7 Ways to Boost Your Self Confidence

Confidence is key to being successful in any industry or career. Low self-confidence can result in decreased productivity and lower quality work by making you doubt and question your abilities. Lacking self-confidence not only can have an impact on your current role but can also impact a future as well. If you’re not confident, you won’t be able to grow personally and professionally. Don’t be your own biggest obstacle to achieving your goals. Focus on these seven ways to boost your self-confidence and you will surely achieve your goals.

VISUALIZE
Visualizing your ideal life is a great way to motivate yourself to achieve your goals. Additionally, visualizing positively is a great way to actualize higher self-confidence. When we have low self-confidence or self-esteem it's usually because we have a negative perception of ourselves. Change your mindset and the outcome will change.

AFFIRM
Your own self-talk can be incredibly helpful at curating a more positive self-image. While it may feel silly at first, try saying several positive and uplifting statements directed at yourself out loud. Practicing positive self-talk is an excellent way to increase self-confidence. Affirming and reaffirming these statements helps to ingrain them into your mind and your being. That way they no longer become just statements, they become your reality. 

SET YOURSELF UP TO WIN
Always set yourself up to win. Repeated failure is a major cause of lowered self-confidence. While setting high goals is admirable, setting unachievable goals and repeatedly failing to meet them can be toxic to your self-confidence. Setting yourself up for success and then actually succeeding can help maintain and build upon the success of that win.

CARE FOR YOURSELF
Taking care of yourself should always be your number one priority, both physically and mentally. Many athletes follow the mantra look good, feel good, play good. This mantra can be applied to anyone’s life — athlete or not. Dress up for work, even if you work from home. Take your personal hygiene seriously. Not only will this garner respect from your peers, clients and colleagues, but it will add self-respect into the mix as well.

SET SMALLER GOALS
Do you ever get that giddy feeling when you finally achieve something after working long and hard for it? Achieving your goals is the perfect way to achieve this feeling. However, don’t get stuck creating large milestones that take a long time to achieve. Setting small goals to achieve daily, weekly or monthly, in addition to your long-term goals, provides motivation, direction and guidance to your life. Subsequently, achieving these small goals will give you that same giddy satisfaction you get from achieving a large goal. This happiness and excitement help lead to an increased sense of self confidence as a result of the personal success.

SMILE
Happy people are confident people. Studies show that people who actively smile are generally happier people. While this advice may be frowned upon, fake it till you make it. Even if you don’t feel the happiest, if you actively smile, it's highly likely that you'll actually become happier as a result. Happy people are healthy people. Healthy people are confident people.

CREATE PERSONAL BOUNDARIES
Learn how to say no. Being a yes man isn't the key to happiness and confidence in life. Saying yes too much exposes you to people abusing your availability and kindness, which can be stressful. Be selective about what you take on in your life. Apply this in all facets of your life from work to personal. Being more selective and creating personal boundaries teaches others to respect you. Demanding respect feeds your self-confidence.

Increasing your self-confidence can add numerous benefits to both your personal and professional life. By implementing these seven habits into your lifestyle, you'll subsequently live a happier, healthier, and more successful life.