Improving your Self Confidence Part 1

On interesting fact I’ve found about today’s society is that everyone (well, not quite everyone, but the vast majority) seems to be lacking a sense of self confidence. A wish I hear almost every day are things to the effect of “I was I was bolder,” “I wish I could speak my mind,” and just “I wish I had self confidence.” Most of these people say it in terms of “I want to be like XYZ.” But when you talk to this person, you find they in turn wish they could be someone else. So really, how do you go about acquiring this elusive self confidence? I’m here to help!

Accept Yourself. This is a vital first step. Think of it this way, if you aren’t compelled by yourself, why would anyone else be? Note that this does not mean settling for mediocrity. What I recommend is getting a full body mirror, take all your clothes off, and take a full, honest look at yourself. You might consider the mirror to be a little extreme, but hear me out. It is my sincere belief that the body and mind are intertwined – body follows mind follows body. That is to say, looking at yourself in the mirror will help you be honest with yourself not only in a physical sense, but a mental sense too. It’s still possible to lie to yourself, but there’s something about looking at another person eye to eye (even if it’s yourself) that brings out a little extra honesty. So look yourself in the eye and ask yourself what parts of your life make problems for you. Now change those. Once you’ve corrected some of the problems in your life, accepting yourself will be much, much easier.

Recognize that it’s NOT just you. Many people, especially teenagers, seem to think they’re the only person with problems. They see the happy facades other people put on, and assume those people really are happy. In reality, they have many of the same issues you do, and some even have worse. So instead of being intimidated around the boisterous and loud people, understand that their lives really aren’t different from yours. They too suffer from inadequacies and shortcomings. They have parts within themselves which are bitter and broken, open wounds and scars, just like anyone else. It’s easy to just say this to yourself though. But you can’t stop there. You really have to believe it. An added bonus of this is that it’s the first step towards true empathy. And empathy is a skill which can help anyone in any walk of life.