In everyday life, it’s incredibly easy to second-guess or unreasonably criticise yourself … thus making it very easy to undermine your own conficence, and very difficult to remain confident in your career.
Whether it’s not taking enough pride in your appearance, or letting the negativity of others affect your mood, there are many things which hinder your own confidence — and as a result your career success.
But for every issue that decreases your confidence levels, there is a solution to boost it.
1. Groom yourself
You can’t expect to feel confident about yourself if you don’t look it, so one of the biggest things you can do to boost your confidence is groom yourself.
While appearance isn’t everything, taking pride in yours and being happy with it is still important and is one of the biggest ways to boost your confidence. You’ll always feel better about yourself when your hair, skin and nails are well-cared for.
2. Dress well
In line with the above tip, dressing well and appropriately will help you immensely when it comes to boosting your confidence.
If you feel you look good on the outside, chances are it will help bring out your inner confidence in the business world.
3. Speak with authority
You can’t expect anyone to take you seriously if you don’t sound authoritative.
This doesn’t mean yelling or being abrasive, it simply means having a clear, concise and strong voice that makes it obvious you know what you’re doing.
4. Speak slowly
When speaking it’s also important to keep a steady pace, don’t let nerves get the best of you.
Be sure to take your time when speaking and don’t feel like you need to rush yourself, that can only cause you to miss something important and be detrimental to your success.
5. Stand tall
You may not realize how influential your posture is to your confidence levels, but it can actually be one of the easiest ways to boost your confidence.
Instead of slouching, pull your shoulders back and stand tall, and show everyone the kind of confident leader you can be.
Science has proven that standing for two minutes in a confident posture — with feet spread slightly apart, hands on hips and spine and neck straight — actually increases the production of testosterone, which makes you feel more confident. Try doing this just before speaking publicly or addressing an important meeting.
6. Smile
Think about what kind of person you would want to approach you in business.
Are they someone who always has a serious expression on their face or do they wear a welcoming smile?
It’s likely you’ve answered with the latter; because these are the kind of people you’d be confident doing business with.
If that’s the case then you already know having a warm and welcoming smile not only keeps your client confident, but it will keep you confident as well.
7. Exercise
Aside from the many physical benefits that exercise brings you, it’s also great for boosting your confidence levels.
Exercise has been a proven way to decrease your stress levels and as a result increase your confidence when you realize things are not as stressful as you may think.
Clearly, exercise can be that outlet for you when things come to be a bit too much at work, and leave you feeling relaxed, distressed and confident.
8. Learn a skill
Learning a new skill that you can apply directly to your career will do wonders for your confidence.
Being able to learn and showcase a new skill will show you that you are taking major steps in achieving success in your career and as a result boost your confidence even further.
There’s even the option to further your education, and with online programs now made accessible, you can take up degrees like an online degree in Organizational Leadership so as to better your chances in climbing the corporate ladder
9. Get rid of the negative voices
As hard as it may be to admit, sometimes the people in your inner circle may not be the best influence, or sometimes it is simply the voices in your own head that are the most negative.
Whatever the case may be, it is time to seriously consider who the negative voices are in your life, and how to stop them.
These will do nothing but deter your success and confidence and you cannot allow that negativity into your life.
10. Remind yourself of your achievements so far
When all else fails, if you really find your confidence levels low, take a moment to look back at all the achievements you’ve made thus far.
Take time out to reflect on how far you’ve come and what you’ve done to get to where you are, and remind yourself that there is no point in having come this far to not continue pushing forward.
It should be clear by now there are many things one can do to boost low confidence levels, and many of them don’t cost anything.
Making small changes such as standing tall and smiling can do wonders for increasing your own self-confidence as well as others perception of you, making it a win-win situation.
