Self-confidence: discover the 7 keys to improve it

In a world in which more and more things are demanded of us, working on improving levels of self-confidence remains the great pending issue.

Having deficits in this regard not only causes emotional pain, but predisposes us to act like people who do not trust themselves. And that, in addition to being a source of problems, makes others treat us as if we need help with anything.

Tips to build your self-confidence

Against this destructive dynamic, here are some starting points to improve levels of self-confidence and self-esteem and make the image you have of yourself work in your favor.

1. Coldly consider your options

Distance yourself from your own person and analyze the things you do as if you were a external observer It will help you to recognize those situations and habits in which you self-sabotage yourself. If you have had low self-esteem for a long time, it is very likely that you have entered a vicious circle of anxiety and bad self-image from which it is difficult to get out without trying. Therefore, taking a third-person point of view will help you see this vicious cycle in full and it will be easier to take action on the matter.

How to do this? Very easy. When you notice that there is something that creates anguish and that undermines your self-confidence, stop and think about the different options with which you can face this situation and choose the one that you think will benefit you in the medium or long term.

The key: overcome the tendency to stay in your bubble

Make sure that your conception of what is "best" in the long term is not influenced by your desire to opt for the comfortable solution. If you want to do things differently than you usually do, you will have to get out of your comfort zone. For example, if you think that one of your academic papers has received a lower score than expected, the easiest option may be to do nothing, but if you go to the review of the correction so that the person who has corrected it explains to you where you have failed it is likely that you will learn things, although the fact of facing your mistakes may be something uncomfortable.

2. Do the same with your negative habits

This detached point of view should not only act when considering your possibilities of action, but also as method to detect those thoughts that undermine your levels of self-confidence. Having a good image of yourself is not about having an objective image of yourself (that would be impossible, with the amount of things you know about yourself), but to have a self-image that is Useful.

What makes the difference when it comes to building a positive self-image is the selective attention. When you do not hold yourself in very good regard, all that information about you and your actions comes to you having passed through a filter that makes you see everything in a pessimistic key. In this way, you will have a propensity to pay close attention to things that go wrong, while your merits will go unnoticed. Since this bias is going to be there whatever you do, take advantage of it! Detecting those thoughts about yourself that are unfair and recognizing them as such will help you to downplay them.

Changing your thoughts to play in your favor

At the same time that you are seeing the amount of negative thoughts unrealistic about your own person, you will be more aware of your ability to actively participate in the construction adequate levels of self-confidence, because you will realize that what you knew about yourself was biased by your state of cheer up. You can also turn the situation around fighting back with positive thoughts and paying more attention to the things that speak well about you. This will not only change your perception of your personality, but it will also cause you to act differently and, as a final effect, it will improve your levels of self-confidence.

3. Stop always comparing yourself to the same people

You should stop comparing yourself to other people. If you can't help but compare yourself, it's because you probably don't know them well enough. Today social media and the media make it very easy for you to concrete people offer only their best side and keep many other things under lock and key. And all this, with or without a paid image consultant.

The importance of feeling comfortable with yourself

Think, for example, of the time you have spent choosing the photos to upload in your virtual profiles, or of the meticulousness with which you choose certain phrases. That's what a lot of people who get news about every day constantly do, and it is very possible that many of them still care more than you do in making sure that all this news speaks about a fascinating personality. Therefore, working on your self-confidence should include a phase in which you go from idealizing these people to humanizing them, that is, considering their defects or the lack of information about them.

If our own way of thinking already incorporates patterns of selective attention, the mass media and the Internet make this restricted access to a few data even more definitive. Which brings us to the next point.

4. Recognize the effects that propaganda has on your self-esteem

Self-confidence and self-esteem are closely related, and that is why you should pay attention to both if you want to intervene on your possibilities of changing your attitude and emotional style. However, there are very powerful propaganda and advertising devices that are in charge of almost exclusively to offer niche markets to large organizations by creating insecurities for people. If you are a woman, for example, you may have realized that there is great media pressure to pressure women with the ideal of feminine beauty, something that ultimately does not exist.

Something similar happens with practically all the elements of our life: architecture, cars, the personalities of movie heroes, etc.

Detoxify the ideals of film and television

Realize that self-esteem, be it positive or negative, is something that can be learned and unlearned and influenced media and cultural elements It serves to see that a negative self-image does not reflect our own nature. Therefore, considering the social pressures that influence us is imperative to preserve authenticity and not let the publicity sink us emotionally.

5. Take care of your health

Although self-confidence is subjective, it is easier to make it positive if you make small objective changes in your life. Keep some good regular exercise habitsProper food and hygiene is something simple to achieve and, in addition to providing you with benefits of all kinds, it can improve your self-esteem in an indirect way.

Mens healthy in healthy body

When our body works better, it is noticed by everyone (and also by oneself). There are multiple studies linking physical to mental well-being, so you shouldn't underestimate this point.

6. Sleep well

Not only because of what has already been said in the previous point, but because it is totally essential. Not sleeping properly causes fatigue and stress, which affects our way of interpreting things and, of course, also has an effect on postures that we adopt. It's hard to trust yourself when you walk around with your head down all day.

7. Take on realistic challenges and meet them

If you want to work on your self-confidence, you should focus your actions thinking about the impact they will have on your self-esteem. Somehow, you must leave messages to your future self so that it is the one who reads itself with kinder eyes (in part, that is what the first point explains).

The art of setting ambitious but affordable goals

Therefore, you should see what goals or objectives, far from being useful, do nothing but damage your self-image by being unrealistic. If you want to make progress in this regard, focus on the goals you can tackle and go for them, without leave it for the next day.