Everyone has times when they lack confidence and don’t feel good about themselves, but when low confidence becomes a long-term problem, it can impact our daily lives and mental health. When we have healthy self-esteem, we tend to feel more positive about ourselves and our lives. Whereas if you have slow self-esteem, it can cause you to hide from social situations, stop trying new things and avoid things that may be difficult. Although this can make you feel safer in the short term, in the long term this can worsen your self-esteem.
What are some tips for increasing confidence?
1. Be kind to yourself
Practising kindness and empathy is extremely important in life, especially when it comes to yourself. We often show a lot of patience and understanding to the people around us, but then criticise ourselves. You may automatically put yourself down and belittle yourself, if you find yourself doing this try to think to yourself ‘what would I say to a friend who was in this position?’.
2. Practice positivity
Having a positive mindset can greatly improve confidence. Negative thinking and thought processes can build up in your subconscious, leading you to tell yourself that you simply ‘cannot do it’ or that it is ‘too hard’. It may help to keep a gratitude journal which encourages you to focus on all the positives in your life. It is also important to surround yourself with positive people. The people that you spend time with can influence your thoughts and attitudes about yourself, so make sure the people around you want the best for you and build your confidence.
3. Focus on your achievements
Setting goals for yourself improves self-confidence and self-esteem. It gives your life greater direction and more focus, which helps build confidence. Long-term goals are important but setting daily and weekly goals can help you focus on your biggest priorities. When you make daily goal-setting and achieving a habit, you will continue to build your self-confidence.
4. Face your fears
It is common for people with low self-esteem to put things off until they feel more confident. Such as applying for a job or joining the gym. The best way to build your confidence is to face your fears head-on. If you’re frightened you’ll embarrass yourself or that you will fail, try anyway. Self-doubt is completely normal and can even help improve performance.
5. Hypnotherapy
At Hapus Hypnotherapy, we help you stop being self-critical and replace your negative thoughts with positive thinking. Whether you have lacked confidence all your life or it was knocked by an event or series of events, hypnotherapy can help. Working together, we will help you to relax and reduce anxiety around trigger situations. Book a free initial consultation to find out more!