How to Raise Self-Confidence

A lack of self confidence is a stumbling block that interferes with a person's professional and personal life. This can easily lead to frustration, disappointment and depression. Self-confidence and the general sense of self are complicated issues that are affected by a number of different elements such as good mental health, physical fitness and other people. Life is a learning process, and self-knowledge is part of this process. Maintaining a healthy sense of self and self-confidence takes work and effort.

Instructions

• 1

  Adopt a thoughtful and reflective attitude. According to the Greek philosopher Socrates, self-knowledge is essential for living the good life. Socrates phrased this in terms of an imperative: "Know thyself." Self-knowledge comes through thought, reflection, and taking stock of who you are, where you are headed and why you choose certain paths over others. Thinking and reflecting about yourself is a revelatory process that's informative and helpful in building self-confidence.

• 2

  Set up a good diet and daily exercise regimen. Physical fitness affects everything else. It not only improves your physical appearance, but it also relieves stress and tension, helps to clean your cluttered mind, and provides a sense of accomplishment as you see your physical fitness improve.

• 3

  Make a list of short-term and long-term goals. The fear of failure and a lack of self-confidence often inhibit people. Rather than risk failure and embarrassment, they avoid anxiety-producing activities altogether. Setting and achieving short-term goals helps to encourage and build self-confidence levels that provide the stamina necessary for achieving longer-term goals.

• 4

  Don't expect perfection or smooth sailing all the time. It is important to remember that mistakes, blunders and failures come with the territory. Avoid sullen or self-deprecating behavior when you have trouble achieving your goals. Take advantage of the situation to figure out a different approach or strategy that may enable you to achieve the goals. Perseverance is an essential key.

• 5

  Confront stressful situations head-on. A lack of self-confidence often causes people to avoid situations that make them fearful or stressed. These may include asking your boss for a raise, asking someone for a date, or sharing your ideas about a specific topic with a group of people. Remaining silent and not dealing with the situation only contributes to a lack of self-confidence. Dealing with stressful situations helps to build self-confidence, even if the end-result is not what you want.

• 6

  Treat other people with kindness and respect. Our sense of self is dependent in part upon how other people view and regard us. Kindness and respect is usually reciprocated. Feeling self-confident depends not only on ourselves but on the way other people treat us.