“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind.” - Bernard M. Baruch
Confidence is the ability to accept yourself for who you really are; flaws and all. Once you have confidence, fear of failure will become less and less an issue. Your self-reassurance will dominate your fears, and that is when you will start to explore, take risks, and achieve great things.
Here are 5 confidence boosting actions that are my favorites; and if you do at least one or two of them consistently, you will see and feel the difference for sure:
1. Have a daily goal
It doesn’t have to be a complicated goal, and even one goal per day would do. The point is, once you set a goal for the day and set aside the time to work towards accomplishing that goal, you are also working towards boosting your confidence day by day.
2. Dress up
Based on experience and observation, it is safe to say that if you dress nicely, you will automatically feel good about yourself. “Look the part” and you’re half way there, right? By dressing nicely, you’ll feel successful and presentable, and that is like having half the job done.
3. Work or volunteer with children
As Barrie Davenport puts it, if you want to feel immediately successful and appreciated, volunteer with children. Children have immediate acceptance and joy. And working with them or teaching them is incredibly fulfilling.
4. Speak slowly
Have you noticed that people with authority usually speak slowly? Usually, a person who feels that he or she is not worth listening to, will speak quickly. Because he/she doesn’t want to keep others waiting on whatever he/she is saying. Even if you don’t feel confident, try speaking slowly (don’t overdo it), and you once you start doing this, you will feel more confident.
5. Create something new
Try to create something new each day. There are many options: draw something, paint, write a short story, write an article, create an artifact, you get the point. Creating something, no matter how small, will give you a sense of achievement and will help a lot in boosting your confidence.
“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”
―Johann Wolfgang von Goethe