How do you improve your confidence? It’s a question that many of us as ourselves at some point in our lives.
Every month, I set myself a Word of the Month. And that word represents either an area of my life or my mindset that I want to work on and improve. In May, my word was ‘Confidence’. This is something I’ve always struggled with, and something that I have to work on regularly, for a variety of reasons.
Then once I’ve set my Word for the coming month, I break it down into three or four specific goals or tasks to work on in the weeks that follow. Then I capture everything in my bullet journal, so that I can refer to it when needed, and reflect on it when the month ends.
Obviously life can take over, and one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t always have to complete every single goal that you set yourself 100%. Every single element doesn’t have to be perfect – so long as you’ve made progress against each one.
This month though, I feel like I did pretty well. So I wanted to share what I have learned about how to improve your confidence.
Tips for improving your confidence
1. Admit that you need to improve
This is an interesting one. We all have the ability to put on a front, but has doing so become so much a part of you, that it’s actually just papering over the cracks underneath? Admitting that you do need to improve your confidence, or indeed any other aspect of your life, is the first step.
2. Line up your support team
I’m not saying that you have to make some sort of declaration and inform your nearest and dearest of your intentions. Instead, it’s about identifying people that you want to learn from over the course of your journey. In my case, it was my business partner, Chloe – a very confident person, but in a very personable way. And here’s the thing. She didn’t even know she was doing it.
Instead, I just observed her, and learned from her, and when I did choose to do something outside of my comfort zone, she was there to support me and cheer me on.
3. Start small
Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking ‘OK, I’m going to be more confident today.’ It just doesn’t work like that. You need to take things one step at a time. As an example, I wanted to feel more confident in my appearance. Sadly this didn’t mean a huge shopping trip, but instead I went through my wardrobe and removed everything that no longer fit or that I simply don’t wear any more. The result was that I could go to my wardrobe, knowing that I would be happy with what I found when I opened the door in the morning.
4. Don’t beat yourself up
If something is too much, that’s totally fine – it’s not necessary to always jump in with both feet. And equally, if you don’t quite achieve something in the way you want to, that’s absolutely ok too. Knowing that you tried your best is just as much a reason to be confident, as achieving something 100%.
There’s no denying it though. Learning how to improve your confidence is really tough. That’s why we have dedicated a whole module to it, and why our goal-setting approach and its associated accountability, runs all the way through.
Do you have any tips to add to the above? We’d love to hear them!