People aren’t just born with confidence. Like most behaviors, confidence is learned and practiced. There are many simple tips you can implement to help develop your confidence. As with any list of tips, the intent is not to try and do all of them at once; rather, choose the one or two that feel like they would work best for you and your circumstances. As with most tips, practice will be required, so give them an honest effort and be patient for the results to appear. Remember also to look for evidence that you are more confident than you think and can accomplish more than you realize.
Tip#1 – What are the worst things that could happen?
By not managing our minds, we often let our fears overtake our thoughts. We start imagining things not in realistic terms, but in improbable terms of what might happen. When you really ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” you can get a realistic picture of potential consequences, which turn out to be less dire than what we first thought.
Tip #2 – Use your imagination.
Imagine a more positive outcome through the use of visualization. See yourself behaving in more confident ways in the challenges you face. See an excellent outcome of your efforts in your mind.
Tip #3 – Think of positive memories.
Don’t let previous failures and difficult experiences fill up your thoughts. Instead, dwell on positive accomplishments and experiences you have had. It’s easy to forget all the positive things that have happened to us. Let your mind remember the good rather than the bad. Instead of dismissing the good in favor of the bad, reverse this tendency.
Tip #4 – Look back from the future.
Imagine yourself a few years in the future of your life. From this vantage point ask yourself: Will this be a big deal or even something I’ll remember? The answer will almost always be no. By asking yourself this question it puts your day-to-day troubles into proper perspective.
Tip #5 - The past is not the present.
What happened in the past doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen in the future. We create our future in the present. If we keep this in mind, we can realize that we don’t have to let our past sabotage our future. We can realize that the future can be different.
Tip #6 – Look at “failure” differently.
The most successful people respond differently to failure. They don’t take failure personally. With failure, they look at what they can learn from the experience. They see failure as just feedback on what you need to work on so that they will do better the next time. Be open to the learning that failure affords you.
See you in Las Vegas at RDH Under One Roof!
Kristine Hodsdon, RDH
Director, RDH eVillage
