10 Ways to Gain Confidence

We all want to become more confident and feel good about ourselves so we can live our very best life. Most highly successful people are known to be confident. They know the art of gaining confidence and the importance of improving their self confidence in the face of obstacles. How to gain this confidence and joining the league of successful people is not difficult. The key to this self confidence is to be true to yourself and your capabilities. Knowing how to be confident is an important skill and mastering this art will help you succeed in life. Following are tips on how you can gain confidence and improve your self image:

• Understand your capabilities and strengths: Take time out to think about whom you are, what you believe in and what is important to you. Evaluate your capabilities and strengths. Decide what you want from life.
• Accept who you are: Have the courage to accept yourself as you really are even though you are not what someone else thinks or wants you to be. Believe in yourself that you are a pretty good person. You have your own talents, skills and abilities that make you extraordinary.
• Develop a sense of control: When you feel very much in control of yourself and your life, you will feel confident enough to do and say things that match with your values and aspirations. Establish a sense of direction based on your behavior and always aim at objectives.
• Do something you enjoy: Engage yourself in activities that you enjoy doing or playing like writing or painting. You can also try learning something new that you always wanted to do. Once you master things you enjoy, you will feel competent and capable.
• Relax: Learning to become more relaxed is very important in life. People who are more relaxed have fewer memory problems and are prepared to face obstacles in life. You can relax by practicing meditation techniques including Tai Chi.
• Positive people and thoughts: Surround yourself with people who are confident and caring. Wash out negative thoughts from your mind. Negative relationships drain energy from your body and create situations in which you lose your self esteem.
• Make a list of your accomplishments: Value whatever you achieve in life. An accomplishment however small it is, is still an accomplishment.
• Be true and honest to yourself: Being true to yourself means knowing exactly what you want and having a plan to achieve it. Self-confidence comes when you know that you have the capacity to get what you want in life.
• Do not fear failure: It is extremely important to remember that if you predetermine that you are bound to fail, then you will. Instead of being preoccupied with the fear of failure and loss, as most people are, concentrate on opportunity and achievement.
• Write out your thoughts: Maintain a journal and write down all things you want to do and accomplish. Take notice of day to day achievements and failures and think of possible reasons for them too. When you pen down your achievements and failures, you get into writing the thoughts that affect your self confidence throughout the day.

People are not born with good self-confidence. Most of us have to work at it. Eventually it will develop from your thinking and the things you do daily to make yourself feel good.