By Andrea Burkholder

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

Your Greatest Asset — Confidence

“Only those who believe in themselves have enough optimism to see the best in those around them. Self-confidence breeds confidence in others.” – John Maxwell

Having confidence in yourself is the cornerstone of long-term success.  It requires you to be resilient, to be fearless and to have an unwavering belief in your ability to succeed.

Self-confidence takes time to build.  After all, it’s built upon a series of accomplishments you’ve experienced in life.  You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones that make you happy, make you feel proud and may even make you want to strive for more, to be your best.  Self-confidence is really a state of mind, an emotional state you have complete control over.

Walt Disney once said, “Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and consistency, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.”

Building your self-confidence level helps you achieve your goals and dreams at an accelerated rate.  As it grows, you’ll sleep better, have better interactions with others and have peace of mind.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it?  Life is short, really short.  Make sure you take the opportunity to get out there to enjoy it, to truly live it, fearlessly…

Here’s a list to help you build your self-confidence.

1- Practice Visualization – Use your imagination to project the desired outcome.  Visualization builds confidence by tapping into the law of attraction. Whatever the mind believes the mind can achieve.

2- Dress For Success – When you look and feel good, you build your confidence.  That self-confidence boost changes the way you think and interact with others, changing their perception of you.

3- Strut Your Stuff – Walk with a wide stride, arms straight, an upright posture and your shoulders back.  Walking with purpose gives others the impression you are confident and improves your personal confidence level.

4- Make Eye Contact – Keeping eye contact projects authority, strength and power.  According to study performed by Idiap Research Institute, making eye contact during conversation shows an elevated social hierarchy.

5- Smile – Smiling has a way of making your brain think you’re in a good mood.  Studies show you’ll feel more confident and come across more successful.

6- Introduce Yourself – Introducing yourself sets the tone for your interaction with others allowing you to establish a great first impression.

7- Think Positive – Positive thoughts bring about positive actions.  This optimism helps remove self-imposed road blocks making it possible to exceed goals.  Pay attention to what you’re thinking, when you notice you are having a negative thought, replace it with something positive.

8- Practice Self-Development – Self development gives you the “It” factor.  “It” is the factor that WOW’s people and attracts people to you. The “It” factor develops over time as you realize you have the ability to drive change within yourself. The more you grow, the more confident you get.

9- Smash Your Goals – Set attainable personal goals and then work to exceed them.  Compete with yourself,  break down your goals  and celebrate your victories frequently.  There is no better way to build your confidence than to smash your personal goals.

10- Show Gratitude & Keep a Gratitude Journal – In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals  felt better about their lives as a whole and were more optimistic about the upcoming week, compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

So what are the steps you are going to take to improve your self-confidence? Remember, every journey begins with a single step.  Begin you journey today!

Like what you read? See our article on Momentum here.