How To Be More Confident

Sometimes it can be difficult to be confident. In order to understand how to be more confident, we first need to understand what confidence is.
Healthy, strong self-confidence means feeling good about yourself and your ability to reach your goals. In other words, confidence represents your readiness to believe in yourself.
Having a balanced sense of confidence can improve your resilience, help you perform at your best, and accomplish your goals. On the other hand, low self-confidence may affect how you think and feel about yourself, causing you to experience self-critical thoughts about your skills, appearance, worth, and so on. In turn, perceiving yourself as incapable may hider your success and prevent you from attracting the positive outcomes.

We all use negative self-talk sometimes that brings down our confidence. Self-criticism may affect your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Also, self-critical thoughts can influence your life choices, prevent you from achieving your goals, and developing your potentials.
Strategies such as mindfulness meditation, positive affirmations, visualization, gratitude, and setting boundaries can help you to belt up your inner critic and become more confident.
Here are five strategies to help you change the mindset about your skills and cultivate confidence.
1. Try Mindfulness Meditation
Research has shown that mindful relaxation can improve your self-awareness, enabling you to observe your self-critical thoughts while in a state of deep relaxation. This strategy can improve your self-respect and boost confidence. Besides, regular mindfulness practice can improve your mood, enhance your optimism, and alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression.
2. Practice Positive Affirmations
Affirmations are powerful motivating messages that we send to ourselves. Studies show that these messages can boost our confidence and help establish a positive self-image. We tend to think, feel, and behave in line with our self-perception. Therefore, positive self-talk is a powerful way to improve your confidence, so start each day with positive statements about yourself such as the following:
- I am confident in my skills.
- I can achieve my goals.
- I am strong and resilient.
- I have the power to control my thoughts.
- I choose to be happy.
- I am ready for success.
- I am always growing.
- I am proud of myself.
3. Express Gratitude
A gratitude practice can be an extremely helpful tool in boosting your confidence and improving your overall well-being, gratitude studies show. A simple exercise of counting your blessings each morning or/and evening has the power to increase your self-assurance and your self-respect.
4. Practice Visualization

Visualization or mental imagery is one of the most effective strategies to attract positive outcomes and opportunities in your life. Imagine yourself as the person you want to be. This mental rehearsal practice can significantly boost your self-confidence, teach you to recognize your strengths, and help clarify your goals.
5. Create Boundaries
Setting firm, clear boundaries and requesting from others to respect them will help you to take control over your life and improve your self-confidence. If you are not sure how to set boundaries, take an assertiveness course and learn how to express your needs in a self-confident, but respectful way.