scares you. - It doesn't have to be something huge like jumping out of an airplane (although that may be a great idea if you're up for it)... it could be something like really taking a look at some beliefs you hold dear.

What scares us the most is that we are afraid of making mistakes and afraid of feeling embarrassed. We don't want to admit that we might have been mistaken. We don't want to admit that "we don't really know" or "don't have it altogether". But that's all a part of growing. Get over yourself, get over your fears and start LIVING!

11. Decide to love yourself. - When you make the choice to love yourself first... everything else falls into place. You can check out www.firstloveyou.com for more information about how to love yourself. I know the author personally (ha!) and she's talking from experience. Only when you love yourself will you project self-confidence.

 
12. Pick hobbies that you love. - Have you ever wondered why some people just never seem happy? Often people never do some much needed introspection into what they truly care about. Do some searching for what you truly moves you on the inside and dive in. Find books on the subject that you enjoy reading and watch films and/or practice your passions and you will find a natural inner peace that comes from doing what you love. Motivate yourself to do something just for you each day even if it is only for a short time. This will also make you more interesting to other people and you can make friends in the process who share similar passions.

 By: ehow.com