Ten Ways to Develop Self-Confidence

We all want to look and feel good about ourselves, but this can be tough to do for some. Feeling confident can be a huge challenge and a lack of confidence can really limit you in life. Fortunately, you can boost your confidence quickly and easily by making a few changes.

Give Yourself Credit

• Think about your accomplishments, your positive personality traits and the things you enjoy about your life. Make a list of things you have done. Do not discount these things and instead, remind yourself of them when you feel down. This reminds you that you have plenty of reasons to feel confident and happy.

Accept Your Faults

• Accepting fault in yourself is important. We all have things we would like to change, but no one is perfect. If you only see your faults, it can challenge your confidence and limit your potential. Build your confidence to achieve goals and enjoy life.

Positive People

• Surround yourself with positive people. Negativity tends to bring not only the negative person down, but all the people around them. Having happy, encouraging people in your life influences you in a positive way and helps you with your confidence.

Change Your Attitude

• Many people only see the negative side of things. Force yourself to see the positive, even when it seems nonexistent. Feeling confident starts with the right attitude.

Support

• Everyone has bad days or makes mistakes. It is during these times that we need good friends and family members to help us through. When you are feeling less than confident, reach out to someone you care about and trust to remind you of how special you are.

Dress the Part

• Feeling good can simply come from looking good. This is why people wear "power suits" to important meetings. Wear clothes that you feel good in and that accentuate your style and personality. You may even want to try a new hairstyle or treat yourself to a manicure.

Help Others

• Being kind to others can be quite rewarding and can help boost your confidence. Hold a door open for a stranger or volunteer your time at a shelter. Being helpful to others can make you feel more productive and useful, which will make you feel better about yourself as well.

Believe in Yourself

• If you don't believe in yourself, who will? You should constantly tell yourself that you are an important and wonderful person. If you have a large task ahead of you, tell yourself that you can do it. Keep telling yourself these things and you will find that eventually, you believe them.

Accept Compliments

• When you are not feeling your best, compliments can go completely disregarded. A perfect stranger may say say something nice about your new shoes or haircut, but if you feel bad about yourself, you might not notice or brush it off. Pay attention to them and graciously accept compliments.

Use Your Talents

• Think of something you are good at and do it. If you are a great artist, draw a picture. If you are a great cook, make dinner for friends. Do things that you not only enjoy but are also good at to naturally boost your mood and help you feel better about yourself.