Everyone has times when they don’t feel like their best, most attractive or confident selves. Working through difficult times like these can actually make you stronger and more confident in the long run. When you’re in the middle of one of these stretches, it can be difficult to know how to work your way out of it. If this sounds familiar to you, try some of these tips to boost your confidence:
Change Your Appearance
Looking good can greatly increase your confidence. While you don’t need to drastically alter your appearance, simply taking a shower, shaving, putting on makeup and dressing nicely can help you feel ready to start that day. Again, this doesn’t mean you need to buy designer or expensive clothing, it just means dress for the situation (or even overdress a little) to help you feel special.
Another idea is to change up your style. If you’ve had the same hair color for ages, try changing it (you can do it yourself at home). Try some new up-do’s. Even just changing your makeup routine (hello, red lipstick!) or your shoe choice can give you a little boost.
Stop Reading Print Magazines
Studies show that women feel crummy about themselves, and their long-term self-esteem suffers, when they read print magazines. Looking at Photoshopped photos of models gets even models feeling less attractive, because even though we may consciously know that the images are fantasy, our subconscious brain still picks up on the harmful messaging; that we must look flawless, skinny and sultry if we expect to be loveable and sexy. And it’s all in an effort to sell us more products we really don’t need.
So don’t listen. Better yet — don’t expose your brain to that messaging at all; read online blogs or indie magazines, like Urbanette, instead.
Be Grateful
It’s easy to get fixated on the things you want rather than being thankful for what you already have. This often leads you to focus on your weaknesses as a person rather than your strengths.
One way to reorganize your thought process is to write down three things you are grateful for and why each day. These things don’t need to be groundbreaking gratitudes, but rather small victories such as the sunny sky overhead or the cup of coffee you grabbed with a friend. Remembering to focus on the positive things in your life helps you rediscover your confidence in a real way.
Try Meditation
This might seem a little too new age for some people, but true self-confidence is all about self-awareness. If you become more aware of your feelings and why you are having those specific feelings, it is easier to accept the things you cannot change and be confident to affect the things you can.
One of the objectives during meditation is to observe yourself and surroundings without judgement. You can’t avoid or make something happen during meditation, nor are you trying to. Just sit quietly and observe (and let go of) your thoughts as a third party. Through a more thorough understanding of yourself, you can acknowledge both your strengths and weaknesses, without judgement. This eventually leads to inner calm and confidence — I promise!
Exercise
Physical activity can burn off some of your pent up emotions. Going to the gym, joining a sports team or doing any sort of regular exercise can get your body in shape and improve your mental health. Getting in a rhythm of working out also creates positive momentum and something for you to build on. The more you work out, the more you’ll want to work out. And you just might make some new friends while you’re at it.
Where meditation is all about internal and mental results, working out is all about the external, something you can see in the mirror as well as feel in your energy levels.
Think Positive
When it comes to self-confidence, your thoughts can be your best friends or your worst enemies. It’s important to remember that your emotions mirror your thoughts. So, if you are focusing on negative thoughts, you’re more likely to feel sad or angry.
It is up to you to decide which thoughts are helpful, positive ones, and which are harmful. By discarding the negative thoughts, you will be able to focus on being productive and feeling confident.
What do you do when you’re feeling down, to make yourself feel better?
If your confidence is feeling a little low, never wallow in that negative feeling. Although people deal with things differently, it’s still highly suggested that you don’t let yourself feel worse. I find that self-care is such a great solution for this. Treat yourself to a spa, dress your best even if you’re just going to the supermarket, wear that loud lipstick you never thought you could pull off, and relax along with your favorite cup of coffee or hot cocoa. You’ll find that giving yourself enough attention heals your soul almost instantly.
Self-care is very important, true!
When I’m feeling down I usually just sit down and do a lot of thinking. Not the kind of thinking that comprises of negativity, but more on meditating and analyzing life in general. I think of ways on how to improve it and come up with actual ways that I can do to start working on it. Being productive makes me feel better too, so accomplishing tasks within the day makes me feel like I’m doing something in my life even if it’s not always going my way.?
Thank you so much for this. I’ve never tried any of the advice here but it sounds great to me. There are really moments that I’m not feeling myself and it’s not easy to bounce back to feeling better.
What I usually do to boost my self-confidence is to level up my makeup game. There’s really something about being extra in doing your makeup that makes you feel like you’re ready for almost anything. My usual makeup routine just consists of foundation, eyebrow products, lip & cheek tint products. But whenever I’m feeling extra, I’ll go as far as highlighting, bronzing and mascara (or falsies!), plus setting spray to slay! Never will I go out when I’m feeling down without my makeup on point.
Makeup is a great therapy!
Sometimes, letting the negative feeling pass at its own pace also helps. You can’t heal just because of exercise or anything like that.
I honestly can’t figure out how this will help boost my confidence, aside from dressing up better?
I’m 11 and I am competing in the world taekwondo do championships this summer. I know a girl who will also be competing and I feel like she will beat me. I don’t know how to stop my stress and gain confidence. please help me. also, how do I cope with loneliness?
Thank you for this. I’ve struggled with this my entire life. I’ve always had trouble gaining confidence and always having to deal with low self-esteem. Now I have a case of social anxiety to add to the mix 🙁 I try every day and struggle each time. I try to stay positive and even have good friends and some family that support me but when I’m in those challenging situations like being around very outgoing, talkative people who are very diff from myself or people who tend to remind me of those from my past that made me feel terrible about myself(I was also picked on growing up). I really wanna be at a point where I am confident and feel great about me and am happy with me but I still look at stuff like this as it continues to encourage me to keep trying and that hopefully I will reach that point. Plus it also reminds me that I’m not the only one who feels this way. I still wish I could interact or be surrounded by people who are like me, that way I wouldn’t always feel like the odd one out. Thank you again for this article.
Appearance plays an important role in boosting confidence. If you are dealing with issues of style rather than health, it doesn’t hurt to call on a professional. If you truly feel the need for a change, it’s worth spending the extra money to visit a cosmetologist instead of doing it at home with an old pair of scissors and discount store dye. And you may be surprised at the insight a professional stylist can offer you with the right colors and styles for you.
Once you’ve come to terms with your own appearance and can walk with your head held high in confidence, make a solemn pledge to never forget how it feels.