This is your ultimate guide to becoming more confident and empowered in life. Read on!
If you read my blog regularly, you’d know I love writing about things that can change your life.
So far, I’ve written multiple blog posts on habits and routines that have the potential to transform you.
But one topic that I’ve refrained from writing on has been confidence.
I didn’t feel equipped enough to write about it, as it was still a work in progress. I can’t write about something until I understand and practice it.
But the last year has all been about growing, glowing, and owning who I am.
I can now safely call myself a confident woman who knows her worth. It hasn’t been easy getting here, but the journey has been life-changing and beautiful.
Being confident has opened doors for me that I couldn’t even fathom earlier. Now, I am finally ready to write about confidence and how you can attain it for yourself.
Why Even Bother?
Things like habits, routine, productivity, and goals are tangible. So, we don’t question ourselves before diving into them.
But when it comes to something elusive like confidence, we often don’t feel motivated enough to actively work on it.
But I am here to tell you that it’s so worth it.
When you have confidence, the world feels like a place you can actually move through on your own terms.
You speak up more. You go after what you want without asking for permission. You make decisions with more certainty.
Being confident doesn’t mean you never mess up. It means you’re not afraid to try, and when things go sideways, you bounce back stronger.
Confidence gives you the green light to live boldly.
If you’re reading this, maybe confidence feels like something you used to have. Or maybe it’s something you’ve never felt at all.
Either way, you’re not stuck. Confidence isn’t a personality trait you either were born with or missed out on.
It’s a skill, which means it can be built. It must be built. And it can change your whole life.
Here’s how to start!
10 Ways To Be More Confident
1. Stop Waiting to Feel Ready
Most people are waiting for confidence to show up before they act on something. The truth is that it rarely works that way.
Confidence doesn’t come first, dear reader. Action does. You build confidence by doing things before you feel totally ready.
I am talking about applying for a job, speaking in a meeting, and talking to a person. Basically, anything that involves taking a leap, big or small.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re ready or not. Feeling ready is optional, but action is not.
Don’t wait to feel one-hundred percent ready before trying; you may never really get there. Even sixty percent confidence is enough.
Keep trying, stumbling, adjusting, and then repeating.
Every time you show up and survive, you prove to yourself that you can. And this proof is what brings you confidence.
2. Keep Promises to Yourself
Confidence isn’t just about how the world sees you. It’s also about how you see yourself.
If you constantly break promises to yourself, your brain stops trusting you. You chip away at your own self-respect.
These promises may look like:
- I’ll go to the gym.
- I’ll stop doomscrolling.
- I’ll wake up earlier.
The best way to keep promises like these to yourself? Start small. Which means making promises you can actually keep.
For example, instead of jumping straight to running five miles every morning, first promise yourself to just leave your bed when your alarm rings.
Keep it simple, and make sure you do it. One tiny win stacked on another is how you build belief in yourself.
Self-respect is quiet, but it’s the backbone of confidence. So, earn it through consistency.
3. Embrace The Cringe Stage
Trying something new is uncomfortable. You might suck at it at first, you might feel awkward, but all that is normal.
Consider it the price of growth. It’s called the cringe stage, and nobody skips it.
When babies learn to walk, they fall constantly. Nobody laughs at them for it. The same rule applies here.
Be a baby as you navigate through new things that demand your confidence.
Whether you want to start running, learn art, start a YouTube channel, or show up for your first interview, be okay with the idea of being cringe.
Let yourself be a beginner. Let yourself be bad before you get good.
Confidence comes from letting the awkward part happen without letting it stop you. Cringe now, conquer later!
Might help: How to Stop Caring What Others Think
4. Put Yourself in the Room
One of the things that always stopped me from being confident was being isolated. I am an introvert by nature, so I didn’t use to interact with people much.
But then I realized that unless I started putting myself out there, confidence wasn’t gonna happen for me.
It’s something that cannot grow in isolation.
If you want to be confident, like really confident, then you need to put yourself in situations that stretch you.
That means showing up in rooms where people are better, smarter, more experienced, maybe more social than you. Not so you can feel small, but so you can learn from them.
Surround yourself with people who challenge and inspire you. Be around energy that pushes you to level up.
Real confidence comes from exposure, and I can say this having tried it myself.
The more often you’re in the room, the less intimidating it gets, and the more your confidence grows.
5. Edit Your Inner Dialogue
The way you talk to yourself matters so, so much when it comes to being confident.
If you’re constantly narrating your failures, calling yourself lazy and stupid, or predicting disaster, then of course you’ll feel small.
I am not asking you to lie to yourself with fake positivity, but you do need to speak to yourself with more respect.
I am not prone to negative self-talk either, but I catch my negative monologue very quickly and then swap it with something useful.
Like, instead of thinking, ‘I always screw this up’, you can tell yourself, ‘I’m still learning, but I’m getting better.’
Instead of ‘I’m not good enough,’ remind yourself, ‘I am unique and I have valuable things to offer.’
I know this may seem corny, but it’s not. It’s neuroscience! Your thoughts wire your brain.
Speak like someone who believes in your potential, and success you shall have.
6. Get Good At Something
When I used to imagine a confident version of myself, I’d envision her being able to do everything well. Like, she’d be good at art, traveling, public speaking, yada yada.
But that is not realistic, nor is it fair to yourself.
You do not need to excel at everything to have confidence, but yes, you do need to be good at something.
Why? Because confidence feeds on competence. Simple as that.
Pick one thing and commit to getting damn good at it.
It could be a skill, a sport, an art, a craft, or a hobby. Anything that lets you practice, improve, and see results.
The feeling of progress will be your confidence fuel. The better you get, the stronger you will feel. And that strength will spill over into other areas of your life.
7. Move Your Body
I am not asking you to move your body to lose weight or look a certain way.
To me, exercise and movement are all about embodiment. Because confidence isn’t just mental, it’s physical too.
The way you stand, walk, and breathe — it all sends signals to your brain.
Exercise shifts your chemistry, posture shifts your mood, and movement reminds you that you have power.
So, don’t be a fitness freak (unless you want to). Just indulge in some form of movement every day.
Dance in your room, walk outside, stretch your body, and move like someone who matters (because you do).
8. Collect Evidence
This one may sound a bit confusing, but it’s been game-changing for me, so just stick with me for a sec.
Confidence is not blind faith, you know. It’s based on evidence and proof. So start collecting it!
Write down your wins, screenshot the compliment from your friend, and save the ‘You helped me’ messages.
Keep a note in your phone every time you do something scary and come out stronger. Take selfies when you feel pretty and good.
When your brain says, “You can’t,” pull up your receipts and remind yourself of your past moments of confidence.
You’ve done hard things before. You can do them again and again.
That’s how confidence works; it’s unlimited energy, and you can tap into it as many times as you want.
9. Practice Being Seen
I know it can be hard to make yourself seen, especially when every fibre of your being wants to hide and protect yourself.
But if hiding is a habit, then so is showing up.
Start small if you have to, but practice being seen. And keep practicing until it doesn’t scare you so much.
Post the thing you want to, speak your truth, share your work, wear the bold outfit, and let people look!
Yes, it’s scary. But confidence is not the absence of fear. It’s the decision that something else matters more.
Let visibility be the muscle you build. The more you show up, the more you own your space.
Recommended post: How To Make New Friends (When It Feels Almost Impossible)
10. Make Peace with Your Mistakes
Confident people mess up all the time. But the difference is that they don’t make it mean something about their worth.
You are going to fail. You are going to say dumb stuff. You are going to wish you had handled things better. That’s part of the deal of being human.
I fail all the time, too. I also say dumb stuff. And I also wish sometimes I had handled things better.
But I have learnt not to let those things get to me. I am okay with making mistakes and trying not to repeat them again.
Mistakes aren’t proof you suck. They’re proof that you are in the game.
Instead of spiraling every time you make a mistake, extract the lesson and then move on.
The faster you can go from ‘That sucked’ to “Here’s what I learned,” the faster you will grow.
Confidence Isn’t Magic, It’s Muscle
To be confident, you don’t need to transform overnight, and you don’t need to become a different person either.
You just need to start being more grounded in who you are and then show up more.
Every small decision, every promise you keep, every time you act before you’re ready, every time you speak up when it’s easier to shrink, is a brick in the foundation of your confidence.
So start stacking. You’ve got this!
Read next: 20 Real-Good Ways To Improve Your Life
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