Learn the fine art of radical self-acceptance by focusing on your strengths and letting go of unrealistic and unfair expectations of yourself.
Have you ever noticed the people who walk with their heads held high and a sense of self assuredness gain more respect in general? Confidence is a trait that people notice the first moment they meet you. Confidence will make people take notice of you, and it will make you feel good about yourself. Join SpiritualBlossom to find out just why confidence matters. Find out how to let go of a low self-image and improve your confidence in four easy steps. If you aren’t confident yet, you can be very easily and we’re here to show you how. Read on to find out how to be more confident.
What is Confidence?
“Your energy introduces you before you even speak.”- Anonymous
Self-confidence is the belief in your own ability to accomplish something. It means you believe you have the skills, talents, and the tools you need to achieve whatever it is you want to. Self-doubt is the opposite of self-confidence. It’s fair to say that we all lack some skills or abilities, so if someone tries to get you to climb a mountain with no help when you have not done it before, you might be too nervous to try. Self- confidence in your ability to learn new things will give you the courage to learn to climb mountains with a teacher. With confidence, before you know it, you might be at the top of the highest mountain and teaching other people how!
Why is Self-Confidence So Important?
“ Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.”- Henry Ford
Self-confidence helps because it gives you the courage to try your best and to set out to achieve your goal. People see your belief in yourself, and it helps them to have confidence in you as well. Walking into a job interview with confidence makes you more likely to get the job. Accomplishing something very difficult is much easier with self-confidence because you believe in your abilities and will put forth powerful effort. Self-confidence boosts your sense of self-worth, and it makes you brave enough to take chances. Taking chances helps you to experience new things, and it helps you to make new dreams come true and reach new stages in life, your relationships, and in your career.
If you never take chances, you will never have new experiences. If you are too nervous to talk to your crush, you won’t have a chance for a relationship with them. If you are too anxious to apply for your dream job, somebody else will take the job and you cannot have it. If you doubt your ability to transform your body, you won’t have the bravery to sign up for that swimming class you always wanted to take, and you will lose the experience and forego the transformation you want.
How To Let Go of Low Self Image
“ Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”- Rumi
Confidence is held back by a low self-image. Not everybody gets the emotional support they need growing up. Victims of abuse are especially at risk for a low self-image. Even if you were taught to doubt yourself, you can still unlearn that habit and learn self-confidence. Reject all negative thoughts and words from others that make you doubt yourself, and accept that nobody is perfect. Let go of unfair, and impossible goals, and watch very carefully how you speak to yourself.
Reject Negativity
Negative words from other people can tear down your confidence. If you grew up being told you are incapable, over time, you will start to believe it. You will have to reject the negative things people say to you. This can be done by telling people not to say those terrible things to you. Sometimes, we can’t control what people say to us, but we can control whether we believe it or not. If a family member says you can’t do anything right- but you know that you graduated college, support yourself, and direct your own department at work- it is obvious you do a lot of things right. So, reject the negative things they say.
Accept Imperfections
Nobody is perfect, even the people who we believe are. Everybody has things like stretch marks, visible veins, skin problems, bad breath in the morning, or thinning hair. We all make mistakes also. Nobody does everything perfectly all the time and nobody looks perfect all the time. You shouldn’t allow imperfections to make you have low self-esteem. If you find a flaw, accept it. If you make a mistake, learn from it. Love yourself, flaws and all. Read about self-love here: Practicing Self Love.
Let Go of Unattainable Goals
You might want to get straight A’s all through school, and start making a lot of money the day you graduate from college. However, getting a B+ every now and then isn’t the end of the world. You might not earn as much money as you want the minute you graduate, but that’s okay. Impossible goals don’t make you work harder. They make you feel bad. Think of attainable goals and work towards them instead. A more practical goal could be, ‘I will earn as many A’s as possible, and get the highest paying job possible after I graduate.” You will be proud when you achieve these attainable goals.
Watch Your Words
Pay close attention to how you talk to yourself and about yourself. If you tell people you are not beautiful, you will make yourself feel unattractive. If you call yourself fat because you just ate some french fries, it will make you feel bad, and lower your confidence levels. If you tell yourself you take pride in your appearance and take good care of your health, it will make you feel better about yourself. Just like you should refuse to allow other people’s negativity to get to you, then you should not direct negativity towards yourself. Being consciously aware of how you speak to yourself is very important. Speak to yourself in the best of ways and learn how to be your best self here: How to Be Your Best Self
How to Improve Confidence
“ Self trust is the first secret of success.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Now that you know what not to do, what can you do to improve confidence? Supportive positive people in your life will help you build self-esteem. Reminding yourself of your strengths will too. Celebrating achievements and accepting compliments will build self-esteem also.
Surround Yourself with Supportive People
Pay attention to how the people you surround yourself with treat you. Do they treat you well and build you up, or do they tear you down? The people who say kind things to you, tell you they are proud of you, and encourage you will help you with self-esteem. Constructive criticism is very important, and our loved ones give us that to help us improve. They should also tell us we have the power to make those improvements instead of just criticizing us. Make sure the people you share relationships with are nurturing and emotionally supportive.
List Your Strengths
What are you good at? What are your talents and skills? Anytime you feel your self-esteem drop, remember at least one good thing about yourself. If you are feeling ashamed because you flunked a test, remember the time you aced a test. This will help you remember how capable you are and give you the courage to study harder. While you are building self-esteem, think of five good things about yourself each day. List it on paper and read your list often. Watching the list of good qualities grow will help you have faith in yourself. You have natural leadership qualities based on your Zodiac Sign and you can find out what those are here: The Zodiac Signs as Leaders.
Celebrate Your Achievements
What kinds of things have you accomplished in life? Can’t think of any? You got up this morning, for one, and you got up every day before today, too. Every day is an opportunity to do great things. Think of the animals you have rescued, the tears you have dried, and the people you have fed. Think of the strangers who you shared kindness with by smiling at them and the people at your work who you have helped. You have actually accomplished a lot of wonderful things in your life. Not all good things are big things, though. Flipping a turtle over who is stuck on its back is a big deal to the turtle although it might seem like a small thing to you. Remember and celebrate the good things you have done.
Learn to Accept Compliments
It can be difficult to accept compliments from people when you are struggling with being confident. You might want to reject compliments, and say you have nothing to be proud of, but yes you do. If a stranger says they love your dress, be proud. Your sense of style is striking. If your co-worker compliments how quickly you meet deadlines, be proud of yourself and thank them for the compliment. You have a lot of good qualities, and when people point that out, you should pay attention and be proud of yourself. You should also be proud when you find out what your lifepath is. Don’t know what it is yet? Find out here: What is Your Lifepath?.
How to Communicate Confidence
“If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything.” – Katy Perry
Communicating confidence is in some ways more important than feeling it. When you communicate self-confidence, people respect you. They believe you are capable of whatever it is you are doing, and they will have faith in you. Sometimes, you won’t feel confident, but if you “fake it until you make it” you might prove to yourself how wonderful you really are. Making eye contact and looking people in the face communicates confidence. Speaking up and speaking highly of yourself does too. Standing close to people communicates confidence as well.
Make Eye Contact
If you look people in the eye, they will think that you are confident. It will also make it difficult for them not to pay attention to you. It is assumed that people are not confident or are easily intimidated if they can't look people in the face or look them in the eye. Even if you're nervous, look people in the eye when you're talking to them. It is also considered polite because when you're having a conversation with someone if you're looking them full in the face, they feel like you're focusing on them. So, to be respectful and to communicate confidence, look people right in the eye. That is also one way to take control of a conversation and you can read how the Zodiac Signs take control here: The Zodiac Signs and Control.
Speak Up
Another way to communicate confidence is to make sure that people can hear you when you're talking. If you speak so softly that people can barely hear you, people will assume that you're nervous or that you're not sure of what you're saying to them. They might not listen. But if you speak with authority in your voice and you speak loud enough for people to hear, people will think that you're confident about what you're saying. So, to communicate confidence, speak up.
Stand Close
Standing or sitting close to people when you're communicating with them also communicates confidence. It communicates that you don't feel threatened by them, and that you want to be close enough to them to share. It's hard for people to ignore you when you're standing close enough that they can't physically avoid you. This is not the same as standing so close that you're violating people's personal space, which you never want to do. But if you're standing or sitting close enough to people to communicate that you're sure of yourself and not afraid, they will feel that you're confident. Speaking of being comfortable, what should you do if you feel uncomfortable with a person or a situation? Read all about it here to find out: What Should I Do if I Am Uncomfortable?.
Speak Highly of Yourself
To communicate confidence, talk about how awesome you are. Go ahead. Nobody likes someone who brags too much. Almost nobody likes someone who doesn't speak highly of themselves, however. Talk about your accomplishments. Talk about what you're good at. Talk about self-improvement and how well you're doing with that. When you are going to see about a job, or a volunteer opportunity, talk about the positive things that you would bring to share with the team. There are very good things about you, and people aren't going to know about that unless you tell them. In time you can prove yourself, but to begin with, tell everybody all the wonderful things about you that they have to look forward to. Talking about yourself is one way you present yourself. To learn how you present yourself, read about your First House here: The Complete Guide to 1st House Astrology.
Self-improvement is very important, but sometimes, we focus so much on our weaknesses, we lose sight of our strengths. Self-confidence is important because it helps you manage difficulties and present yourself well. Opportunities open for you when you walk with confidence because it gives other people faith in you. Building confidence is first done by dismantling the mindsets that make you lack confidence and then building yourself back up again. Have some faith in yourself, and the magic of a confident mindset will make great things happen for you.
If you want someone to talk to about your strengths and improving your confidence, get a reading started with us any time any day: Online Psychic Readings. Make sure to sign up for our Horoscopes to see what your future holds: Daily Horoscope | Free Horoscopes.
About the Author: Lady Saoirse has studied magic and lore for most of her life but started walking her own Magical Path after being spiritually reborn in the desert. Today she is a High Priestess for The Temple of the Goddess, she is a psychic advisor and spiritual counselor, she shares her gifts as a Psychic and Content Writer for Mysticsense and SpiritualBlossom, and she writes for The Green Egg Magazine and PaganPages.Org emag.
