How to Build Self-Confidence

How to Be More Confident: 9 Tips That Work

Confidence is a feeling of trust in your abilities, qualities, and judgment. The

American Psychological Association defines self-confidence as "a belief that one is
capable of successfully meeting the demands of a task."1

It can refer to a general sense of trust in your ability to control your life, or it might
be more situation specific. For example, you might have high self-confidence in a
particular area of expertise but feel less confident in other areas. Research suggests
that confidence is important to health and psychological well-being.2

Having a healthy level of self-confidence can help you become more successful in
your personal and professional life. Research has found, for example, that more
confident people tend to achieve more academically.3 Your level of confidence even
affects how you present yourself to others.

Ways to Be More Confident

Fortunately, there are several ways you can increase your self-confidence. Whether
you lack confidence in one specific area or struggle to feel confident about anything,
these nine tips can help you be more confident.

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Do you compare how you look to people you follow on Instagram? Or maybe you
compare your salary to what your friend earns. Social comparison theory explains
that making comparisons is natural. But it isn't likely to help boost your self-
confidence. It may even have the opposite effect.

A 2018 study published in Personality and Individual Differences found a direct link
between envy and the way we feel about ourselves.4 Specifically, researchers noted
that when people compare themselves to others, they experience envy. And the more
envy they have, the worse they feel about themselves.

How do you build self-confidence when you notice that you are drawing
comparisons? First, remind yourself that doing so isn’t helpful. Everyone is running
their own race and life isn’t a competition.

If you’re feeling envious of someone else’s life, it's also helpful to remember your
own strengths and successes. Keep a gratitude journal to better recall the areas in life
where you are blessed. This can help you focus on your own life versus focusing on
the lives of others.

Surround Yourself With Positive People

Take a moment and think about how your friends make you feel. Do they lift you
up, or do they bring you down? Are they constantly judging you, or do they accept
you for who you are?

The people you spend time with can influence your thoughts and attitudes about
yourself, perhaps more than you realize. So, pay attention to how others make you
feel. If you feel bad about yourself after hanging out with a particular person, it may
be time to say goodbye.

Instead, surround yourself with people who love you and want the best for you. Seek
out others who are positive and can help build your confidence. Self-confidence and
a positive attitude go hand-in-hand.5

Take Care of Your Body

This tip for how to be more confident is based on the idea that it’s hard to feel good
about yourself if you’re abusing your body. When you practice self-care, you know
you're doing something positive for your mind, body, and spirit—and you'll naturally
feel more confident as a result.

Here are a few self-care practices linked to higher levels of self-confidence:6

• Diet: Healthy eating comes with many benefits, including higher levels of
confidence and self-esteem. When you fuel your body with nutrient-dense
foods, you feel healthier, stronger, and more energized, which can result in
feeling better about yourself.
• Exercise: Studies consistently show that physical exercise boosts self-
confidence. For instance, a 2016 study found that regular physical activity
improved participants’ body image. And when their body image improved,
they felt more confident.7
• Meditation: More than just a relaxation practice, meditation can help boost
self-confidence in several ways. For one, it helps you to recognize and accept
yourself. Meditation also teaches you to stop negative self-talk and disconnect
from unhelpful mental chatter interfering with your confidence.
• Sleep: Skimping on sleep can take a toll on your emotions. Conversely, good-
quality sleep has been linked with positive personality traits, including
optimism and self-esteem.8

Caring for yourself is important to self-confidence. Make sure you are getting what
you need to feel good about yourself and your abilities.

Be Kind to Yourself

Self-compassion involves treating yourself with kindness when you make a mistake,
fail, or experience a setback. It allows you to become more emotionally flexible and
helps you better navigate challenging emotions, enhancing your connection to
yourself and others.

A 2015 study connects self-compassion with self-confidence.9 So the next time

you're in a challenging situation, recognize that being imperfect or falling short at
times is a part of being human. Do your best to navigate these experiences with
compassion toward yourself.

Practice Positive Self-Talk

Negative self-talk can limit your abilities and lessen your self-confidence by
convincing your subconscious that you "can't handle" something or that it is "too
hard" and you "shouldn't even try."10 Self-talk that is optimistic, on the other hand,
can foster self-compassion and help you overcome self-doubt and take on new
challenges.

The next time you begin to think that you have no business speaking up in a meeting
or that you are too out of shape to work out, remind yourself that your thoughts aren’t
always accurate. Then find a way to turn those thoughts around into more positive
self-talk.

Here are a few examples of ways to challenge pessimistic self-talk and reframe your
thoughts into a more positive way of thinking, increasing your self-confidence along
the way:

• "I can't handle this" or "This is impossible" becomes "I can do this" or "All I
have to do is try."
• "I can't do anything right" becomes "I can do better next time" or "At least I
learned something."
• "I hate public speaking" becomes "I don't like public speaking" and "Everyone
has strengths and weaknesses."

Face Your Fears

Stop putting things off until you feel more self-confident—like asking someone on
a date or applying for a promotion. One of the best ways to build your confidence in
these situations is by facing your fears head-on.11

Practice facing some of your fears that stem from a lack of self-confidence. If you’re
afraid you’ll embarrass yourself or think that you’re going to mess up, try anyway.
A little self-doubt can even help improve performance.12 Tell yourself it’s just an
experiment and see what happens.

You might learn that being a little anxious or making a few mistakes isn’t as bad as
you thought. And each time you move forward, you gain more confidence in
yourself. In the end, this can help prevent you from taking risks that will result in
major negative consequences.13

Do Things You're Good At

What happens when you do things that you are good at? Your self-confidence starts
to soar. Your strengths become even stronger, which helps improve your belief in
yourself. Taking this approach also has another benefit: it can increase how satisfied
you are with your life.

One study found that believing in your ability to build on your personal strengths is
moderately related to life satisfaction levels.14 This starts with identifying what
those strengths are. Then, work to make them stronger by engaging with them
regularly.

If you're good at a certain sport, for instance, make it a point to train or play at least
once a week. If you're good at a particular task at work, try to do that task more often.
Building on your strengths can also help you build your self-confidence.

Know When to Say No

While doing things you're good at can give your self-confidence a boost, it's equally
important to recognize situations that can cause your confidence to plummet. Maybe
you find that every time you participate in a certain activity, you feel worse about
yourself instead of better.

Saying no to activities that tend to zap your self-confidence is okay. Certainly, you
don't want to avoid doing anything that makes you feel uncomfortable because
discomfort is often part of the personal growth process. At the same time, there's
nothing wrong with knowing your boundaries and sticking to them.

Setting social and emotional boundaries enables you to feel safer psychologically. It
can also help you feel more in control. Self-confidence is, in part, feeling like you
have control over your life.15 Boundaries help establish this feeling of control.

The next time someone suggests doing something that you know will lower your
self-confidence, respectfully decline. You don't have to avoid that activity forever
either. Once you learn how to be more confident, you may feel strong enough to try
it again—without hurting the confidence you have in yourself.

Set Realistic Goals

Pursuing your goals often involves failing several times until you figure out what
works. This can make you wonder if you have what it takes to succeed. It can also
leave you questioning how to be more confident while still achieving your dreams.
The answer lies in setting realistic goals.
Setting high-reaching goals and failing to achieve them has been found to damage
confidence levels.16 Conversely, realistic goals are achievable. And the more you
achieve your goals, the greater your confidence in yourself and your abilities.

To set realistic goals, write down what you want to achieve. Next, ask yourself what
chance you have of attaining it. (Be honest!) If the answer is slim to none, the goal
may be a bit too lofty. Dial it back so it is more realistic and more achievable.

This may require doing a bit of research on your part. For instance, if you have a
goal to lose weight, experts recommend losing one to two pounds per week for
healthy, long-term weight loss.17 Knowing this helps you set a goal in line with this
guideline, boosting your self-confidence when you hit it.

Press Play for Advice on Confidence

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief and therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The
Verywell Mind Podcast shares strategies that can help you learn to truly believe in
yourself, featuring IT Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima. Click below to listen
now.

Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts

Confidence vs. Insecurity

When learning how to be more confident, it can be helpful to understand how

someone with self-confidence is different from someone who is more insecure. Here
are just some of the differences between the two.

Confident People

• Celebrate other people's success

 • Open-minded
• Optimistic
• Willing to take risks
• Laugh at themselves
• Decisive
• Always learning and growing
• Admit mistakes
• Accept responsibility

Insecure People

• Judge and are jealous of others

• Close-minded
• Pessimistic
• Afraid of change
• Hide flaws
• Indecisive
• Act like a know-it-all
• Make excuses
• Blame others

Benefits of Confidence

Being confident in yourself just feels good. That said, having self-confidence can
also bring many additional benefits at home, at work, and within your relationships.
Here's a look at a few of the positive effects of learning how to be confident:

• Better performance: Rather than waste time and energy worrying that you
aren't good enough, you can devote your energy to your efforts. Ultimately,
you'll perform better when you have more self-confidence.18
• Healthier relationships: Having self-confidence not only impacts how you
feel about yourself, but it helps you better understand and love others. It also
gives you the strength to walk away from a relationship if you're not getting
what you want or deserve.
• Openness to try new things: When you believe in yourself, you're more
willing to try new things. Whether you apply for a promotion or sign up for a
cooking class, putting yourself out there is a lot easier when you have
confidence in yourself and your abilities.
• Resilience: Believing in yourself can enhance your resilience or ability to
bounce back from any challenges or adversities you face in life.
Recap

Learning how to be more confident can have a range of positive effects on your life.
In addition to helping you feel better about yourself and your abilities, self-
confidence can make your relationships stronger and make you more resilient to
stress.

A Word From Verywell

Everyone struggles with confidence issues at one time or another. Fortunately, there
are several things that you can do to boost self-confidence. In many cases, learning
how to act confident can actually help you feel more confident.

Sometimes low self-confidence is a sign of a mental health condition such as

depression or anxiety. If your self-confidence interferes with your work, social life,
or education, consider talking to a mental health professional. A therapist can help
you better understand the issue, recommend treatment, and work with you to develop
skills to build your self-confidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How can you be more socially confident?

If your confidence tends to lag in social situations, try to change your

perspective. Instead of looking at group interactions as a stressor, view them
as an opportunity to work on building your self-confidence. Taking someone
with you who makes you feel confident can also give you the self-belief
needed to feel more comfortable around groups of people.

Creating the social event yourself may help as well because you will know
what to expect and have some level of control. If social situations cause you
great anxiety along with reduced self-confidence, talking to a mental health
professional can help.

• How can you be more confident in a relationship?

One way to develop self-confidence in a relationship is to recognize your

worth. When you know the value you bring to others, it helps you feel more
confident in yourself. It can also be helpful to stay in the present and not worry
about the past or the future.
 If your lack of confidence in relationships is due to a fear of being rejected,
remember that not everyone is compatible. Just as you might not be for them,
they might also not be for you—it's nothing personal.

• How can you be more confident at work?

If your lack of confidence in the workplace is tied to concerns about your

performance, check in regularly with a superior to see how you're doing. Ask
for feedback about areas where you can improve, then work on them to feel
more confident in your duties.

It can also be helpful to consider where you excel at work and perform these
activities as often as possible. If you do make a mistake, admit it, learn from
it, and move on. No one is perfect, so you shouldn't expect yourself to be
either.

• How can you be more confident about your body?

If your self-confidence is tied to your physical appearance, developing a more

positive body image can help. Instead of focusing on areas of your body that
you dislike, spend more time appreciating the areas you feel good about.

Another tip for how to become more confident is to not compare your body to
anyone else's. No two bodies are the same and each has its own strengths.
Remember that there is room in this world for people of all shapes and sizes.

15 Tips to Build Self Esteem and Confidence in Teens

As parents, we want our teens to feel confident about who they are. We cross our
fingers that the encouragement and support we’ve given them up to this point has
been enough to build strong self-esteem.

The reality is the teenage years are full of change.

A teen's brain experiences a “reorganization” that can leave both parents and
teens feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and confused.

As teens search for their place in the world, many struggle through situations that
challenge beliefs about themselves they’ve clung to for years.
Thankfully, this doesn’t signal the end of your influence! Follow the 15 practical
and super effective tips below to help your teen grow into a strong, confident adult
with healthy self-worth.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our FREE Your
Words Matter Kit. With these 10 popular parenting guides, you will know exactly
how to speak to your children to help them develop confidence, internal motivation,
and a can-do attitude.

1. Love Unconditionally.

Make sure your teen can rest assured your love does NOT depend on their grades,
performance, friend group, college, or any other factor - including their choices or
behavior.

When we tie love to performance, we miss the essence of unconditional love - that
it is freely given because our teen is enough just as they are.

This doesn’t mean you and your teen can’t make mistakes, have bad days, or have
arguments. And, it certainly doesn’t mean you ignore abuse. It’s just a reminder the
overall message your teen should receive is: “I love you no matter what. I’m
committed to loving you through the ups and downs.”

2. Embrace a Growth Mindset in Your Home.

Many teens are stuck in a “fixed mindset” about who they are or what they can or
cannot accomplish and often feel unsure how to move forward.

Bring what you’re learning about growth mindset into your family conversations.
Talk about the brain, use words like neuroplasticity, and make observations about
areas in which you’ve seen your teen grow.

Even if your teen seems to reject it outright, sprinkle these messages into your
interactions, reminding them their abilities are not fixed, inborn, and inflexible, but
there is always room to grow and improve.

3. Make Room for Failure.

Mistakes and setbacks can crush delicate self-esteem and wreak havoc on a child’s
confidence. Your voice is essential in these situations. When you criticize, panic, or
gloss over a failure, you emphasize a fixed mindset, basically sending the message
this bump in the road is a sign there is no hope for improvement in the future.

Instead, take a deep breath and open up the conversation with your teen. Ask
questions like:

• Where did things get off track?

• What things influenced this decision?
• What did you learn from this situation?
• How are you planning to move forward in a positive direction?

The Big Life Journal - Teen Edition includes activities and advice on accepting
mistakes and how to use failures to your advantage. When teens view failures as
learning experiences, they can overcome obstacles in their paths.

4. Praise the Process and Tie it to the Outcome.

It’s easy to go overboard, gushing about your teen’s awards, accolades, and
achievements. Unfortunately, these things can become tied to their self-esteem,
causing them to feel they’re only worthwhile if they achieve.

On the flip side, they aren’t worthwhile if they fall short or fail. Instead, congratulate
your teen’s accomplishments, milestones, and growth by emphasizing their hard
work, effort, and perseverance.

Focusing on the characteristics that got them to this point will help them make the
connection between their effort and the result.

Effective praise can build resilience, confidence, and self-direction. Check out our
Ultimate Guide to Praising Kids for additional tips and positive phrases.

Don't forget to download our FREE Your Words Matter Kit with 10 helpful
parenting guides and tips to use when speaking to your children.
5. Help them Gain New and Lacking Skills.

Adolescence is a time of huge brain growth, but it can also highlight areas where
your teen struggles - physically, academically, socially, or emotionally - more than
they did when they were younger.
These new struggles can lead to feelings of negative self-worth. When you identify
an area of concern or notice a challenge, encourage your teen to see this as an
opportunity to grow, learn and expand their interests and abilities.

Look for ways to build on things your teen is already passionate about and explore
options for them to use these situations to practice or sharpen new skills.

6. Be a Family that Doesn’t Give Up.

Many people believe they need to feel confident before they tackle something
difficult.

Carol Dweck states, “A remarkable thing I’ve learned from my research is that in
the growth mindset you don’t always need confidence.”

Your teen can still try something they’re not good at or start something new, even if
they don’t feel super confident at the outset. If they stick to something
wholeheartedly, they embrace a growth mindset and can build confidence along the
way. (This is also true for parents learning to relate to their teenagers!)

7. Give Reassurance.

As teens navigate through the ups and downs of new situations and often
overwhelming emotions, it helps to know these challenges are normal.

Building self-esteem and confidence often means taking bold stands and making
decisions that impact peer groups or social standing.

Remind your child they are not a “bad person” for moving on from a toxic friendship
or choosing an activity over a boyfriend/girlfriend. Growth and maturity can be
difficult, but it doesn’t mean your teen is doing something wrong.
8. Talk About Assertiveness.

Confident, clear, and persuasive communication does not come easy to everyone.
Many teens don’t have a grasp on the differences between assertive, passive, and
aggressive communication.

Discuss how nuances such as tone of voice can make or break a conversation. Point
out how body language and nonverbal cues can send a message of their own.

Encourage your teen to practice in front of a mirror so they can begin to identify the
nuances of assertive communication. Standing up tall, rolling their shoulders back,
and speaking clearly can improve how your teen feels, especially if they aren’t
feeling very confident going into a difficult situation.

9. Practice at Home.

Create a safe space for your teen to process through difficult situations. Give them
the freedom to talk freely about challenges, peer conflict, and gripes about “unfair”
teachers and overwhelming homework assignments.

Then, explore ways they can manage these situations with confidence, addressing
others in a way that is respectful and keeps their self-worth intact.

For teens who struggle to communicate clearly or are challenged in some social
situations, use the safety of your home to explore their options. Role play potential
conversations, using a variety of responses, tones of voice, volume, and nonverbal
cues.
10. Encourage Self-Compassion.

Growth mindset requires kindness and patience with ourselves as we grow and learn.
Contrary to popular messages in social media and influences from their peer group,
your teen doesn’t need an outside opinion to prove personal worth.

If you notice your teen is stuck in a negative or fixed mindset about their worth,
encourage them to embrace self-compassion.

Introduce mindfulness apps or activities, create positive mantras or list affirmations

where they will be seen on a regular basis. When your teen is struggling, encourage
them to talk to themselves using the same words and tone of voice they would use if
a close friend was struggling in the same way.

Activities such as creating your own mantra, developing affirmations, filling out an
interests map, and designing a vision board are all included in the Big Life Journal
- Teen Edition. These are great ways for teens to connect with themselves.

11. Encourage Diversity in Activities and Interests.

Teens who are involved in a variety of activities, sports teams, volunteer

opportunities, and educational activities tend to have a higher sense of self-esteem.
They aren’t crushed by a setback in one area because they have other things feeding
their self-worth.

When your teen engages in activities helping others, they gain a sense of purpose.

12. Give Less Advice.

It’s not easy to sit back and watch as your child struggles to learn or has to manage
the consequences of an impulsive decision. It’s normal to want to share your wisdom
or do what you can to smooth the path ahead for your teen.

However, learning to think through challenges, brainstorm options, and problem

solve well can all build your teen’s confidence.

Rather than solving all of your teen’s problems for them, engage them in the process.
Become a cheerleader, rather than a director. Listen as they explore where things
went off track and then support your teen’s plan to move forward in a positive
direction.
13. Ask for Advice.

Parents face challenges and failures in our everyday lives. We can use these
moments to show our teens that we are human and that we need help too! Be sure to
discuss your challenges in front of your kids. Let them see you make mistakes.

Discuss the situation with them. Perhaps ask them for advice or see how they would
approach your problem. This not only creates connection but shows your teen that
you are NOT perfect and that you are learning and growing too.

14. Listen.

Keep the relationship with your teen strong and build their self-worth by resisting
the urge to turn everything into a “teachable moment” or a long lecture.

Instead, focus on listening to what your teen is saying. Don’t make assumptions,
judgments, or jump to the offense. Begin with empathy, putting yourself in your
child’s shoes.

Relating to them on an emotional level, realizing that responding with logic or

reasoning may push them away.

You don’t have to agree with your teen’s perspective to be empathetic. Focus on
improving your listening skills rather than needing to be “right” or having the last
word.

15. Model Confidence.

Your teen is watching you. They are observing how you manage challenging
situations and how you feel about yourself.

Watch the conversations you have when your teen is around - be careful you don’t
put others down, criticize yourself, or make your own happiness dependent on other
people or circumstances.

If you’ve struggled with these things in the past, admit to your teen you are still
working on this, even as an adult.

Take an honest assessment of your own self-esteem and confidence. Then, embrace
a growth mindset! Rather than beating yourself up, look for places or areas you want
to improve, find things that will build your self-confidence...and then get started!
Your teen’s true confidence is reflected in their mindset, and their readiness to grow
and learn from the challenges they encounter. Unfortunately, this may take time.

You can’t force your child to embrace a growth mindset, practice positive
affirmations, or try challenging activities, but you can create a home environment
that nourishes and encourages these behaviors.

With your support, your teen can build self-worth and confidence which matches the
images she’s sharing on social media.

How to Build Self-Confidence

Table of Contents

• Spend Time Alone

• Practice Spirituality
• Use Positive Self-Talk
• Cultivate a Healthy Lifestyle
• Stop Self-Comparisons
• Set Small Goals
• Seek Uplifting People
• Consider Professional Help
• Frequently Asked Questions

Self-confidence is the level of belief in your ability or skills to perform a given role
or function. Disappointments, abuse, neglect, or physical or mental illness can
diminish self-esteem, which in turn can affect your confidence in certain situations.
Social anxiety erodes your sense of capability as well.12

Fortunately, you can make simple choices to build your self-confidence.3 Just as
there are many ways to strengthen your body, there are ways you can increase your
resolve by setting small goals, making healthier choices, nurturing your spirit, and
finding support. Taking these steps will give you the power to:

• Get to know and accept yourself.

• Break free of self-sabotaging thoughts and behavior patterns.
• Expand your knowledge, skills, and experiences.
• Become physically, mentally, and spiritually healthier.
• Deepen interpersonal relationships.
Verywell / Shideh Ghandeharizah

Spend Time With Yourself

Self-reflection is essential to understanding who you are and why you think the way
you do.4 Set aside time to assess your strengths, weaknesses, and core values, and
write down your insights. Dissect the challenges that threaten your self-confidence
so that you can face them one step at a time.

Adopt or Maintain a Spiritual Practice \

There is a positive correlation between nurturing your spiritual self—your sense of

“purpose, innerness, interconnection, and transcendence”—and life satisfaction and
self-esteem. Rituals such as yoga, meditation, prayer, and chanting help you calm
your mind, see yourself and your situation more clearly, and connect you to your
higher self. Maintaining a daily spiritual exercise also gives you practice in
consistency, which can increase your self-confidence.56
Use Positive Self-Talk

Psychologists say that self-talk plays a key role in our actions, emotional reactions,
and goal progression.7 Much of our self-talk—positive and negative—happens
without our really thinking about it.

Use Affirming Statements

When automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) come to mind, counter them with
affirming statements such as:8

• “I will learn” instead of “I’ll never understand”

• “I will try” instead of “It’s too hard for me”
• “I know how to do it better next time” instead of “I’m such a failure”

Cultivate a Healthy Lifestyle

A 2017 study suggests that physical activity and healthy eating help improve self-
esteem and self-efficacy.9 Wholesome foods and exercise flood your body with
nutrients and endorphins (chemicals that manage pain and relieve stress) that can
elevate your mood. These lifestyle behaviors help make you more physically and
mentally fit to tackle life’s tasks.

What Is Self-Efficacy?

Self-efficacy refers to a person's confidence in their ability to control their own

beliefs, behavior, and social environment.10

Cut Out Self-Comparison

Comparing yourself to others, particularly on social media, can diminish your self-
esteem and self-confidence, fostering anxiety and depression.11 It’s okay to
acknowledge that you aren’t perfect, but keep in mind that nobody else is either.

You are the only you that will ever exist.

Set Small Goals

Accomplishing goals increases your self-efficacy.12 Start by setting attainable but

challenging goals, and give yourself an appropriate reward for reaching your goal.
Examples include:
 • Goal: I will exercise for 15 minutes. Reward: Making a new workout playlist
for the next time you exercise.
• Goal: I will get up early tomorrow. Reward: Trying out a new coffee spot.
• Goal: Making a new, healthy recipe. Reward: Enjoying what you made with
a friend.

Seek Uplifting Relationships

The late motivational speaker Jim Rohn said that we are the average of our five
closest acquaintances. Connect with people who will encourage and inspire you to
improve in the areas you feel weak. Set boundaries with those who bring you down.

Consider Professional Help

Sometimes, we have deep-seated mental blocks that are hard to overcome on our
own. A licensed therapist or counselor can teach you strategies to help you enhance
your self-efficacy. They may also be able to help you uncover underlying issues such
as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) that could be limiting your self-
confidence.13

Types of Mental Health Therapy

Summary

Your self-confidence may seem naturally strong or weak in certain circumstances.

However, you can grow in countless ways with easy, positive changes. Build your
confidence muscles by developing a stronger mind, body, and spirit. Techniques that
can help with this include spending time with yourself, adopting a spiritual practice,
positive self-talk, not comparing yourself to others, setting small goals, and seeking
uplifting relationships.

15Tips on How to Boost Your Self-Confidence

We have all had various levels of self-confidence throughout our life and
experienced the positive effects.

Here are some tips to boost your self-confidence:Tips to boost your self-confidence:

1. Set yourself up for victory — Create an environment where you are

comfortable and will thrive.
2. Surround your self with positive people — Cut other people out of your life

3. Be good to yourself — do not be too hard on yourself, if something does not go

according to plan. Look at it from the point of view of great learning. And the more
we learn, the greater are our chances of future success.

4. Start your morning with meditation — makes you feel calm and collected, resets
and centers your mind.

5. Present yourself with confidence — if you radiate confidence, others will think
you have confidence. And you will actually be more confident.

6. Smile to everyone you meet and make eye contact — nothing says confidence
more than eye contact

7. Be prepared — When you are prepared, you will feel more confident and either it
is to lead a meeting, do a presentation or anything else, you have increased your
chances of a great outcome

8. Set SMART goals — S=Specific, M=Measurable, A=Achievable, R=Relevant,

T=Time-bound — Ensure your goal meets all these criteria before you move on, this
will ensure much higher success rate.

9. Leave your heart on the pitch — Always do your best, nothing gives more self-
confidence in knowing you put in your best effort.

10. Do you — Don’t compare yourself to others, as you don’t know their full story,
and what is visible on the surface is far from the whole truth. It also puts unnecessary
pressure on yourself.

11. Focus on what you can change — Focus all your energy on what is within your
control and let what is not within your control be.

12. Do what makes you happy — Schedule some “happy time” every day to take
care of and reward yourself for the things you achieved

13. Celebrate the small wins — not just the major ones. Decide what to celebrate at
the end of the week when you achieve your goal

14. Positive self-talk — Be aware of your self-talk and arrest yourself when it is
negative. A visualization that has helped me a lot is to imagine myself at the side of
a road, instead of cars passing you, it is your thoughts, just acknowledge the negative
thoughts and let them go.

15. Learn new skills — You are never to goo, too old, too young to learn new skills.

Building your self-confidence requires time, focus and dedication. For some, self-
confidence comes more easily, it is the result of learned behaviours.

Anyone and everyone can learn this!

Leave a comment on how you boost your self-confidence?

14 Tips on How to Boost Confidence in Yourself

Being passionate about self-development, you could be on the lookout for methods
to self-improve by knowing how to boost confidence in yourself.

14 tips on How to boost confidence in yourself

In this article, I am going to talk on how to boost confidence in yourself.

1. Learn a book on a daily basis

Books are concentrated sources of knowledge. The extra books you learn, the extra
knowledge you expose your self to know how to boost confidence in yourself.
What are some books you can begin studying to counterpoint your self? Some books
I’ve to learn and located helpful are Suppose and Develop Wealthy, Who Moved
My Cheese, 7 Habits, The Science of Getting Wealthy, and Residing the 80/20
Means.

Whenever you’re studying a book on a daily basis, you’ll feed your mind with
increasing information. Are you aware what’s the easiest way to retailer up all this
information and knowledge? You want this Digital Mind.

2. Be taught a brand new language

As a Singaporean Chinese language, my most important languages are English,

Mandarin, and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). Out of curiosity, I took up language
programs up to now few years comparable to Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian.

I spotted studying a language is a completely new ability altogether and the method
of acquainting with a brand new language and tradition is completely mind-opening
expertise.

3. Decide up a brand new interest

Past simply your ordinary favorite hobbies, is there one thing new you possibly can
decide up? Any new sport you possibly can be taught?

Examples are fencing, golf, mountain climbing, soccer, canoeing, or ice skating.

Your new interest may also be a leisure interest. For instance, pottery, Italian
cooking, dancing, wine appreciation, net design, and so forth.

Studying one thing new requires you to stretch your self in numerous points,
whether or not bodily, mentally, or emotionally.

4. Take up a brand new course

Is there any new course you possibly can be part of? Programs are an effective way
to realize new information and expertise.

It doesn’t must be a long-term course – seminars or workshops serve their goal too.

I’ve been to a couple of workshops they usually have helped me acquire new
insights that I had not thought-about earlier than.

In truth, anybody who desires to be a better learner ought to take this 20-minute
FREE class: Spark Your Studying Genius. It’ll assist supercharge your studying
capacity and decide up any ability sooner!

5. Create an inspirational room

Your surroundings units the temper and tone for you. If you’re residing in
inspirational surroundings, you will be impressed on a daily basis.

Previously, I didn’t like my room in any respect as a result of I assumed it was messy
and boring. Just a few years in the past, I made a decision this was the top of it – I
began on a “Mega Room Revamp” undertaking and overhauled my room.

The tip consequence? A room I completely relish being in and conjures up me to be

at my peak on a daily basis.

6. Be taught by individuals who encourage you

Take into consideration individuals you admire. Individuals who encourage you.
These individuals replicate sure qualities you wish to have for your self too.

What are the qualities in them you wish to have for your self? How are you going to
purchase these qualities?

7. Give up a foul behavior

Are there any unhealthy habits you possibly can lose? Oversleeping? Not
exercising? Being late? Slouching? Nail-biting? Smoking?

Discard them all.

8. Domesticate a brand new behavior

Some good new habits to domesticate embody studying books (#1), waking up
early (#8), exercising (#9), studying a brand new private improvement article a day
(#40), and meditating.

Is there some other new behavior you possibly can domesticate to enhance your
self?
If you’re questioning tips on how to make good habits stick, take a look at the
following pointers:

9. Keep away from damaging individuals

As Jim Rohn says,

“You’re the common of the 5 individuals you spend essentially the most time
with”.

Wherever we go, there are sure to be damaging individuals. Don’t spend an

excessive amount of your time around them if you happen to really feel they drag
you down.

Undecided who’re the poisonous individuals in life? This text will help you:

10. Be taught to cope with tough individuals

There are occasions when there are tough individuals you possibly can’t keep away
from, comparable to at your office, or when the particular person is a part of your
inside circle of contacts.

11. Be taught from your folks

Everybody has wonderful qualities in them. It’s as much as how we wish to faucet
into them.

With all the buddies who encompass you, they’ll have issues you possibly can be
taught from.

Strive considering of pal proper now. Take into consideration only one high quality
they’ve which you wish to undertake. How are you going to be taught from them
and undertake this ability for your self?

Communicate to them if it’s worthwhile. For positive, they are going to be more
than pleased to assist!

12. Begin a journal

Journaling is an effective way to realize higher self-awareness. It’s a self-reflection
course.

As you write, make clear your thought course of and skim what you wrote from a
3rd particular person’s perspective, you acquire extra insights about your self.

Your journal could be non-public or a web-based weblog. I take advantage of my

private improvement weblog as a private journal too and I’ve discovered lots about
myself via the previous year of running a blog.

13. Learn not less than 1 private improvement article a day

A few of my readers make it a degree to learn not less than one private improvement
article on a daily basis, which I believe is a superb behavior.

There are various terrific private improvement blogs on the market, a few of which
you’ll be able to verify.

Other Recommended Reading

• Essential Steps for Finding Wheelchair Accessible Homes You Love

• How to Grow and Sustain Motivation for Me
• 9 Types and Gateways for Discovering Self Motivation
• 5 Self Improvement and Motivation Tricks and Tips
• 15 Hacks for Finding Your Passion & Purpose in Life
• 6 Essentials of Negotiation – Skills | Technique | Success
• 5 Steps for a Tactical Negotiation that Lead a Win
• 6 Skills of A Good Negotiator – Win-Win Deal Every-time
• 11 Steps- How Can I Make Myself Feel Happy Everyday, Always
• 25 Great Ways of Working Memory Improvement
• 9 Steps to Explore How to Not Be A Perfectionist
• 11 Ways to Apply Realistic Affirmation for Motivation
• 11 Self Discipline Tricks to Boost Up Motivation
• 8 Self Motivation Skills You Can Adopt Easily
• 35 Weight Loss Motivation Tips You Should Apply Today

14. Decide on your private development

I could be writing listing articles with 10 methods, 25 methods, 42 methods, and

even 1,000 methods to enhance your self, however, you probably have no intention
to decide to your private development, it doesn’t matter what I write.
Nothing goes to get via. We’re accountable for our private development — not
anybody else. Not your mother, your dad, your friend, me, or Lifehack.

Make the choice to decide to your private development and embrace yourself to a
life-long journey of development and alter. Kick off your development by selecting
a number of the steps above and dealing with them.

The outcomes might not be quick, however, I promise you that so long as you
retain to it, you’ll begin seeing constructive adjustments in your self and your life.

So right here you might be, 14 stable methods on how to boost confidence in
yourself. Decide one or a number of to start out doing at present.

If you wish to see yourself enhancing, you could take some action.
30 Day Self Confidence Challenge

1. Stand up for yourself.

Being a kind person doesn’t mean you need to let people walk all over you or treat
you badly.

Stand up for yourself today and let your confidence grow as you remind yourself
that you do deserve to be treated with respect. And you don’t need to settle for less–
from anyone.

2. Say “no,” to something you don’t want to do, without explaining yourself.

Grow your confidence today by politely declining something you really don’t want
to do… And do it without overly trying to explain your reasoning. You do you, boo.

We tend to make up excuses or create long-winded reasons for why we don’t want
to do certain things. Sometimes, we think that “no” simply isn’t good enough.

Sure, there are times when an explanation is helpful and appreciated. For example,
if your friend asks if you can drive her to the airport, it’d be nice for you to say “I’m
sorry I can’t today! I’ve got too much going on.”

But sometimes, there are people who frankly don’t deserve an explanation. So, if it
applies, give someone a simple “no” today instead of following it up with a lengthy
explanation.

3. Limit your apologies today.

I tend to apologize for everything. Do you? Grow your self confidence today by
refusing to apologize unless you actually do something wrong.

Here are some exaggerated examples of things we apologize for, that we don’t need
to:

“I’m sorry for crying/showing any emotion other than complete happiness.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t answer your call in the middle of my very adult and hectic
schedule.”

“Sorry my opinion didn’t line up with your opinion and now you’re offended.”

“I’m sorry I stood up for myself and now you’re uncomfortable.”

These are things we don’t need to apologize for. You are entitled to your opinion,
emotions, thoughts and feelings. Obviously, don’t use those things as an excuse or
rationalization to be a complete jerk, but you don’t need to apologize for expressing
those things in a level-headed manner.

One time, my therapist literally gave me the homework assignment of “Don’t

apologize to anyone this week unless you intentionally hurt someone.” And it’s
actually quite freeing.

So, that’s your assignment too. Today, make a point of apologizing only if you did
something that hurt someone else. Sure, you can say sorry even if you
unintentionally hurt someone’s feelings. But try not to apologize otherwise.

4. Set an attainable goal for yourself.

Give your self confidence a boost by achieving a goal! You don’t need to make a
huge goal like, “I will lose 10 pounds in 1 month!”

Just make a small, attainable and specific goal that will make you proud when you
finish. It can be small, like cleaning your room or meal planning for the week.

5. Wear something that makes you feel beautiful, even if it’s not your usual
“look.”

Of course, true self confidence is never going to be found in how you look or what
you have.
But it doesn’t hurt to like how you look! Wear something today that makes you feel
like your best, most beautiful self.

I tend to get a little nervous dressing up because my style is usually pretty laid back,
and I don’t want to seem like I’m trying too hard. But y’know what? That’s silly.

You and I should both wear whatever we want and whatever makes us feel our most
confident.

6. Start a new hobby and get EXCITED to suck at something new (no
expectations!)

Your confidence shouldn’t come from having to be the best at everything. Start a
new hobby today with no expectations to do well (‘cause truthfully, you probably
won’t!).

Just try it and give yourself permission to suck. Put your focus on the fun and the
experience. This will get you out of your comfort zone and prove to yourself that
you can feel confident even when you’re not the best.

7. Tell someone how much they mean to you–be honest and hold nothing back.

When you show appreciation for someone else, it’s good for your soul.

It doesn’t have to be romantic. And it doesn’t have to be overly emotional, unless

you want it to be! But sharing your feelings of appreciation for someone else is good
for both them and you. It shows them they’re cared for, and you feel good too.

8. Start a fitness routine that you’ll enjoy.

Taking care of your body is one of my favorite ways to boost self confidence. You
automatically feel sexier when you know you’re taking care of yourself.

You don’t need a six pack to feel good in your own skin.

But prioritizing your body’s needs is good for your mental and physical health.

9. Write down 5 things you liked about yourself today.

Take a few minutes tonight or this morning to jot down 5 things you like about
yourself, or 5 things you did well today. That can be as simple as liking your outfit,
or noting that you were patient in a situation you would have normally been angry
in.

This is a simple way to remind your brain that you’re actually awesome and deserve
to say nice things about yourself.

10. Instead of walking with your head down, hold it high and smile boldly at
strangers.

Psych your confidence out today by putting on a confident physical display, even if
you’re not quite feeling it.

Your subconscious will decide that you do feel confident when you hold your head
high, have good posture, and smile more. And as a byproduct, your self confidence
will actually grow this way over time.

The classic “fake it ‘til you make it,” is actually pretty accurate when it comes to
training our subconscious.

11. Take care of yourself physically today. Rest, stretch, get enough sleep.

Time for a rest day! Take extra good care of your physical needs today.

Eat delicious, wholesome foods that make you feel good and fuel your body. Get
enough sleep. Stretch your sore, tired muscles. Take a walk out in the sunlight. Drink
lots of water. Enjoy your coffee.

12. Dare to think of yourself as “sexy.” All. Day.

That’s it. That’s the assignment.

As someone who loves Jesus, I used to think that being “sexy” was a bad thing. I
even thought that feeling sexy was bad.

Now I know the truth. You can dress as modest as you want and feel sexy. You can
wear skin tight or more revealing clothes and feel sexy. And it’s all totally awesome.

Allow yourself to feel sexy today. You don’t even have to change your outfit. Just
feel the sexy vibes coming off you. And do whatever promotes that feeling in you.
Whether it’s listening to a certain song, wearing your favorite outfit, or going out
and doing something fun.

13. Make a list of everything you’re proud of yourself for.

Write down everything about yourself or anything you’ve done that makes you
proud. It’s a great reminder for the moments when you forget everything good about
yourself.

My proud accomplishments are: 1) I moved to San Diego, 2) I’ve distanced myself

from negative people, and 3) I’ve made my fitness and health a priority.

What’s yours? Tell me in the comments! I’d love to hear about it

14. Speak positive affirmations about yourself.

Speaking positive affirmations is a great way to slowly start re-training your

subconscious to be more self confident.

Not sure where to start or what to say? Check out my post on 47 Positive
Affirmations to Boost Your Self Confidence!

15. Stay off social media.

Take a break from counting likes and story views today, and from comparing your
real life to somebody else’s filter.

Give your confidence a boost by focusing on the reality that’s here in front of you,
rather than watching everyone else’s highlights reel.

No Instagram, no Facebook, no Snapchat. Just you and real life.

16. Talk to a friend who always makes you feel good.

On the days when you’re feeling a bit low, sometimes you just need a friend.

Call up your most life-exuding, positive-vibes-only friend and have a chat. You
don’t need to talk about anything too deep. Or, go ahead. It doesn’t matter.

The point is to spend your time with joyful, positive people. The happier you are
overall, the more self confident you’ll naturally become.

17. Eat healthy food today; avoid fast food.

Fast food, processed food, foods with added sugar and refined carbs just aren’t the
best for you or your body.

Take care of yourself today by feeding your body nutritious whole foods. Be
confident in knowing that you’re treating your body right.

18. Give yourself a spa day.

Oh yeah, girl friend. It’s about that time.

Pour the bubbles in the bath, the red wine in the glass, and your heart into whatever
book or Netflix show has your fancy. Get real good and relaxed, ‘cause God knows
we all need a day to ourselves.

Self care is crucial for mental health, managing stress, and staying positive and
joyful. All of which translate into your feelings of self confidence.

So take one for the team and chill the heck out with all your favorite relaxing
activities.

19. Write down 3 things that you believe in to your core.

People who are self confident know what they believe in. What do you believe in?

Write down 3 of your core beliefs, just so you have them when your world turns
upside down or things get crazy. Then, you still know what you believe in and what’s
true for you.

20. Do something you’ve been procrastinating on.

No spa day here, I’m afraid. It’s time to get a little uncomfy.

Go do something you’ve been endlessly putting off.

Apologize to someone, forgive someone else, do that homework assignment, start

that business, say that prayer, cut your hair, wash your sheets, delete that boy’s
number out of your phone. (For real, do it, it’s super good for you).

Big or small, you know what you’ve been putting off. Now go do it. ‘Cause there’s
nothing like handling your business like a boss b to give your self confidence a boost.

21.Offer to help someone in need.

Doing good for other people is good for you too. Bonus points if you get nothing in
return, or if they don’t even know it was you who did it.

And no, this isn’t to give yourself a false sense of superiority. Besides it being a
good human thing to do in general, offering kindness is a good reminder that you do
have something positive to give to the world.

22. Distance yourself from negative energy.

Time to clean out your “emotional” closet.

Make a list of anything or anyone that creates a negative energy in your life, and
start to distance yourself from those things or people.
This might be challenging because it’s hard to say goodbye, even to things that make
you unhappy! It’s strange, but sometimes we hold onto the toxic cycles and our
negative environment simply because we’re used to it. It’s comfortable. We might
not be happy, but at least we know what to expect.

But that’s no way to live your life. So, convince yourself to write out a list of those
things that bring you negative energy. Start gradually and quietly creating distance
between you and those things.

Remember, it’s difficult to find the energy to have self confidence when all your
energy is being drained elsewhere.

23. Do something out of your comfort zone.

I don’t care what it is, girl, just get out there and do something totally un-you-like.

Order a different food than you usually do. Go do something social if you usually
stay in. Or, choose to spend time alone with yourself instead of going out. Go to the
gym alone, or with a friend. Go on a hike. Sing in the car. Dance around your room.

Just live, boo.

24. Own your mistakes.

Taking responsibility for your own actions and your own mistakes is such a good
quality to have.

If you mess up today, own it. Take responsibility. Don’t make excuses. This is one
of those more challenging, counter-intuitive self confidence boosters, but owning
your mistakes is good for your self confidence because it’s you taking a solid stance.

Self confident people don’t hide and they’re not afraid to screw up. They understand
they’re human and they’re going to make mistakes like everyone else. It doesn’t
change who they know they are.

This will help you become a stronger and more mature person overall.

25. Identify your areas of insecurity, and actively work to grow in those areas.

One of the best ways to boost your self confidence is to improve the areas of yourself
that you know you can do better in. And do it in a loving, healthy way.
This is the difference between people who say, “I know I have (insert behavioral
issue), but that’s just who I am.” And people who say, “I know I have (behavioral
issue), so I’m going to work on it. I know I can do better.”

But this isn’t the time to get negative or self-loathing, friend. Just examine yourself
and see where your insecurities lie. What can you do about those things? Are they
even something you should be insecure about, or are they things you gotta learn to
accept?

And I don’t want you to write down an insecurity “I don’t like my smile.” Nah, your
smile is beautiful. Guaranteed. So is your nose, your hair, your body, everything like
that.

I mean, think of something you know you could work on or do better. Things like
“not get angry so quickly,” “listen better,” “be a better friend,” “take better care of
my physical health,” or “stop living my life for other people.”

Be brave enough to face what you know you want to work on, and then actively
work on it. Patience and a self loving mindframe are key here.

26. Whatever you feel like giving up on today, don’t.

This might sound vague, but we all have stuff we just “give up” on. Our workout,
our healthy eating plan, being patient with our significant other, our to-do list, our
positive energy, our ideas for a novel, our new online business.
But refusing to give up and doing hard things is so, so good for your self confidence.
Prove to yourself that you can do it.

Today, push through the challenges. When things get challenging today or you hit a
roadblock, don’t just give up and say, “Oh well, it’s too hard.”

In today’s culture, we’re learning to be more patient and gentle with ourselves. That
is awesome and it’s so good and healthy. But sometimes, we give up a little too soon.
We don’t push for what we really want, because it’s uncomfortable in the moment.

Giving yourself grace and patience is definitely a good thing, but we also want to be
someone who perseveres when things aren’t easy!

The best things in life are usually pretty tough to get to. If that weren’t the case, then
more people would be millionaires with abs of steel, have a loving and beautiful
relationship, and know how to cook like Gordon Ramsey.

But all those things and skills are hard to have and super hard to get to in the first
place.

With that in mind, push through the hardships today and do the dang thing.

27. Accept a compliment with a “thank you.”

Don’t roll your eyes, don’t try to argue, don’t put yourself down, and don’t compare
yourself to anyone else.

No giving in to those exchanges that sound like, “You look so pretty!” “Oh gosh, I
look like a potato next to you! You look so pretty!”

Whatever compliment someone gives you today, simply say “thank you!” And go
ahead and return the compliment, if ya feel it. But do so without comparing yourself.

28. Make your mental health a priority today.

Today’s the day to put yourself first. Listen to your emotional needs, and follow
them.

There’s nothing wrong with not answering the phone, not texting back right away,
or just taking some time to yourself to relax.

Take care of you today. You deserve it.

29. Read a motivational book.

My favorite self confidence booster book is You Are A Badass: How to Stop
Doubting Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. I’ve read it multiple
times and always get something new out of it.

Whatever book you read, make sure it’s something that raises your vibe and reminds
you how totally awesome and capable you are.

30. Refuse to listen to any negative inner voices.

Our inner voice often tells us not-so-great stuff about ourselves.

If you hear your inner voice doubting you or trash talking you today, take a break
from whatever you’re doing to go interact with other people or take a walk in nature.

Or, sit there quietly and gently bring your thoughts back to self love and patience.
Replace whatever negative inner voice you’re hearing with your inner “best friend
coffee talk” voice.

You know, the voice you use when you’re talking to your best friend over an oat
milk latte and she’s sad because she’s having a bad day and you’re there with all
your kind, loving and positive-energy-best-friend advice to remind her how
awesome she is?
That’s the voice. You deserve to be self confident and to talk to yourself with all the
love you lavish on your favorite people. Remember, you don’t need anyone else to
boost your self confidence for you.

You just need you.

Conclusion to the 30 Day Self Confidence Boost Challenge

And that concludes day 30 of the 30 Day Self Confidence Challenge! I hope you
enjoyed this challenge, that it boosted your self confidence, and found some things
that reminded you–yes YOU–are a baddie and YES you are an amazing, beautiful,
capable individual. Building true self confidence will take more than 30 days, but
over these 30 days you’ve built habits to support your needs, your goals, and of
course your confidence.

Keep building on these habits! Don’t try it out and then quit after 30 days. Push
through every day and enjoy the journey.

And if you’re wondering, Ok but… what’s next?? Don’t worry.

More resources similar to this self confidence challenge

I’ve got a free download just for you to help build your self confidence! My 10
printable affirmation cards, designed by yours truly, are intended to help inspire
your daily affirmations and give you 10 self positive mantras to focus on.

And of course, if you want more than 10, head to my post on 47 Positive
Affirmations for Self Love!

You might also enjoy:

1. 7 Toxic Mindsets to Release for More Happiness

2. 15 Powerful Tips You Need to Overcome Negativity Once and For All
3. How to Overcome Failure and Regain Your Self Confidence

11 Ways To Build Self-Esteem And Increase Your Confidence

You can be confident and yet still have low self-esteem. When it comes to the
question on ways to build self esteem, the latter is more about knowing your worth.
In his bestselling book The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem (1994), the Canadian–
American psychotherapist Nathaniel Branden identified six cornerstones that affect
your self esteem: living consciously, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, self-
assertiveness, purposefulness, and integrity.

Branden also argues that no one can simply “give” you your self esteem. If you can’t
see your own value, there’s a high chance that others won’t either.

As a result, you may end up settling for less than you deserve. You might even let
others make decisions for you or find yourself chasing after love.

11 Ways to Build Self Esteem and Increase Your Confidence Click To Tweet

It is true that our self esteem and identity is partly shaped by the feedback we receive
from those around us. This occurs through the comments, compliments, criticisms
and non-verbal messaging that we consciously and subconsciously absorbed. As the
common saying goes, words can cut deeper than a knife.

Body language cues can be subtle yet similarly impactful. Building self esteem can
be compromised by the smallest of gestures: an eye-roll, a smirk, a cynical smile.

As humans, we are social creatures. Our sense of self worth is inevitably tied to how
other people interact with us on a day-to-day basis.

We have limited control over how other people perceive us – or how they react to
our presence, our words and our actions. We do, however, have significant agency
about how we view ourselves.

A person with low self esteem and one with high self esteem can react very
differently to the same negative feedback. Even individuals with high self esteem
are not immune to social rejection, losing some social standing and feeling bad about
themselves.

On the other hand, however, a 2018 study that was published in the journal of Social
Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience found that individuals with low self esteem
are more affected by negative feedback.

They were also less able to differentiate between applicable and non-applicable
negative feedback. They are unlike their counterparts with high self esteem, who can
easily dismiss irrelevant comments that do not match their sense of self.
People with lower self esteem also react differently to positive feedback. Even when
complimented for something that matches their sense of self, they did not necessarily
feel good about the mutual understanding and positive reinforcement that just
occurred. They also experienced a weaker connection to the person who provided
positive feedback.

In order to take charge of your own life and avoid being taken for granted, it’s
important to learn to value yourself more. To ensure that you get the most, I’ve also
put together 11 effective confidence building activities you can start working on
straight away.

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links are affiliates and will come at no extra
cost for your end. However, I may earn a commission should you choose to purchase
through the affiliate links provided. With these funds, it help fund this blog and every
expense incurred, ensuring that I can continue to provide valuable content such as
this to you free of charge. Please be assured that I only recommend products that are
worthy and benefiting to you. Thank you for reading through.

11 Ways to Build Self Esteem and Increase Your Confidence

1. Stop Criticizing Yourself

2. Think Positive
3. Put Yourself First
4. Identify What You Need And Want
5. Look for the Good
6. Quit Focusing on your Weaknesses
7. Take Risks
8. Don’t Forget your Rights
9. Practice Saying ‘No’
10.Do the Things You Enjoy
11.Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

1. Stop Criticizing Yourself

Always remember that no one is perfect. Be kind to yourself. Change what you can
and accept what you can’t. Embrace your imperfections.

As Albert Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability
to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will
live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Click To Tweet

Einstein, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921, is widely recognized as a
scientific genius. He was also very good at playing the violin.

Einstein’s quote, however, is a recognition of the fact that even he was not good at
everything.

He once failed his exams in literature, French and politics. After earning his diploma
(as a teacher of physics and mathematics), he was unable to find the job he wanted.

Throughout his life, he was an unfaithful husband and a negligent father.

Everyone has their own set of flaws, weaknesses, and insecurities.

People with high self esteem, however, base their self worth and confidence on their
strengths. This is even more important when you suffer through a failure or setback.
Accept your shortcomings, but focus on affirming yourself when the going gets
tough.

2. Think Positive

Negative self-talk will have an impact on your self esteem. Whenever you feel like
you can’t do something, try spinning it around and tell yourself that you’ve got this.

Individuals with low self esteem can become trapped in an endless spiral of self-
defeating negativity.

If you keep telling yourself that you are worthless, you eventually believe that this
is true – and that there is nothing you can do about it.

"Don't let the bad days make you think you have a bad life." Click To Tweet

If you find yourself in this position, take out a piece of paper. Write down all the
positive traits that you have. Write it again and again if you have to. This will help
you to focus on the silver lining – and to make improvements in your life.

Losing a job, failing an exam, or getting a divorce will take its toll on your self
esteem.
You must accept your failures, but you don’t have to internalize it. Individuals with
high self esteem will still be affected by these failures, but it will not diminish their
sense of self worth or permanently damage their confidence.

They will eventually pick up the pieces and try again.

3. Put Yourself First

Don’t let people walk all over you. Remind yourself that you are worthy and you
deserve to be treated fairly. Sometimes, it’s okay to be selfish.

Love yourself!

This does not mean that you should ignore the needs of those who matter to you.
Fulfilling our duties and responsibilities as a spouse, parent, employee, or boss is
also an important part of our sense of self.

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is
the greatest accomplishment." Click To Tweet

Our actions can speak louder than our words (or our thoughts) in building our self
esteem. When you help others who are less fortunate or those who are in need, you
help improve your sense of self as you help them.

The difficulty lies in finding a balance between self-care, self-compassion and our
duty to others.

When you are stressed, overly stretched out, and emotionally drained, however, you
are damaging yourself and those around you. When you sacrifice too much of
yourself while attempting to put other people first, you also compromise your
relationship with them.

4. Identify What You Need and Want

Know what you want in life and identify what’s important to you. Never compromise
your own values or needs for anyone.
It is easier to mask our insecurities with a long list of awards, medals, promotions,
social prestige, wealth, and material possessions.

This is not to say that you need to give up your aspirations to pursue a rewarding
and successful career – or to abandon the traditional idea of “the good life”.

It is important, however, to focus on self growth as you make choices that affect
your everyday behavior and the trajectory of your life.

"Your value doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see your worth." Click
To Tweet

Are your achievements a means of self-fulfilment or simply a way to conform with

the expectations of those around you?

Are you doing things to fit in or because that’s what everyone expects you to do?
Are you focusing your efforts towards something that you really value?

5. Look for the Good

Focus on what you’re doing right.

Instead of convincing yourself that your life is a mess, look for the silver lining and
treat challenges as an opportunity for you to grow.

Everyone makes mistakes, both big and small. Some may be trivial and easily
forgotten, but others can stay with us for a long time.

"Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts and successful people
have worries. They just don't let these feelings stop them." Click To Tweet

Holding on to feelings of anger, bitterness, shame, fatalism and resentment for a long
time will only hold us back. You have to forgive yourself and those around you in
order to move on (and eventually forget the hurt or harm that was caused).

This is easier when there are positives bundled along with a negative situation.
What about overwhelming traumas that do not seem to offer any possibilities for
redemption or growth? (The glass can really be empty, after all).

In such situations, you have to realise that you have to separate your inner worth
from your circumstances.

A natural disaster can destroy all the things you hold dear, but it has no bearing on
your sense of self worth.

6. Quit Focusing on your Weaknesses

If you think you’re not good enough, then you will never be good enough.

Put all the negative thoughts you have about yourself aside and lock them up.

The point here is not to live in self-denial or self-exclusion, but to change the
narrative you have internalized about ourselves.

"Don't be afraid of being different. Be afraid of being the same as everyone else."
Click To Tweet

Take, for example, your physical appearance.

You might have heard the saying “looks don’t matter”, but we are also aware that
society does place immense importance on beauty (especially for girls and women).

Social media, advertising culture and the tendency to idolize celebrities have
intensified the pressure to attain physical perfection.

You probably don’t have to look too hard to find someone who seems to be gaining
acceptance and social status from his or her good looks.

At the same time, beauty is more than skin deep. Looking good is also tied to our
fitness, our mental health, our diet, our hygiene practices, the functioning of our
immune system, our self-perception, and our self-esteem.

In Survival of the Prettiest, the psychologist Nancy Etcoff demonstrates how the
obsession with beauty transcends history and geography.

She argues that we cannot simply dismiss our evolutionary history, but we do not
need to base all our self-worth on our genes either.
If you only become obsessed with physical traits where you come up short, you are
not doing yourself any favours.

Focus on improving your daily habits (getting enough sleep and exercise, for
example) and your positive traits instead. You may never attain the same kind of
awe and envy that a genetically-blessed model elicits from others, but that should
not stop you from appreciating the good qualities that you have.

7. Take Risks

Try new things and challenge yourself. When you accomplish something you never
thought you could do, you will feel a lot better about yourself.

The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, “Let me not pray to be sheltered
from dangers but to be fearless in facing them”.

"The best way to gain confidence is to do something you're terrified of doing." Click
To Tweet

You might assume that anyone who is comfortably successful, wealthy and secure
will have high self esteem.

They would probably be very confident in themselves (even to the point of arrogance
and narcissism), but self-esteem is attained from personal growth rather than a sense
of security (which can breed complacency).

The experience of facing and overcoming difficulties contributes to your self-growth

and self esteem.

Related: 121 Self Esteem Quotes That’ll Increase Your Confidence

Compare, for example, someone who inherited a fortune to someone who amassed
a similar fortune through his or her own effort.

Both individuals might be equally secure and comfortable in the world. It is the
latter, however, who has the hard-won confidence gained from having the courage
to take risks, experiencing failure and persevering through trying times.

In other words, look at the challenges at hand as a growth opportunity – rather than
a symptom of your shortcomings.
It may sound paradoxical, but even failure (or negative experiences in general) can
be fruitful if you were really invested in the process.

As the saying goes, it is the journey, and not the destination itself, that truly matters.

8. Don’t Forget your Rights

You have the right to wear whatever you want. You have the right to pursue your
passion. You have the right to be happy.

Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.

"Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help and
brave enough to ask it." Click To Tweet

Individuals with low levels of self esteem often have a victim mentality.

They see the world as a difficult and treacherous place. They think that they should
keep their heads down and avoid taking any risks. They feel powerless when it comes
to improving their circumstances in life.

It can be difficult to find the courage and confidence to assert yourself.

If you do not express yourself or protect your own interests, however, many people
will only take further advantage of your situation. They might treat you unfairly, or
even abuse or exploit you.

Low levels of self esteem are often aggravated by factors beyond your control.

You may have had a traumatic childhood. Others may have endured poverty, racial
discrimination, sexism, religious persecution, mental illness or a physical handicap.

You cannot rewrite or simply forget a painful past, but you can change your present
mindset to pave the way for a better future.

Build your self-esteem by believing in your agency to improve your life and to
address complex psychological issues.

Part of the process involves believing that you have the same fundamental rights as
anyone else.
Ask for that raise or promotion. Apply for the job or fellowship that seems to be out
of your reach.

You are not less deserving than anyone else, even if your attempt ultimately proves
to be unsuccessful.

9. Practice Saying ‘No’

You don’t have to force yourself to something just to please others. If it goes against
your beliefs or values, just politely say ‘no.’

People with low levels of self esteem often fear social disapproval or rejection from
other people.

"You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the
world can throw at you." Click To Tweet

Since they are anxious about their membership in a social group and insecure about
their self-worth, they usually have a harder time putting their needs over others.

There are, of course, people who will take advantage of this. Your boss or co-worker
might expect you to take on responsibilities at work that are not actually part of your
job scope.

Saying no can be especially difficult when you are confronted with a power
inequality – and when you have made it a habit of saying yes to unfair requests and
demands.

Practice saying no in an assertive and confident manner. Do not be afraid of conflict

or a negative reaction. You might experience disapproval or rejection in the short-
term, but you will benefit from standing up for yourself in the long-term.

10. Do the Things You Enjoy

Modern life can stressful and overwhelming for everyone. You might feel the need
to continuously improve yourself, work on your weaknesses, or be more productive.

Every now and then, you need to take a step back.

Do the little things that make you smile and make you feel good.
"Fall in love with taking care of yourself. Fall in love with the path of healing. Fall
in love with becoming the best version of yourself but with patience, with
compassion and respect to your own journey." Click To Tweet

Listen to your favourite songs. Put your thoughts on paper. Read a book, watch a
movie, or go out for a walk. Pick up a hobby or resume an interest that you
abandoned because you were too preoccupied with your education, career or family.

You need to put your happiness first sometimes. Having a healthy level of self
esteem means that you can stop worrying about whether you are “good enough” or
if you have “done enough” with your life.

Happiness can be found in a quiet and humble moment where you can simply enjoy
the moment and appreciate the smaller things in life.

11. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

If you keep focusing on the success of others and thinking how far behind you are,
you will never get anywhere.

Don’t waste your time and energy. It’s okay to go at your own pace.

Michael Norton is a Harvard Business School professor who has analysed the
connections between happiness, life satisfaction and wealth.

He found that even millionaires usually ask themselves two questions to determine
if they are satisfied with their life.

They ask “Am I doing better than I was before?” and “Am I doing better than other
people?”.

"If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can
be." Click To Tweet

We have to face the fact that many of the things we value in life are difficult to
measure.

How do you know, for example, if you are a “better” mother or father than your
neighbour?
This is why most people are obsessed with quantifiable and obvious indicators of
wealth, status and prestige. It is easy to compare zip codes, car prices, and incomes.

People also tend to base these comparisons on others who are richer, more successful
and more beautiful than themselves – which means that the competition never ends.

When you achieve a measure of success, you tend to change your baseline for
comparisons, creating an ever-shifting goalpost.

Avoiding the tendency to make social comparisons to other people who seem to have
so much more beauty, happiness, confidence, wealth and status than ourselves is not
easy.

You have to be vigilant about these tendencies – especially when you are using social
media or traditional media. (If you read the biographies of rich, famous and
successful people, you will find that their lives are far from being perfect or ideal).

Making comparisons can be a good source of motivation for self-improvement, but

they often engender negative thoughts, anxiety and unproductive stress.

Researchers have also found that individuals with low levels of self esteem tend to
spend more time on social network platforms.

This pattern of behavior not only compromises their sense of self worth, but also
affects their offline interpersonal relationships and prevents them from improving
their social skills.

If you have to compare, use yourself as the baseline.

Are you a more confident and contented person today as compared to five years ago?
This is a difficult question to answer, but it forces you to reflect more deeply on who
you are, where you have been, what you have done and where you want to go.

16 Confidence Building Activities To Improve Your Life

There’s no question that people who exude self-confidence have many advantages
in life.

Studies confirm that those with a strong level of confidence make more money, have
better relationships, and enjoy more personal and professional success than those
who don’t.
Unfortunately, many people struggle with a lack of confidence from time to time.

I had trouble with self-confidence in my younger years, and I didn’t exude the
demeanor to make other people believe I was as competent as I was.

After realizing that confidence is a skill that can be learned and practicing
confidence-building activities, I was able to step out of my comfort zone and gain
the self-assurance to be successful.

Exuding confidence is so valuable that other people view it as a defining

characteristic. Research confirms that people prefer confidence over expertise, and
I can say from personal experience that this is true.

With confidence, you can acknowledge where you need to improve and are
motivated to gain the expertise needed.

Your positive, self-possessed outlook is attractive and makes others feel confident
about you and your abilities.

But you can’t sit back and wait for confidence to come knocking at your door. You
have to go after it and practice the skills that can change your outlook and beliefs
about yourself.

Are you ready to start building your own confidence?

(Sidebar: Would you like to bump up your confidence and feel great in social
settings? If so check out my online course sale that’s going on now!)

• 16 Confidence Building Activities

o 1. Do something—get out there—join a sports team, volunteer, engage
on a regular basis.
o 2. Walk tall, smile, and look others in the eyes.
o 3. Each day, create one small task to stretch beyond your comfort zone.
o 4. Do something unexpected on purpose to let go of your inhibitions.
o 5. Seek out uncomfortable situations to help you grow.
o 6. Create a good self-image with a haircut, nice clothes, and accessories.
o 7. Be positive. Say yes. Respond with good words.
o 8. Speak slowly and distinctly.
o 9. Study your expertise daily—read a journal, seek new information,
write.
o 10. Achieve small, easy-to-attain goals to help you feel successful.
 o 11. Change one small habit daily—drink one glass of water when you
wake.
o 12. At the end of the day, write down five things you are grateful for.
o 13. Declutter your living and work space—get organized.
o 14. Exercise—your body image is important.
o 15. Try a new path—go a different route.
o 16. Be nice to others—pay it forward, kindness matters.

Attributes of Confident People

Confident people love to try new things because they are not scared of failure. This
is part of having a growth mindset, which means you believe you can constantly
grow and you measure that by your effort, not your results.

Confident people are also able to make their own decisions without the undue
influence of other people because they know what they want. They can be vulnerable
and authentic — letting their guards down and living freely.

So, what can you do to increase your confidence? Here are some activities that you
can engage in to build your confidence and improve your life.

16 Confidence Building Activities

1. Do something—get out there—join a sports team, volunteer, engage on a

regular basis.

The more practice you have getting out there and becoming engaged with your
community, the more confidence you will have.
This can help build positive peer relationships and give you the assurance that you
are well-received by other people.

If this feels intimidating, start with an activity in which you have some level of
competence and skill.

2. Walk tall, smile, and look others in the eyes.

If you look like you’re confident, you are more likely to feel it.

Having an aura of confidence is likely to attract positive attention from other people,
and possibly open up new opportunities.

If you don’t feel as confident as you would like to, use the “fake it ’til you make it”
approach to giving yourself a boost.

This will help build skills to appear confident when it really matters, such as during
a job interview, public speaking, or at a social event.

Work on improving your body language and your social interactions.

3. Each day, create one small task to stretch beyond your comfort zone.

The more you leave your comfort zone and come out the other side successful, the
more you will realize all you can do.
Take some time each day to stretch yourself so you can get comfortable with being
uncomfortable. You may have a few failures, but that’s OK. Failing is part of
learning and expanding yourself.

There more you exert yourself the more confident you’ll be in everything you do,
even if it is something you have never done before.

4. Do something unexpected on purpose to let go of your inhibitions.

Don’t let anything hold you back. Being hesitant can decrease your confidence level
because it means you are second-guessing yourself.

Again, this is a great way to prove to yourself that you have abilities that you have
not yet uncovered.

Trust yourself. Once you see what you are able to do, you will want to try to do
more.

5. Seek out uncomfortable situations to help you grow.

A lot of people are so comfortable in their lives that they are actually miserable.

Comfort can cause you to be self-absorbed, bored, and discontent.

Psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo notes that people who look for new
experiences on a regular basis are more creative and emotionally resilient overall
than people who stay stuck in their routine.

Embrace discomfort to help yourself grow.

6. Create a good self-image with a haircut, nice clothes, and accessories.

When you look good, you feel good.

Improving your self-image is similar to improving any skill as it takes time and
practice. But buffing up your appearance and style is an easy win that you can
manage quickly.

Having self-confidence involves cultivating a positive attitude about yourself and

how you want to present yourself to the world.
Learn to appreciate your own worthiness and develop self-respect by taking good
care of yourself and your appearance.

By starting on the inside and working your way out, you can build your self-
confidence. This will also help remove any negative misperceptions from others that
may be preventing you from the success you deserve.

7. Be positive. Say yes. Respond with good words.

There are a lot of ways you can change negative thoughts to more reasonable and
positive thoughts.
Focus on a few negative thoughts at a time to remind yourself how taking a positive
approach can build your confidence.

Here are some positive thought strategies that can help you improve your life:

• Avoid exaggeration.
• Stop negative thoughts as soon as they come up.
• Focus on the positive.
• Accept your flaws and imperfections with grace.
• Replace criticism with encouraging thoughts and words.
• Don’t worry about things you cannot control.
• Take responsibility for your own feelings.
• Be kind to yourself.
• Focus more on what you’re good at, rather than what you’re not.

8. Speak slowly and distinctly.

Speaking slowly will help you communicate more effectively. It allows you to take
the time to connect your emotions to what you are saying, helping you better get
your point across.

Speaking more slowly lets you focus on the discussion you’re having with someone.
It gives you confidence in your responses as you take time to formulate and articulate
them.

Slowing down also helps you speak more eloquently with purpose and sound more
intelligent and professional.

9. Study your expertise daily—read a journal, seek new information, write.

A great thing about life is that you never have to stop learning. There is always new
information to learn and discover.

You must continuously seek out new information to be successful and confident in
your abilities.

To live life to the fullest, look for ways you can improve every day.

This shouldn’t stop at those endeavors you are already skilled at doing. Keep
researching about your interests, career skills, or an entirely new life passion to learn
more and expand your achievements.
10. Achieve small, easy-to-attain goals to help you feel successful.

In order to achieve a big goal, you have to start with smaller milestones. Early and
quick successes will give you a sense of pride and motivation.

Start with small habits that a part of bigger goals. Be sure they are relatively easy
to accomplish so you can feel confident in your progress as you are working towards
bigger things.

This will help you feel successful because you will be able to start crossing things
off of your list of things to do and feel like you are making progress.

11. Change one small habit daily—drink one glass of water when you wake.

Research has shown that rituals actually have the power to make you feel more
confident.

If you start incredibly small, you can grow your small habits into routine behaviors
that you do without even thinking about it.

For example, have you heard of the “One Push-up Challenge”? You start with doing
one push-up a day. That’s it. Every day.

Then, once that becomes a routine, you grow it to two push-ups.

Slowly but surely, you will create a ritual of doing a full exercise routine every day.

Try the One Push-Up Challenge or create a ritual of drinking one glass of water
when you wake up in the morning. Just start small and see where it can take you.

12. At the end of the day, write down five things you are grateful for.

The benefits of practicing gratitude are huge.

If you take the time to regularly practice gratitude and notice and reflect on the things
that you are thankful for, you will experience more positive emotions, feel more
confident, express more compassion, and even build your immune system.

Remember, gratitude doesn’t need to be saved for momentous occasions. Take some
time every night to reflect on the things you are grateful for.
Research conducted by UC Davis psychologist, Robert Emmons, demonstrates that
keeping a gratitude journal and writing small reflections on moments you’re thankful
for can significantly increase your well-being, confidence, and overall life
satisfaction.

13. Declutter your living and work space—get organized.

Thinking about cleaning can be daunting, but when it comes to being organized,
there are a number of benefits that you can reap.

You spend so much of your day in your office and in your living space that it can
certainly have an impact on the way you feel.

Being in a cluttered space can subconsciously communicate a pessimistic attitude

and cause you agitation. If you are exposed to this on a daily basis, it infects your
inner world.

Also, initial impressions last. Consider what clients and visitors think of you and
your mindset when they come into a clean and tidy office or living space versus one
that is cluttered and messy.

14. Exercise—your body image is important.

Self-confidence has a lot to do with what you believe in and what you actively set
out to achieve.

For most of us, feeling confident includes feeling good about our bodies and physical
health.

Exercise is a critical tool that improves your overall confidence. When you feel good
physically, you also feel mentally strong, capable, and successful.

Sticking to an exercise habit gives you a boost of confidence, knowing that you have
what it takes to commit to your goals.

And of course, exercise can transform your body and help you lose weight, which
can be a huge boost to your confidence.

As with any other new habit or goal, start small with an exercise habit. Begin with
just five minutes a day and slowly work your way up to your desired exercise time.
This will help you stick to your plan without getting overwhelmed in the early stages.

15. Try a new path—go a different route.

Take the road less traveled in a variety of work or life endeavors. Change things up.
Get out of your rut and do things differently.

These minor change-ups can help you discover new things and get out of your
normal routine.

It is one effective but non-threatening way to step out of your comfort zone.

While it can always be helpful to have a sense of routine and direction, sometimes
moving forward without a concrete plan or expectations for what is coming next can
be exciting and motivating.

16. Be nice to others—pay it forward, kindness matters.

There is nothing that is more rewarding than being kind and helping others, and
confident people are able to easily spread kindness wherever they go.

Kindness matters for many reasons. It can decrease your anxiety in social situations,
make you feel good, and spark hope for the recipients of your kindness.

Kindness is contagious, and paying it forward can have a domino effect.

Look for opportunities during your day to say or do something kind for a friend or a
complete stranger. Be sure you don’t neglect kindness when it comes to those closest
to you — your spouse, children, and family members.

Try to respond with kindness, even when someone is behaving badly or has said
something unkind to you. Your kindness can be disarming and show others a better
way.

If you need a little boost to your confidence, remember that confidence is a skill you
can practice and build on every day.

Choose one or two of these actions to focus on, and keep a journal detailing how
your feelings of confidence are increasing. Just seeing how your confidence is
growing will further boost your confidence!
Leave a note in the comments about your experiences trying some of the activities
on this list, and share this article with friends who you think may benefit from these
confidence tips.
121 Self Esteem Quotes That’ll Increase Your Confidence
1. “The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off.” –
Robert Hand
2. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all
yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
3. “The first step toward being loved is learning to love what you see when you look
in the mirror.” – Tadahiko Nagao
4. “We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing, at whatever
cost, must be attained.” – Marie Curie
5. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love
yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love
yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball
6. “Strong women don’t play victim, don’t make themselves look pitiful, & don’t
point fingers. They stand & they deal.” – Mandy Hale
7. “It is easy to live for others, everybody does. I call on you to live for yourselves.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. “A strong woman builds her own world. She is one who is wise enough to know
that it will attract the man she will gladly share it with.” – Ellen Barrier
9. “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” –
Malcolm S. Forbes
10. “Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help,
and brave enough to ask it.” – Ziad K. Abedelnour
11. “A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise.” – Johann
Wolfgang Von Goethe
12. “When we are stressed, we tend to do stupid things to ourselves.” – Lisa
Lieberman-Wang
13. “Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.” – Baltasar Gracian
14. “I am a strong woman with or without this person, with or without this job, and
with or without these tight pants.” – Queen Latifah
“I am a strong woman with or without this person, with or without this job, and with
or without these tight pants.” – Queen Latifah
15. “He that overvalues himself will undervalue others, and he that undervalues
others will oppress them.” – Samuel Johnson
16. “Be that strong girl that everyone knew would make it through the worst, be that
fearless girl, the one who would dare to do anything, be that independent girl who
didn’t need a man; be that girl who never backed down.” – Taylor Swift
17. “That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining
our own esteem.” – Samuel Johnson
18. “No matter what you look like or think you look like you’re special and loved
and perfect just the way you are.” – Ariel Winter
19. “A person’s worth in this world is estimated according to the value they put on
themselves.” – Jean De La Bruvere
20. “A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in
hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
21. “We are valued in this world at the rate we desire to be valued.” – Jean De La
Bruvere
22. “To establish true self-esteem, we must concentrate on our successes and forget
about the failures and the negatives in our lives.” – Denis Waitley
23. “The confidence which we have in ourselves gives birth to much of that which
we have in others.” – Francois De La Rochefoucauld
24. “Avoid focusing on what you cannot do. Instead, focus on what you can do and
accomplish without expecting approval and recognition from others.”
25. “Morale is self esteem in action” – Avery Weisman
26. “Start loving yourself and everything else will come.”
“Start loving yourself and everything else will come.”
27. “A man can stand a lot if he can stand himself.” – Axel Munthe
28. “One of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who
you are, what you believe in and where you want to go.” – Shiela Murray Bethel
29. “Low self esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.” –
Maxwell Maltz
30. “Be everything to you, not everything to everybody” – Lisa Lieberman-Wang
31. “A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that
others throw at him or her.” – David Brinkley
32. “We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think.
Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.” – Swami Vivekananda
33. “What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates
his fate.” – Henry David Thoreau
34. “Every person is the creation of himself, the image of his own thinking and
believing. As individuals think and believe, so they are.” – Claude M. Bristol
35. “Self-love is not opposed to the love of other people. You cannot really love
yourself and do yourself a favour without doing people a favour, and vice versa.” –
Karl A. Menninger
“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
37. “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” – Marilyn Monroe
38. “It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.”
39. “I never loved another person the way I loved myself.” – Mae West
40. “We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm.” – Winston Churchill
41. “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept
no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” – Harvey Fierstein
42. “It isn’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.” – W.C. Fields
43. “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” – Michel
de Montaigne
44. “If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say
about them to others.” – Haim Ginott
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and
affection” – Siddhārtha Gautama
46. “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is
out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light
from within.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
47. “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time,
you will not do anything with it.” – M. Scott Peck
48. “When you’re different, sometimes you don’t see the millions of people who
accept you for what you are. All you notice is the person who doesn’t.” – Jodi
Picoult, Change of Heart
49. “If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will
not raise your price.”
50. “As long as you look for someone else to validate who you are by seeking their
approval, you are setting yourself up for disaster. You have to be whole and complete
in yourself. No one can give you that. You have to know who you are – what others
say is irrelevant.” – Nic Sheff
51. “Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they’re yours.” – Richard Bach,
Illusions
52. “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” – Mark Twain
“The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.”
– Paul Tillich
54. “Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more
confidence in their opinions than we do our own?” – Brigham Young
55. “Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being.” – Michel de
Montaigne
56. “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained
I am, the more I will respect myself.” – Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
57. “Other people’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” – Les
Brown
58. “I used to be self conscious about my height, but then I thought, f*** that, I’m
Harry Potter.” – Daniel Radcliffe
59. “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” – African
Proverb
60. “Don’t try to fix me, I’m not broken…” – Evanescence
61. “He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none
can pierce.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
62. “The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.” – Ayn
Rand
63. “Having a low opinion of yourself is not “modesty”. It’s self-destruction.
Holding your uniqueness in high regard is not “egotism”. It’s a necessary
precondition to happiness and success.” – Bobbe Sommer
64. “You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.” – Diane
Von Furstenberg
65. “Respect yourself and others will respect you.” – Confucius
“I am beginning to measure myself in strength, not pounds. Sometimes in smiles.”
– Laurie Halse Anderson
67. “Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment
we pass on ourselves.” – Nathaniel Branden
68. “Everything that happens to you is a reflection of what you believe about
yourself. We cannot outperform our level of self-esteem. We cannot draw to
ourselves more than we think we are worth.” – Iyanla Vanzant
69. “Appreciation and self-love are the most important tools that you could ever
nurture. Appreciation of others, and the appreciation of yourself is the closest
vibrational match to your Source Energy of anything that we’ve ever witnessed
anywhere in the Universe.” – Abraham
70. “Don’t belittle yourself. Be BIG yourself.” – Corita Kent
71. “All things splendid have been achieved by those who dared believe that
something inside them was superior to circumstance.” – Bruce Barton
72. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but
reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” –
Norman Vincent Peale
73. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it
will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein
74. “How would your life be different if…You stopped allowing other people to
dilute or poison your day with their words or opinions? Let today be the day…You
stand strong in the truth of your beauty and journey through your day without
attachment to the validation of others” – Steve Maraboli
75. “The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to
make you be somebody else.” – E. E. Cummings
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot
77. “The greatest success is successful self-acceptance.” – Ben Sweet
78. “Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept
oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the
world making the most of one’s best.” – Harry Emerson Fosdick
79. “Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be
yourself. Imitation is suicide.” – Marva Collins
80. “The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own.
No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it
is an amazing journey – and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is
the day your life really begins.” – Bob Moawad
81. “We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the
trap of being our worst enemy.” – Roderick Thorp
82. “It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.” –
Sally Field
83. “The strongest single factor in acquiring abundance is self-esteem: believing you
can do it, believing you deserve it, believing you will get it.” – Jerry Gillies
84. “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful
than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anaïs Nin
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You
need to accept yourself.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
86. “When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn’t healthy. This
meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits – anything that kept me small. My
judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.” – Kim McMillen
87. “A man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.”
88. “It’s surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that
their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward
themselves, and if you’re not comfortable within yourself, you can’t be comfortable
with others.” – Sidney J. Harris
89. “To have that sense of one’s intrinsic worth which constitutes self-respect is
potentially to have everything.” – Joan Didion
90. “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
91. “Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who holds a low opinion of himself.” –
Anthony Trollope
92. “The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself.” – Rita Mae
Brown
93. “It’s not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, it’s what you
whisper to yourself that has the most power!” – Robert T. Kiyosaki
94. “Beauty begins the moment you decided to be yourself.” – Coco Chanel
“Friendship with oneself is all important because without it one cannot be friends
with anybody else in the world.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
96. “Self-love is an ocean and your heart is a vessel. Make it full, and any excess
will spill over into the lives of the people you hold dear. But you must come first.”
– Beau Taplin
97. “Accept everything about yourself – I mean everything. You are you and that is
the beginning and the end – no apologies, no regrets.” – Clark Moustakas
98. “You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that
you can’t have it.” – Dr. Robert Anthony
99. “Self-love, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting.” – William Shakespeare
100. “You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by
realizing who you are at the deepest level.” – Eckhart Tolle
101. “When you feel good about yourself, others will feel good about you, too.” –
Jake Steinfeld
“Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you
have to give up what weighs you down.” – Roy T. Bennett
103. “The most difficult secret for a man to keep is the opinion he has of himself.”
– Marcel Pagnol
104. “When we fulfil our function, which is to truly love ourselves and share love
with others, then true happiness sets in.” – Gabrielle Bernstein
105. “There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the
more likely one will treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity. People who
do not experience self-love have little or no capacity to love others.” – Nathaniel
Branden
106. “Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers
within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi
107. “If we really love ourselves, everything in our life works.” – Louise Hay
“When you stop living your life based on what others think of you real life begins.
At that moment, you will finally see the door of self-acceptance opened.” – Shannon
L. Alder
109. “Self-esteem is as necessary to the spirit as food is to the body.” – Dr. Maxwell
Maltz

110. “Did your mom ever tell you, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say
anything’? She was right–and talking nicely also applies when you’re talking to
yourself, even inside your head.” – Victoria Moran
116. “As you grow in self-esteem, your face, manner, way of talking and moving
will tend naturally to project the pleasure you take in being alive.” – Nathaniel
Branden
117. “You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that
you can’t have it.” – Dr. Robert Anthony
118. “Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they are yours.” – Richard Bach
119. “Growth begins when we start to accept our own weakness.” – Jean Vanier
120. “Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their
personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.”
– Sam Walton
121. “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not
overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you
think.”