It’s difficult for me to say whether people are losing confidence or growing in confidence. Regardless, confidence is a topic that will come up time and time again and will never go away as long as humans are in touch with their emotions. Before I continue I would like to say that my self-published book Understand Reach Expand: 15 Super Effective ways to Manage your Mind touches on this point in detail! You can BUY it here.

Confidence is defined as the feeling or belief that one can have faith in or rely on someone or something. So to have confidence in oneself is to believe in yourself and accept that you can BE, DO or HAVE something. This is important to understand that it is a form of acceptance, but in order to accept something you need to recognize something as being valid or correct, and with validation comes having a sound basis in logic and fact. If you’re smart, you’ll realize I’m using the logic of the dictionary to explain how confidence works. Here are some things to remember when thinking about how you can improve your confidence.

 

1. Have a Clear vision

Having a clear vision of your future is important because it shapes everything you do. Your imagination needs to be so aligned to your vision that your daily actions need to express this vision. Write down a list of things that you want from your life, and accompany this list with a description of what life would be like if you were to experience this in reality. Vision casting can be supplemented by a vision board that has different images of things that represent your vision. Make it clear and keep it vivid.

2. Record your Past Successes

We believe that we are worthless at times, simply because we have forgotten what we have achieved in life. In your journal or on your phone, write down a list of the following:

• Your Qualifications
• Your Experience in a niche field
• Your Expertise
• Any other achievements

This will remind you of how great you are, and help you reminisce on the times that have molded and shaped you into the person you are today.

3. Write down your lessons

Everyone has experienced different things in life, and our ability to learn from these lessons is what makes us great human beings. List down your memorable experiences and focus on what you have learned from each one. The understandings you have drawn from these experiences in form of lessons will help you value your life more, and push you to become confident.

4. Become an Expert

Knowledge is not power, knowledge is only knowledge. Being an expert is power because it means you can influence people based on what you know and based on what people perceive of you. This can be developed through reading avidly on a chosen industry, doing a profession over a number of years, and taking qualifications that give your social proof. The more you do these things, the more of an expert you are. These days the best way to be an expert is to organize what you know as much as possible and provide a product or service to a group of people.

5. Stay Healthy and Strong

When you’re healthy you’re confident. Make sure you go to the gym regularly, like 3 – 5 times a week and stick to a routine that will you help you with your physical and health goals. Accompany this with a good diet i.e. less white sugars and more whole foods. More vegetables on your plate and more water; replace sweet snacks with nuts, fruits, and creative nibbles. I have realized that having the right snacks makes a huge difference. Personally following this simple formula I have lost a stone in 6 weeks!

6. Dress the part

The clothes you wear represents your alter-ego or your secondary persona. People identify you with the clothes you wear. Get familiar with a specific and unique style, and keep up that style not just for others but for yourself. Confidence can be developed when the clothes you wear help you believe that you are the part. Keep your appearance clean and on-point and your confidence will soar!

7. Prepare for every situation

Most of the time, confidence comes from preparation. Learn to prepare and plan everything, and you will feel more confident in what you do. When you do this, people will believe in you, making you believe in yourself. Most people do not prepare for anything, and therefore wing-it. Whenever you get into a new situation or have to do something, prepare for the situation. Planning and preparation will make you win!

8. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations

And finally, tell yourself that you will put yourself in situations that make you uncomfortable for the experience. The experience is valuable because it means that you now know how something works. The more you do this, the more resourceful and equipped you are. So learn to be a dare-devil and put yourself in uncomfortable situations to help you develop and grow.