How to Boost Self-esteem and Confidence
What people think about you does not matter as much as what your mind tells you about yourself. Even if everyone regards you as a king, the moment you have low self-esteem, their praise and reverence cannot do much for you. A high self-esteem makes one confident, optimistic, and ambitious.
Having good self-esteem also promotes happiness and offers you a higher chance to succeed in life. How self-esteem boosts the chance of success is that it gives you motivation to take up responsibilities and grab opportunities. Of course, you cannot talk about a successful person without mentioning self-esteem and confidence.
These are strategies to build esteem and confidence in yourself
1. Build strong reputation:
A good reputation offers you dignity in society. It saves you from blame and social segregation that can affect your self-esteem. People who have good reputations have a greater chance to say anything and stand before anyone because they have nothing to be afraid of. They are also likely to have audience attention and recommendations that will also help them be highly revered.
2. Know the worth of your strength:
Lack of self-confidence can result from inferiority complex. The best way to win such mindset is to measure the worth of your strength. It does not matter how people regard you, there is something positive in you that makes you unique. Always let that one thing be the reason you act strong.3. Dress well and look neat:
“How you dress is how you will likely be addressed”. Ensure that you improve your dressing and add more to your wardrobe. When you are poorly dressed, there is bound to be a negative emotion when you come across people who dress very well. Good clothes do not need to be expensive.
A well-ironed cheap cloth can make you highly esteemed over dirty clothes adorned with diamonds.
In addition, ensure that you look neat. Always take care of your hairs, nails, and every part of your body. How you appear affects how you feel about yourself and how people feel about you. This makes neat looking one way to boost self-esteem and confidence.
A well-ironed cheap cloth can make you highly esteemed over dirty clothes adorned with diamonds.
In addition, ensure that you look neat. Always take care of your hairs, nails, and every part of your body. How you appear affects how you feel about yourself and how people feel about you. This makes neat looking one way to boost self-esteem and confidence.
4. Advance your skill and/or academic status:
One good thing about going to school is that it gives you the confidence to take on any task and responsibility. When you achieve greatly academically, you can confront anyone without feeling shy. Same applies when you know what you are doing in case of skills. Those who have been left behind by their mates and peers find it hard to build self-esteem. Sometimes the society may not even look down on you but you will be the one to score down yourself. Also, advancing your existing skills gives you more confidence to defend yourself anywhere.
5. Don’t compare yourself with others:
What people with low self-esteem fail to understand is that there is no level of success that can make them above everyone else. When you get to where you felt was the highest level, you are likely going to realize that there is someone else above you. Therefore, do not look down on yourself because a certain person has gone far above you. Even if you are to make such comparison, also remember that there is someone out there that cannot get to your current position. The key here is to appreciate your successes instead of making negative comparisons. You also need to discipline yourself and change your mentality.
6. Take on challenges:
Running away from challenges humbles your ego and creates unnecessary fear of failure. When you face difficult situations, you are building confidence to withstand similar situations in future. The advantage of taking this step is that your experience will help mold your mind against weakness associated with lack of confidence.
7. Create and add value:
Adding value promotes your worth and esteem. When you and the people around you know that you have a good value or contribution, they will respect you. People who do not add value whether in family, organization, or society feel useless and lack confidence in whatever they do. You can add value by searching for answers that can bring solutions to relevant problems in society. One way is to engage in charity, offer services, teach others, or just engage in voluntary activities that impact lives.
8. Speak good about yourself and others:
Our mind is a very powerful aspect of our existence. It does not only shape how you think, but how you act and react. Instead of always defining yourself with negative clauses, try to add positive words to your vocabulary. You can follow our positive affirmations guide, or simply try being careful about what you say about yourself. When you continuously tell people or yourself that you are ugly, you are indirectly building a negative feeling that can affect your self-esteem and confidence.
9. Fantasize your future through goal setting:
If there is something that kills confidence more, it is a lack of clear goals. People who cannot see their tomorrow above their current status cannot have confidence in themselves. Set goals and imagine yourself accomplishing those goals. This will make you more optimistic, and optimism is one way to build confidence and self-esteem.
10. Monitor physical health and body shape:
Most people who are either emaciated or obese feel less confident. This is simply because their body does not appear the way they want them, not because anyone actually mocks them. One way to build self-esteem is to offer yourself an appearance that you think you can appreciate. Do you think looking fatter will make you feel good about yourself? Then eat more but let it not be an unhealthy habit. Do you think you want to look slimmer? Then do something about it. You can achieve these by taking care of your health, doing exercise, resting properly, drinking enough water, and eating good food.
Related: Why you need to drink enough water
11. Stay informed:
Those who are highly informed find it easy to engage and lead conversations, as well as feeling confident within. Information opens one's eyes and improves their decision-making potential. They also feel good about themselves over those who are not aware of what is going on around them.
12. Protect your mental health:
Negative thoughts and influences can negatively influence your self-esteem. That is why having a sound mind and good mental health can help you feel confident and positive all the time. One way to stay on this track is to work towards your mental well-being.
13. Upgrade your financial status:
Money plays vital role in our lives and our society. It can shape how regard ourselves and how we feel about ourselves. Someone who is financially stable has more confidence and high self-esteem than a broke person. Therefore, to boost your self-esteem and become more confident, you have to upgrade your personal finances. You can get a new job, learn skills that can bring you passive income, or turn your existing hobbies into an income-generating venture.
Abas Obot
Abasiama Akpan (pen name: Abas Obot) is a creative writer who aims to inspire, inform and educate his audience. His major focus is on human capital development, forged by his educational background, passion, experience, and personal objectives. Founder: Inspired Scoop and Knowledge Trend Media. Social handle @Abasdgreat facebook twitter instagram linkedin email
