7 Tips To Build Confidence and Self Esteem

Positive thinking, practice, training, knowledge, and talking to other people are all useful ways to help improve or boost your confidence levels. Confidence comes from feelings of well-being, acceptance of your body and mind (your self-esteem), and belief in your own ability, skills, and experience.

Self-confidence means trusting in your own judgment, capacities, and abilities. It's about valuing yourself and feeling worthy, regardless of any imperfections or what others may believe about you.

Self-efficacy and self-esteem are often used interchangeably with self-confidence. But they are subtly different.

We gain a sense of self-efficacy when we see ourselves mastering skills and achieving goals. This encourages us to believe that, if we learn and work hard in a particular area, we'll succeed. It's this type of confidence that leads people to accept difficult challenges and keep going in the face of setbacks.

Self-esteem is a more general sense that we can cope with what's going on in our lives, and that we have a right to be happy.

Also, self-esteem comes, in part, from the feeling that the people around us approve of us. We may or may not be able to control this, and if we experience a lot of criticism or rejection from others, our self-esteem can easily suffer unless we support it in other ways.

1. Get Things Done  

If you achieve small and big goals, you're going to feel much better about yourself. It begins with your day-to-day goals, what do you need to accomplish today, and every day this week or three days this week to help meet your goal? If you accomplish the goals you set for every day, chances are you will begin meeting weekly and monthly goals, which brings you in range of your long-term goals. Keep in mind that progress is incremental. Set a goal for yourself, and go for it.

2. Do The Right Thing   

Most confident people live by a value system and make their decisions based on that value system, even when it's hard and not necessarily in their best interest, but in the interest of the greater good. Your actions and your decisions define your character. Even when it's really hard and it's the last thing you want to do and it means a short-term sacrifice on your part, in the long run, you're going to like yourself more and be prouder of who you are.

3. Exercise   

Besides benefitting your health in general, exercising helps memory retention, improves focus, helps manage stress, and prevents depression. So stay active, and create time to take of yourself.

4. Be Fearless 

Failing isn't your enemy, it's fearing failure that truly cripples you. Every single wildly successful person has been afraid, and they've kept working and taking risks anyway because what they are trying to accomplish is more important and urgent than their fear they will fail.

5. Follow Through 

Action gives your words meaning, and it will help you pave a path to accomplishing your goals, strengthening your relationships, and feeling proud of who you are. People respect people when they say they're going to do something and they do it. More importantly, you will respect yourself.

6. Don't Care What Others Think   

There are going to be so many people who will tell you you can not accomplish your goal. You must be resolute. While they tell you the odds are against you, etc., just remember most people are wrong about most things. People change the world every day, despite everyone around them telling them it can't be done. If you think you can do it, you can it.

7. Do More Of What Makes You Happy 

What do you love to do in your spare time? Whatever it is you love, create space for it, because life is short.