As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Confidence is the ability to do something that should embarrass you with a smile. It’s the ability to hold your head high and feel pride in yourself and your accomplishments without overestimating what’s realistic. It’s the ability to see the things you’ve overcome and be proud of them and the skill of being able to hold yourself when you walk into a room with strangers.

Confidence is all the big things and all the small things. It’s making conversation with a stranger, wearing whatever makes you feel comfortable, dancing like nobody’s watching (even when they all ARE watching) and living your best life. Confidence makes life a joy. It makes you feel a hundred feet tall.

Remember the last time you felt confident? Was it after a haircut or receiving a compliment? It’s the feeling of walking around and shining, transferring that happiness to everyone you see. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel this way all the time? Well, you can. There are a few habits that will make confidence your default mode! Ready…walk with your head held high!

Confidence is the ability to do something that should embarrass you with a smile.

STEP ONE
Start where you are

Where are you right now? Where have you been and how did you get there? Think about where you were 365 days ago. How have things changed? It’s important to not let yourself get too caught up with the changes of your life and desensitized to them. But don’t. Start with a list of things that have changed between now and one year ago.

Chances are, so much has changed, you have made so many steps that you probably thought you wouldn’t. Even if it’s nothing big, those small steps towards a better future need to be acknowledged too. Start a confidence list, every week write down the things that you need to celebrate, the reasons you have to be confident in yourself and your abilities. You’ll soon feel a lot more confident in who you are and what you can achieve.

STEP TWO
Set small goals

Having one big goal to achieve will NOT help your confidence levels. I repeat…SET SMALL GOALS. The bigger the goal, the bigger the chance of failure. And that will not help your confidence levels at all. It sounds great to aim for the sky and set yourself ambitious goals but if you don’t break them down into small manageable bites you are never going to achieve them.

Break that big goal down into daily steps. One step a day towards your goal. If you want to write a novel, start with 30 minutes of writing a day. If you want to get your dream job, do some research and make an action plan. Give yourself deadlines, that’s the only way you’re going to reach your goals AND be confident in your ability to do so.

STEP THREE
Work on your body language

Confident people have confident body language. Whether you know it or not there are small giveaways that you are not feeling confident in yourself. Playing with your hair, tugging at the thread on your sleeve, even touching your hands, these are all subtle reminders that you aren’t confident. The way you sit can convey confidence, too. Straight-backed, open body language is confident. The less space you take up, the less confident you’re feeling.

You need to work on conveying this with your body. Practice by putting your headphones in and turning to a song that makes you feel on top of the world. Walk around while you listen to this song, and make a note of how different you feel. You want this feeling to stay with you even when you’re not blasting positive music into your ears. Every time you notice your body language, try to change it. Sit up straight, stand tall, eventually, it will become second nature.

STEP FOUR
Transform your body

Your confidence will skyrocket the fitter you become. That’s a fact. Not because of any physical changes, although that is a bonus, but because you finally have a test of how strong your body actually is. The more you put it through, the harder the workout, the more confident you’ll feel. You’ll be amazed that you could get through such a tough workout and still feel OK.

Your body is strong, and it’ll get stronger every day, this alone will make you feel a huge boost of confidence that you wouldn’t have felt otherwise. Plus, the endorphins you’ll release will make you feel like you’re winning at life (which always helps with confidence levels!).

Source: https://www.careergirldaily.com/habits-for-confidence/