Authentic self-love and self-worth are key parts of your confidence and determine how you show up as you progress through your life, navigate uncertainty, accept success or failure, and recover from personal and professional challenges.
It may be that the tips provided in this blog post may be familiar to you and you may already be practicing some of them to boost your confidence. Or, if you are like me, then you may have forgotten to implement some of them, or even resisted or never committed fully to a consistent practice of these simple tasks.
The checklist in this blog post to help boost your confidence will help you identify tasks that may not be happening on a daily basis in your life. Yes, it is true some of these may seem to be very simple but many times, I have found that when I am not grounded or feeling overwhelmed by events in my life and world, a timely reminder helps me reset.
I hope that this checklist will help you boost your confidence quickly and consistently so that showing up confident becomes a daily practice that is effortless and enjoyable for you.
1. Get Prepared for Your Day
Always, but always, prepare for a phone call, event, or anything that’s coming up next for you.
Winging it will only work sometimes, and many times, especially for important things, you may fail at what you are trying to accomplish. For me, I have found it to be true that when I have prepared for these things, I feel more confident when applying myself to the task at hand.
Think about how you prepared and studied for tests when you were in school and remember that feeling of confidence when you felt you had the answers because you were prepared.
Here are some tools that help you prepare for success
- Visualize your success by thinking about the outcome for the meeting, call, or event.
- Role play with a friend, record yourself on video and play it back, or get your notes together and practice in front of the mirror.
- Research and read. It is very easy to find information about a topic or an individual online. By spending some time exploring someone’s professional profile online, you will be able to create a connection quickly during your meeting.
- Know your stuff. Know what you want, what is a deal breaker, and have clarity of purpose.
A truism to keep in mind: Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
2. Get Moving Physically Everyday
Did you know that the American Medical Association has deemed sitting linked to higher rates of death from all causes? You can boost your confidence by committing to some type of exercise every single day.
For every hour and half you spend at your desk, the recommendation is to get out of the house and spend three to four times per week an equal amount of time moving your body on the yoga mat, on the hiking trail, running, biking, at the gym, rowing in a kayak, or on a paddle board.
Just do something that brings you joy, without a phone or computer attached to it. (Zoom Yoga is good if you have limited options.)
Schedule these MOVING sessions in your appointment book and dress for each one with whatever inspires you to feel your good mood, come out.. 99.9% of feeling good, is your attitude.
Bring it ON! Say to yourself and the world, HERE I AM World!
3. Groom Yourself and Dress Appropriately
I know the pandemic has meant for many to dress casually and sometimes even show up for online meetings right out of bed. However, studies have shown that personally grooming and dressing up nicely or appropriately (for some, it could mean a clean shirt and jeans, and for others it could mean a more formal outfit) has two benefits: a) it creates a positive impression on others, and b) you also think more positively about yourself.
You can think about it in another way: showing up appropriately dressed and groomed indicates your respect for yourself and others you are meeting.
I do understand grooming and dressing nicely doesn’t mean the same thing for every individual, but when you are cleaned up and presentable, your whole energy shifts to the “Bring it On. I am Here World” attitude. And, everyone you see will feel that!
I truly believe that showing up groomed and dressed nicely or appropriately helps boost your confidence.
4. Continue Learning and Educating Yourself
Read, Listen, Watch and Attend events where you will learn something new and keep you motivated towards feeling good physically and mentally.
Open your heart and mind to suspend disbelief and embark on a growth mindset.
Nourishing ourselves with healthy thoughts (and food) are equally important! This will boost your confidence levels and increase your confidence in your making the right choices day to day, moment to moment.
5. Clear Your Physical Space
Less clutter in your physical space is an energetic action that creates way less clutter in your mind.
Set aside time to clear out clothes that you no longer use and tchotchkes (bits and pieces you don’t use); these can be donated to a charity shop so that others can benefit from what you cannot use.
More practical suggestions include re-organizing a junk drawer, donating books you no longer want to read, letting go of old personal hygiene cleaning products…A friend has the following rule: if she buys a new piece of clothing, she moves one piece of clothing from her wardrobe to her donation pile. This means her closet is always manageable and not stuffed with clothes that she no longer can fit into or use.
Decluttering is another key to feeling clear minded, confident and calm.
6. Practice Gratitude and Self Acknowledged LOVE
We live in a world where we are overly connected to devices, which can get in the way of simply feeling grateful for the good things that are happening to us, or to others close to us. Research shows that practicing gratitude can help you be happier, which in turn can help boost your confidence.
I strongly recommend that sensing and feeling gratitude become daily practice. If you do not already have a gratitude journal, we have an Awareness Journaling Workbook in our Free Tools section that you can download.
You could also simply talk to a close friend or family member about your gratitude; however, it would be good to do it daily. Once you establish this practice, you will begin to see more things show up in your life to be grateful for and begin to feel the love you feel for yourself and others expanding.
Mastering your mindset is a powerful tool and it can lead you confidently to boosting your confidence and Self LOVE.
