The journey to being completely confident takes a lifetime. However, here are some simple ways to help you get started.
Hey there, welcome to today’s blog post!
Today, I will share with you eight helpful tips to make you feel more confident about yourself. Remember, confidence is a life-long journey, and it will take a lot of inner work to get to a place of complete confidence in oneself. Despite some of these tips being more outside-focused, I believe they can help kick-start you on that journey of working on your confidence from the inside as well.
Without much further ado, let’s get into it!
1. Find confidence in God first, not in people
This rings to be true because I have lived it.
I cannot emphasize how having a relationship with God boosts your confidence.
Knowing that you are loved, cared for, seen, and in right standing with the God of the entire universe is a huge confidence boost.
This means that you learn to place your hopes in God first, not people.
People change, God never changes.
People leave, God promises to never leave nor forsake you.
People betray you, God never will.
Having your confidence placed in God first helps you to keep boldly living life, despite any setbacks and drama you’ll face.
It doesn’t mean you won’t feel down sometimes, it just means that even in such seasons, you still have hope in God. You still have that one person you can depend on. And God is very dependable.
2. Keep the promises you make to yourself
They say a promise is a debt.
Many of us have accumulated many debts because of the promises we made to ourselves that we have failed to fulfill.
Let me tell you, when you say to yourself that you’ll do something, and you end up doing it, more so doing it excellently and getting exceptional results?!
How will you not feel confident about yourself?
And, as you continue to keep your word in one area, it will spill over to other areas of your life, even in your relationships, leading you to become more and more confident in yourself.
Be a man/woman of your word and see your confidence soar.
3. Hang around people who uplift and genuinely support you
This is very important. Because the people you hang around will have an opinion of you and will likely voice it out.
Words have power, they can create life or death, build up or destroy, encourage or discourage, and I am sure most of us remember something that someone said to us (even from childhood!!!), especially something negative.
To be more confident, try your best to surround yourself with people who speak life to you, your dreams, and your vision for life.
Of course, you can’t always expect people to clap for you, but when they do, it feels good and gives you the confidence to do even more.
4. Despite what your personal style is, ensure your clothes are clean, well-fitting, and neat
The next way that you can boost your confidence is through your clothing.
You don’t have to be wearing the latest and most expensive designer labels to feel more confident, not that it wouldn’t be nice to.
All I am saying is, even on a budget, you can still feel more confident in what you are wearing.
How? Start with the basics.
· Wear clothes that you actually like. Whatever your personal style is, own it and slay!
· Wear clothes that you are comfortable in and that fit you well. If a cloth doesn’t fit you, it’s just not your size, period. It has nothing to do with who you are as a person and should not be a measure of your worth. Get clothes of your size so that you can be comfortable. When you are comfortable, confidence becomes much easier to achieve.
· Wear neat clothes. Iron those creases, remove the lint, and fix any areas that need repair like tears and such.
Taking care of yourself on the outside in this way can be a major confidence boost.
5. Clean and organize your space
I know that not all of us like to clean or stay organized. Some of us, despite the mess and clutter, we’ll know where to find everything.
However, I have found that when my space is clean and organized, I feel much more confident.
Especially when I commit to cleaning, and I actually do it?! I love coming to a clean space at the end of a busy day.
If you’re looking to create a habit of being cleaner and more organized, start small.
Clean and organize your desk at work, school, or even at home.
Ladies, clean out all manner of clutter from your bag. Yes, I’m looking at you with the old receipts from last year’s shopping trips!
Get rid of any stuff you’re not using. Donate, sell, or throw it away.
Let go of any excess and extra stuff. Travel light. You will feel more confident of where you’re heading, as you no longer carry the baggage of old clutter.
6. Practice healthy basic hygiene
Need I say more? I believe that ever since we were young, we have been taught various hygiene practices, and I think that we should continue with the same practices even as we grow older.
Here are some of my tips;
· Brush your teeth, at least once a day. Twice isn’t so bad either.
· When you bathe, use a washcloth to wash (‘sugua’) your body plus soap for a thorough cleaning. Make sure you pay attention to the areas of your body where the skin folds, like your armpits.
· If you work out often, change out of your workout clothes as soon as possible and jump in the shower. Also, ensure you wash those clothes well to get off all the sweat from your hard work.
· Wear deodorant. Deodorant does not necessarily stop you from sweating. You will sweat, you just won’t smell like it.
Those are just a few basic tips, that if you follow, you should be good.
It feels amazing and a major confidence boost when you’ve got the basic hygiene stuff down.
7. Fix your posture
On this point, I will share a personal story.
I’m a tall gurl, five feet, eight inches to be exact. That’s about 173 centimeters. For a girl, I would be considered tall, and many people have said that about me.
I don’t mind it these days. My height is something that I have learned to appreciate and love about myself. But this was not always the case.
A few years back, when I was in high school, I was extremely insecure about my height. I had a lot of self-esteem issues, coupled with my struggles with acne, and I always wanted to not be seen, so I always made myself small.
However, my height did not allow me to stay small lol. Anytime I’d enter a room, everyone would notice and see me, because of my height.
So, what did I start doing? Slouching.
Ironically, this made me feel even less confident about myself.
Years later, I would look at pictures of myself and think that I looked odd. Due to years of slouching, my posture was negatively affected and I did not like the way I looked.
I began to do some inner work and went on a journey of self-acceptance. I realized that when God creates us, He creates us perfectly, and God gave me my height specifically because He saw that it was perfect for me. Therefore, I let this thought nurture in my heart and after some time, I began to feel more confident about my height.
This then led me to start walking, standing, and sitting with my shoulders back, chest out, and back straight. Of course, my posture is not perfect, but it’s much better than it was.
These days, some people may say that I’ve grown taller, but in my heart, I’m like; ‘maybe I have, but it’s more to do with confidence than height’
So, despite what your height is, start working on your posture and see your confidence soar.
Today, start walking, standing, and sitting, with your shoulders back, your back straight, and your chest out. It will make a huge difference, I promise.
It won’t be easy at first, as your body may not be used to it, but with practice, it will stick.
Proper posture also has loads of benefits aside from the confidence boost, including less back pain, proper digestion, and fewer chances of injuries occurring during exercise or when carrying heavy items.
8. When given a compliment, say thank you and leave it there
How many times has someone complimented you and you brushed it off?
Here’s a scenario.
A person: wow! I love your jacket! It’s so classy!
Me: But I got it on sale. It was super cheap. It doesn’t even fit me that well… blah blah blah.
Listen, no one needs to know if your jacket was on sale or any of those details.
Just say thank you and keep it moving.
Don’t brush off compliments. Acknowledge, appreciate, and treasure them.
The next time you’re feeling down, you’ll remember that compliment and it will give you the boost you need.
So, from now on, what will you do?
When someone compliments you, you will say thank you and leave it at that.
That’s it for today’s post!
I wish you well as you continually live life as the confident babe you are!
I’ll see you on the next one :)
Xoxo,
BK.
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