Are you a confident person? Can you say, without hesitation, that you’re secure within yourself and that the opinions of others don’t bother you? If you can, that’s absolutely great and you should congratulate yourself. If you can’t, the good news is that you’re not alone.
Everyone has confidence issues. Your friends, your family – hell, we bet there’s even days when the almighty Beyoncé feels a little self-conscious and not as fierce as she usually is.
So if confidence is something you struggle with, how can you boost it? We’ve all read the books and articles that encourage you to engage in complex steps to boost your self-esteem and this isn’t an article about bending over backwards to make yourself feel better.
This is a short, sweet article about simple confidence boosting exercises that will happily slot themselves into your daily life and become part of your routine (no complex meditation or psychology involved). This is an article about confidence boosting exercises that actually work.
Give them a try. Keep and use the tips you like, discard the ones that don’t feel right with you. Practice at least one of these tips every single day and watch your confidence levels soar.
These simple tips will help you to start feeling more confident and secure instantly
Muscle Relaxation: When we feel insecure or unconfident we hold ourselves in a certain way – we tense our muscles and try to make ourselves look as small as possible. This is all a subconscious act and you may not even realise how tense you are until you consciously work at de-tensing yourself.
The next time you start feeling insecure, consciously relax all the muscles in your body one by one. You’ll immediately start feeling more relaxed, more secure and, as a result, more confident. It’s a simple trick that is worth its weight in gold.
Deep Breathing: Another thing that happens when we start feeling insecure or self-conscious is that our breathing becomes unregulated. An excellent confident booster is to take five minutes to focus on your breathing. Consciously take a few deep breaths and get your breathing back to normal. Regulate it. You will naturally start to feel more confident. Trust us.
Visualise it: If you’re feeling unconfident about some event taking place in your life (for example, giving a presentation or having to show up at a party by yourself) use the art of visualisation (or imagination) to picture events playing out exactly as you want them to. Really focus on seeing yourself giving an amazing presentation and all your colleagues standing up to applaud your ideas. Picture yourself making a fab entrance to the party and being surrounded by people who are eager to chat to you. Practice this scenario over and over in your head. It will boost your confidence, calm your nerves and make you feel better about whatever it is that you have to do.
Ignore your inner voice: So often we lose our confidence because we can’t shut out that annoying little voice in our head that makes us feel bad about ourselves (“I’m too fat, I’m a failure, I’m not good enough..” you know the one we’re talking about). The good news is that, with practice, you can ignore this voice. Every time you have a negative thought, just say “NO!” in your mind and replace it with a positive one. This is a little hard, but over time it will get easier and it is so beneficial for your mental health.
Revel in a rich life: Life is all about the moments that bring us joy, so when you experience one of these moments, truly appreciate it. When you’re surrounded by family or friends, know that these people love you for the awesome woman that you are. Allow the rush of feel-good emotions these experiences give you to boost your levels of confidence. Every time you feel low, replace these memories in your head.
