How to Build Confidence (8 Proven Ways To Boost Your Self-Confidence)

Introduction

Confidence is one of the most important things that you must have whenever you do anything or whenever you step out in the external world. Many successful people give credit for their success to their self-confidence. But very few people know how to build confidence. We need to work on different things that feed our passion and make us feel happy and proud of who we are. There are eight proven ways to boost your self-confidence.

8 Proven Ways to Boost Your Self-Confidence

1) You Celebrate Yourself: Many people have very low self-esteem and they focus only on things that they did wrong. Thus, they constantly compare themselves with others and have a hard time celebrating themselves even after accomplishing something amazing. Despite being incredibly talented and ambitious, you might still lack the confidence to realize your goals. You need to learn to celebrate yourself and take out time to reflect on all the hard work that you put in accomplishing your goals.
2) Learn Something New: Most People with low self-confidence hardly take any risk and generally stay within their comfort zone but it might be the reason for your low self-confidence. Acquiring new skills gives you a sense of purpose and accomplishment. By overcoming an unfamiliar challenge, you gain a very different sense of pride that will stay with you for years to come. You need to develop faith in yourself as this faith will give you the confidence to keep moving even when you fail. You may discover a new passion as well in the process. 

Watch this video to learn important lessons from Mahabharat:

3) Smell Great: Smell plays a huge mental and physical in our lives. The sense of smell can completely change the mood of a person. We even tend to link certain smells to the memorable times of our lives. The University of Liverpool discovered in a study in 2009 that different smells affect both our self-confidence and our self-esteem. Male participants were given different types of deodorants by the researchers and on the next day, they assessed the self-confidence of each group. It was found that the men who had the better deodorant had a higher positive self-image. Just by caring a little more about your scent, you can quickly boost your confidence.
4) Watch less TV: It was found in a study found that the number of hours you spend watching TV directly influences your self-worth and lowers your self-esteem. The shows that you're watching, be it reality TV dramas or sitcoms, it does not matter. Watching too much TV kills our confidence. This is because it lowers the motivation of a person. People who watch tons of TV hardly maintain a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and maintain long-term goals. It even tends to damage our cognitive skills such as concentration and memory. Therefore you need to limit your TV by sticking to just 1 hour a day.
5) Playing music: Many people with a lack of confidence find it difficult to express themselves. They belittle their ideas and give way to the people around them when the opportunities arise. You start expressing and giving value to your emotions by playing an instrument. You start understanding yourself and develop two vital parts of confidence, that is, self-respect and self-esteem. You also learn to recognize your worth. You can channel your feelings of frustration and fear into the music you make over time. With this, you'll start overcoming the negativity that was holding you back.
6) Exercise Daily: Daily exercise boosts your confidence in very little time as it affects your physical health and every other aspect of your well-being. It fills you with energy and helps you strengthen your body. Your brain releases ‘Endorphins’ that are the natural painkillers in times of physical stress which improve your mood and self-esteem. Whenever you feel low in the morning, as little as 15 minutes of exercise can completely lift your mood. Your brain will even feel more focused and efficient. It strengthens our bodies, sharpens our minds, and helps us accomplish our goals simultaneously. 

7) Make an Avatar: For years, people assumed that playing video games makes you unhealthy, sad, and insecure. Creating a virtual avatar is like having an ideal self which is the projection of who we aspire to be. This avatar has accomplished your goals, has overcome your obstacles, and can do whatever you wish you could do in real life. Some People may argue that such a game distorts reality but this study illustrates the exact opposite. But you should always practice moderation so that you can use this game to build your self-esteem without losing sight of your goals.
8) Be helpful: When we help people, our brains release 3 different neurotransmitters namely; dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin that gives us a warm energetic feeling, boost our mood and help us feel proud. It motivates us by helping us learn, rewarding our brains, and making us feel capable, safe, and valued. We feel good and experience a rush of positivity that makes us feel significant and valuable. You help people by helping them and making yourself feel good but it’s alright to find the self-worth you've been lacking by helping others.

Summary

Self-confidence simply means having faith in yourself. It is both, the result of our upbringing and teaching that we’ve got. The above-mentioned tips help us build our self-confidence. They affect our beliefs about ourselves and other people. Confidence is the result of our experiences in life and our reactions to different situations. If followed properly, these steps can help you take your confidence to the next level.