Tips to Build Self-Confidence

A lack of self-confidence can lead to poor decision making in career choices, relationships and money management. It can even lead to self-destructive behavior, according to financial expert and inspirational speaker J.D. Roth. Roth suggests that fear is the enemy of confidence. To successfully build confidence, you must simultaneously overcome your fears.

Act Confident

• Dressing well, speaking clearly, making eye contact with others, sitting in the front of the room and smiling are the behaviors of a confident person. Emulating these behaviors, even if they don't come to you naturally, will help you feel more confident. An article published by the "Psychology Today" website suggests scheduling social engagements into your life as an act of confidence. Waiting until you feel confident before planning dates and other social outings is counterproductive. Participating in those activities creates the opportunity to see how confident people behave and gives you a model from which to learn.

Concentrate on Success

• Dwelling on past mistakes is a sure way to feed the fear of failure and sabotage confidence. Reflecting on success builds confidence and keeps your thoughts positive. Writing a list, or even a formal document of successes, provides you with a tool to reflect on during times when negative thoughts are rampant. Understand that failure happens to everyone, not just you. Focusing on successes will help you be more resilient when the inevitable rejections occur.

Set a Goal

• Goal setting provides a practical, step-by-step process to build confidence. Keeping goals realistic and achievable is key to attaining them. Writing for Zen Habits, Leo Babuta suggests setting goals that can be accomplished with steps. The goal to "spend less money" is more productive when it is accompanied by a list of actionable steps, such as setting up automatic payments for credit cards to eliminate late charges and making coffee at home. When goals are broken down into many small steps, you have more opportunities to experience success and build confidence.

Imagine a Positive Outcome

• Visualizing or imagining a successful outcome can help you overcome discomfort in social and business situations. Seeing yourself on a date with a person your attracted to or sitting in the office at your new job establishes the possibility of that success in your mind and allows you to mentally practice how you might act and feel in the situation.

Practice Personal Integrity

• Having personal integrity means doing the right thing even when there is no one around to praise you for it. The knowledge that you are an ethical person who follows a code of ethics may help you feel proud of who you are.

Help Others

• One single action can change negative thinking, put your own problems in perspective and make you feel better about yourself -- that is, to help those less fortunate than you are. Volunteering at a church, a shelter or a community program builds self-confidence by placing you in a variety of social situations where your abilities are valued and makes you feel good about yourself.