10 ways to build confidence

Hello, Storytime readers around the world. Today I want to share with you the 10 ways you can build confidence. Confidence is very important in life. Having confidence means that you have faith in your own abilities. Having faith in yourself will make you more assertive in life. Being assertive is a skill that one must develop in order to realize the goals that we have set for ourselves. Believing in yourself puts power into your personal brand. After all if you don't have faith in your own abilities how can you expect others to support what you stand for? Being confident should be a basic skill. Yet so many of us struggle with this because we value other people their opinions more than that we value the potential of our own capabilities. In this article, I will teach you 10 ways to build more confidence in life.

1. Accept yourself

If you want to be more confident in life you should first accept yourself for who you are on the inside and the outside. Be comfortable with the person that you are. Because you're the only person that will be there for you at all times. Other people come and go. We lose and gain friends, we fall out of contact with family members and sometimes we even lose touch with our loved ones over disputes. This is a part of life that we must accept. Throughout this entire process, the only person who you can count on being there for you is yourself. Accepting who you are means loving the person you are despite the scars that you gained or the difficulties that you have faced. If you can't love yourself you make it difficult for others to love you as well. Accept the flaws and mistakes in your life while realizing that you are only human. Therefore you can't be too harsh on yourself. Don't place impossible standards for yourself. Recognize the amazing person that you are and appreciate the individual that has been shaped through experience.

 

2. Love yourself

When you accept who you are, it's time to show yourself the love that you deserve. Practice self-love. How you treat yourself tells others everything that they need to know about how you want to be treated. Be as patient with yourself as you are with others. Be understanding towards your own nature and actions. Give yourself the warmth and attention that you deserve. If you feed yourself with positivity and love, you will have more faith in yourself. Say kind words to yourself because you deserve compliments as well. Appreciate the person living inside of you. By practicing self-love you will become more focused on who you are and how you can improve yourself, this will help you gain the confidence that you need to achieve your goals. It will remove doubts and internal obstacles from your path. Be kind to your soul. Feed your mind with positivity and the results will be seen in your productivity.

 

3. Respect yourself

Self-respect is a key ingredient when it comes to building confidence. Respect the person that you are, this will make you more considerate of how the daily actions that you take have an influence on your mental and physical health.  When you respect yourself it becomes easier to place boundaries. When you place healthy boundaries people will appreciate you and show respect to you. If you don't you will soon find out that a lot of people can take advantage of you. The beautiful thing about self-respect is that you don't give anyone else the power to belittle you because you are aware of your worth. When you know your value and show proper respect towards it no-one can treat you like an object. Instead, they have the recognize the self-respecting individual that they are dealing with.

 

4. Value your time and energy     

 Value your time and energy. I had to learn this the hard way. If you don't value your time and energy you will put it into the wrong things. Life is short therefore we must see the time and energy that we have as investments. When we are handling money we are always careful of how we spend it. If you respect yourself you will learn to value the time and energy that you have. Don't invest your time and energy into undeserving relationships. Invest in yourself as well. When you aren't investing enough time and energy into yourself, you will end up losing. If you aren't on your own team then it isn't a good thing.  You can't give more to others than you give to yourself. Or else you will feel drained. No-one and absolutely no-one can profit from a drained, empty and tired vessel. You must stand strong on your own feet and appreciate your time and energy. Time and energy have always been valuable concepts. Handle them wisely and you will become more confident in the actions that you undertake. Because then you know that you aren't wasting your time and energy.

 

5. Surround yourself with positive people

 

Keep the right people in your circle. In the words of Pitbull: " Show me your friends and I'll show you your future".  Build meaningful relationships in your life. Be involved with people who will support you, give you love, and motivate you. The haters are sometimes right under our nose. Don't keep negative energy in your circle. Stick to those who will give you honest insights, respect, and value you. Bad friends will break your self-esteem and take advantage of you while holding you behind. Real friends will respect your vision and contribute to your growth. They will build your self-esteem because at the end of the day at least you know that you are capable of surrounding yourself with caring, loving, and supportive people. Remember everyone can be kind but not everyone can be caring.

 

6. Learn how to let go 

Bad things happen all the time, and I can understand how that can make you feel sad. The world is often filled with negative events. But don't let that make you feel depressed. You can be a change, it all starts with ourselves. How we let the negative events in our life affect us, ultimately shapes our character. I know this easier said than done. But you have to learn to let go. Take along the lessons that you learn and then pick yourself up again. The strong people have become strong for a reason. You can't be a warrior without having a single battle scar to show for. Holding on to bitterness, anger, and frustration isn't healthy. We must learn to forgive in the same way that we want to be forgiven. We must let go so that we can continue on our life path without carrying a heavy burden along. Free your soul, heart, and mind from all the heavy chains that you carry around. That way you let go of a lot of pain and insecurity inflicted by yourself and others. The moment you let go of this pain and these insecurities you make room for confidence. Because then you realize that if you have survived all the battles that you have faced, you have no reason to doubt yourself. A lack of self-doubt is the presence of confidence.

7. Build positive habits

Building positive habits will keep you motivated and confident in life. When you practice positive habits it will have an effect on your self-esteem.  When you know that you are capable of building and sustaining good habits you will no longer have doubts in yourself and therefore you will let go of limiting beliefs that often keep your potential boxed in.  Start small,  habits are built through repetition of daily tasks.  If you can maintain and build these habits it also becomes easier to replace negative behavioral habits with positive ones. This will give you power over your own life. You are after all responsible for the actions that you undertake. Having this power over your life will make it easier for you to introduce the change that you need into your daily routine.

8. Practice discipline 

Discipline is important as well when it comes to building confidence in life. Discipline will ensure that you can enforce positive behaviors and changes in your life. Discipline is what will make sure that you don't give up on your own dreams.  Discipline brings the needed structure for building these dreams into your reality.  Be the master of your life and uphold the values that you wish to live by. This will make you confident in who you are and what you stand for. Others might doubt you, but you know the potential and value of your core and you are capable of using discipline as a tool to realize your potential and value. Practice discipline and use it to ensure your own personal development.

9. Identify and enforce healthy boundaries

Placing boundaries means recognizing your limitations and enforcing them. When you identify boundaries you know what you are and aren't willing to tolerate from yourself and those around you. Upholding those boundaries means that you learn to say no when you need to. Having boundaries can be a guideline for you to do what is right for your own mental and emotional health. If you won't stand up for yourself who will? Identify your boundaries and write them on a list in your personal development diary. Having boundaries builds confidence because it helps remind you who you are and enables you to make decisions in your own interest as well. You become more confident in who you are and what you want. Placing boundaries requires a lot of self-love.

10. Remind yourself of the positive 

Another way to build confidence is to keep reminding yourself of the positive things. This could be past achievements, the progress that you are currently making, and the way you used the abilities that you possess.  When you remind yourself of the positive you are building confidence. When you know that you've overcome previous obstacles, achieved goals that you had set for yourself in the past, or are making progress on new goals you become more confident with the person that you are and the abilities that you possess.  Having confidence will make it easier for you to have enough faith in yourself to continue on your life path. Being confident will provide you the motivation that you need to keep going no matter how tough the going gets.

These are 10 ways to build confidence, use them wisely. I hope they are as useful for you as they are for me. Until next time in Storytime. Don't forget to subscribe to Storytime if you want to stay updated on new stories and feel free to share this article with your friends and loved ones. Good luck on your journey!