Self-confidence is a belief in yourself and what you want in life, based on an implicit trust in your own abilities to deal with the things that come your way in life. You will discover that with better self-confidence, you will have a more positive mindset and have more faith in your actions and choices, despite what others may have to say about you. Self confidence can be developed, so fret not if you discover that you are lacking in it. With some practice and the following 5 steps, you will find yourself building up your self-confidence!

Step 1: Shun away from pessimistic statements about yourself. The comments that you make about yourself or to yourself, has a large influence on your self-confidence. If you are thinking negative thoughts, it will lead to negative feelings about your situation and yourself. You may not realise it, but negative or self-depreciating comments over time will erode your self-confidence.

Step 2: Identify your own issues. Ponder over your strengths and how you can play to them, as well as your weak points and how you can improve upon them. Do not let your ego obstruct you from over inflating your strengths, nor in downplaying your weaknesses.

Step 3: Self-Affirmation. Just as it is essential to avoid negative thoughts, positive thinking is encouraged and has uplifting effects on your feelings and confidence. Make a list of your achievements, no matter its magnitude and acknowledge them. The power of the mind cannot be underestimated. If you desire something strongly enough, let it be the motivating force.

Step 4: Believe in yourself. Beliefs are things that we know to be true, and accept as the truth without further questioning or considering it. Believe that you can do what someone else can do, and you will be able to achieve it as well. The catch for having such a level of self-confidence, for the previous statement to be true is that you have to first start believing in yourself so as to empower it. Hence, controlling what you believe is the key towards creating a life that you wish to have.

The key to building self-confidence is to trust in yourself. If you have trouble doing something new, it is not wrong to initially stick with what you’re familiar with. This will help you feel more confident, and assures yourself to go ahead onto something new. By going into something new with an optimistic attitude and belief in your abilities, you will find it easier to be confident and act confident. As time passes, you will discover that your comfort zone will have increased significantly, as will your self-confidence.

Step 5: Perseverance. We will definitely encounter setbacks in life and we must learn to be more resilient in order to make a comeback from these. When things go awry, it is fine to be tough with yourself if you were the cause of it. The key is not in just taking or laying the blame, but in figuring out what went wrong and how you can make it right again. If the problem is something outside the scope of your control, it was not your fault in the first place. Do not let the downs in life get to you.

Take the time to ponder over what happened, and how you can prevent it from occurring again. If you feel that you are in need of a confidence boost, have a chat with your friends and your family to put things into perspective.

Take the time to constantly practice these 5 simple steps, and you will be well on your way to building up your self-confidence. Meet your problems head on and learn how to deal with different situations. It is normal to be fearful, or to fail, the key is to keep moving forward and work on improving your self-confidence.