Self-confident people seem at ease with themselves and their work.

They invite trust and inspire confidence in others. These are all attractive characteristics to have. But it's not always easy to be confident in yourself, particularly if you're naturally critical or if other people put you down. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to increase (and maintain!) your self-confidence!

Here are some simple steps to take you from shy and insecure, to confident and self-assured!

Stop Comparing Yourself To Others

Nothing good comes out of comparing yourself. Those other people are not you. Their stories are different. You also don't know how many times they might have failed or made mistakes. It doesn't make sense to make judgments based only on the visible, highly edited parts of someone else's life when your path and life are completely different.

If you must compare, then use yourself as the measuring stick. When you do, you may be able to see just how far you have come, including wins and improvements. Those accomplishments are what should keep you striving to do better.

Ditch The Negative Self-Talk

Negative thoughts do more than just damage your confidence, so try to put a stop to negative thoughts, instead replacing them with positive ones.

Stifle negative thoughts with multiple positive thoughts. Have positive affirmations ready to say to yourself or out loud. Reflect on each positive notion before saying or thinking of the next one.

Positive Affirmations are a great tool to help boost your self-esteem and to transform your mindset.

Take a look at our Oh Happy Day Affirmation Cards to help get you started!

Set Confidence Boosting Goals

Setting and achieving goals - and seeing how far you've come - is a great way to develop your self-confidence.

The Insite Mind Mindset Reset workbook & journal can help you to work on the mindset you need to achieve those goals as well as practical exercises to help you implement the strategies as you go.

Gain Control By Facing Your Fears

When we feel we are in control, there is a sense of confidence and comfort that surrounds us. It's when we are afraid that we feel the most out of control. While it may seem counterintuitive, this is the time to move closer to what scares us or makes us feel threatened. By doing so, we are actively going after what scares us. And, when we do, we can eliminate the threat and fear.

The result of taking such action makes us more confident because we feel more capable. Plus, provided that nothing bad happened to us when we went after what was scaring us, it's a win to add to our confidence scorecard.

Learn To Control Your Emotions

If you let your emotions dictate your experience of life without pinpointing why you feel a particular way, you're letting your emotions control you. The truth is that you control the way you feel, including whether or not you feel confident.

Confidence is not something people are born with – it’s something you must create. Building confidence creates the feeling of certainty that you can accomplish what you set out to do. Confidence is like any other emotion. It is something you feel, and you can train yourself to access it in an instant.

If you are always letting your emotions get the better of you, take a look at our Move Your Mood workbook & journal. 

Referred to as our emotional bible, this is the go-to workbook if you want to become emotionally intelligent and learn how to feel emotions without them taking over so you can get off the emotional roller coaster.