Even people with the highest self-esteem can have moments of doubt and criticize themselves, but they usually don’t let these thoughts determine their overall view of themselves. However, highly sensitive and introverted people may have a more difficult time cultivating a confident feeling since they tend to hold other’s opinions in high regard and internalize their struggles.
No matter which group you fall into, you can use these tricks of the trade to quickly boost your confidence, even when you feel your lowest.
Here are 5 ways to look (and feel) more confident:
1. Put a smile on your face. 🙂
Even if you feel highly insecure at the moment, just notice how your mood changes by simply smiling at other people. Or, if you are alone, smile at yourself in the mirror. Smiling not only improves your mood instantly, but it also works magic in relieving stress, improving the immune system, makes you look younger and more attractive, and releases serotonin. Who knew smiling had so many benefits?
You can easily trick your brain with this powerful technique, because by smiling, you will start to feel better and even encourage others around you to smile, too. If you smile at life more, it will start providing you with even more reasons to be happy, so don’t forget to wear a smile today!
2. Hold your head up high wherever you go.
I’m sure you’ve heard to “keep your chin up” whenever you feel down about life, but this old saying actually holds water in increasing confidence levels. If you walk around with your head down and avoid making eye contact with people, you will naturally feel self-conscious and disconnected from everyone around you. To instantly increase your self-esteem, pick your head up and make eye contact with people.
Keeping your head down gives off the vibe that you want to hide yourself from others and feel uncomfortable talking to them; simply looking around at the world around you and engaging with it will help you feel more confident.
3. Visualize a more confident you in the future.
One easy way to boost self-confidence is to picture how you would look and feel by acting more assertive in situations where you normally feel out of place and uncomfortable. If you have a speech coming up in school and know that you normally stutter and turn red in front of a crowd, simply change your mode of thinking. You can alter the future by changing your thoughts now, so imagine yourself talking confidently and expressing yourself easily during your speech. The more you develop these types of thoughts in your head, the more you will see them come to life.
4. Go for a jog or bike ride.
Exercise doesn’t just benefit people physically; it also enhances the mind and spirit due to endorphins and other feel-good chemicals released every time you move your body. If you don’t like biking or jogging, do any other sort of activity that you can really get into and commit to doing on a regular basis. Once you start noticing the physical changes taking place, it will make you feel more confident in yourself because of the accomplishments you’ve made in transforming your mind, body, and soul.
Not to mention, learning new techniques and mastering the correct form in your exercise of choice will help you develop gratitude for your body’s incredible ability to adapt to new movements.
5. Get out of your head and into your heart.
If you fixate on yourself too long, you will start to create problems that probably weren’t even there in the first place. Instead of preoccupying yourself with all of your supposed shortcomings, develop compassion for yourself and realize that others probably struggle with some of the same insecurities as well. Remember that we came into this world full of nothing but love, so work on cultivating that feeling once again within yourself and learn to become your own best friend. Appreciate all of your unique personality traits, quirks, and habits, and cut yourself some slack.
Also, try to keep a fairly busy schedule so that you don’t have too much time to sit around and think; too much thinking can easily backfire if you have nothing else to occupy your time. Consider joining local classes or groups that reflect your interests, or just try something new to see how you like it. Being able to express yourself and connect with others who have similar interests will make you feel like part of a group and help you increase your confidence levels.
Community
