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As an ukbusinessupdates.com, it can be challenging to be confident when there are so many variables that contribute to the success of your business. You might think that once you achieve business success, it will give you a confidence boost. In reality, however, it is confidence in yourself and what you can achieve that will help you become successful in the first place.
Since the life and work of an ukbusinessupdates.com is all about constantly pushing boundaries and crossing your comfort zone, staying confident is easier said than done. It’s easy for self-doubt and social anxiety to set in the moment something doesn’t go as planned or someone tells you “no” or “it can’t”. It’s your confidence that helps you move forward, say “yes” to the opportunity and prove you can.
As a leader of your startup or company, building your self-confidence is an essential part of your personal development and leadership growth. Confident people who are leaders can influence others and make them believe in the same vision. However, low confidence remains a major challenge for many entrepreneurs.
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Break through your low self-esteem and build your confidence to tackle everything from business decisions to public speaking to social situations with these mental health hacks to help low self-esteem.
1. Don’t listen to self-limiting beliefs
Whether taught by parents or other adult figures in our lives, our limiting beliefs may have convinced us to focus on what we can’t do or what may never be possible. Remember, though, that we were once enthusiastic children who believed we could be or do anything!
Whenever possible, it’s important to calm those negative thoughts that give you reasons why you can’t do something. Instead, assume an awkward situation or try something new and see what happens. If you succeed, you can permanently disable many self-limiting beliefs.
2. Don’t always rely on your memory for accurate information
Our memory comes in handy in certain situations. However, it can also be our own worst enemy. That’s because it comes with a confirmation bias already built in.
Our brain’s memory does not store information in the same way it was originally presented. What we see and remember is based on our pre-existing beliefs, values, and self-perception.
When you have low self-esteem, your brain tends to confirm those ideas, reinforcing your low self-esteem. Every time you remember a certain event, you think about the negative feeling that comes with it, such as the mistakes you made.
To counteract that reaction, improve your self-image and build high self-confidence, it is important to gain different perspectives on these situations. These perspectives are best obtained from someone you respect and have a healthy relationship with, such as a family member, friend, co-worker, or mentor. Your trust and respect for the person providing perspective will help you see beyond your own negative self-talk about the issue. These outside impressions can be invaluable in helping you rethink things and refocus on positive thinking.
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3. Talk to yourself out of negative self-talk
Negative thoughts harm a confident person, but you can boost your self-esteem by using positive affirmation to transform your way of thinking. There is much to be said about the power of positive self-talk as a way to overcome challenges and barriers of the past, including the obstacles you put up for yourself.
You can talk yourself out of fear, self-doubt, and fixation on past mistakes by reminding yourself of your abilities and achievements. These “pep” conversations can also help you meet a challenge by thinking about what to do or how to find a possible solution. By proactively talking to yourself about what you can do, you stop focusing on the fear of not being able to solve a problem.
4. Counter negative thoughts with positive thoughts
A lack of self-confidence often stems from negative thoughts that spoil us. These thoughts destroy our self-image and self-esteem. They are also not easy to remove. To do this, you have to suppress each negative thought with multiple positive thoughts. Have positive affirmations ready to say to yourself or out loud. Think about each positive thought before you say or think another.
Don’t think of it as ignoring or suppressing negative thoughts, because they will still be there later to affect your confidence. Instead, acknowledge the bad thoughts and lack of confidence before replacing them with an inner dialogue made up of positive ideas, including your achievements and abilities.
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5. Be curious
Curiosity helps you grow. More importantly, it can motivate you to try new things and be open to new perspectives and ideas. Going through the process of experiencing these new things, perspectives and ideas can build confidence.
Being curious can give your mind something to actively focus on, keeping it busy with something positive. It can also point you in new directions that you didn’t know were possible. By doing this, you can change your life for the better. In turn, all the positive results you get will help build your confidence.
6. Take control by facing your fears
When we feel like we are in control, there is a sense of confidence and comfort that surrounds us. It’s when we fear that we get out of control the most. While it may seem counterintuitive, now is the time to get closer to what scares us or makes us feel threatened. In doing so, we actively seek out what scares us. And if we do, we can eliminate the threat and fear.
The result of taking such action makes us more confident because we feel more capable. Plus, provided nothing bad happened to us when we went after what scared us, it’s a win to add to our confidence scorecard.
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7. Identify where you don’t trust and what can give you trust
It’s also important to identify and define the specific areas where you don’t feel confident. Does it relate to your knowledge and experience in doing business related to your company? Is it your body image? Or do you have trouble speaking in public and making eye contact with strangers?
Building self-confidence can still be a challenge even if you know where you’re falling short, but it will help you put your energy into the right areas. You can also strengthen your efforts to become more confident by focusing on those areas where you already have confidence. By thinking about the situations where you felt strong, you can re-open those emotions or actions to use for the areas where you still doubt yourself.
8. Don’t compare yourself
When you see others and their achievements on social media, it’s easy to lose confidence. When you compare yourself to others, you may think that you have failed or that you have no value because it seems that others have so much more money, admiration and success.
Nothing good comes from comparing yourself. Those other people are not you. Their stories are different. You also don’t know how many times they have failed or made mistakes. There is no point in making judgments based only on the visible, highly worked parts of someone else’s life when your path and life are completely different.
If you must compare, use yourself as a benchmark. If you do, you may be able to see how far you’ve come, including wins and improvements. Those achievements keep you striving to do better.
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9. Get new skills and experience
Make changes in those areas where you feel you are falling short by taking classes that will help you acquire new skills. Then apply those skills and gain new experiences. As you get better at those skills and expand your capabilities, your confidence will grow organically. Use other resources such as podcasts, conferences, books, and mentors to build more trust.
Confidence starts with yourself
Becoming more confident starts and ends with yourself, because you can make decisions and choices. Reminding yourself that you can choose to be confident will go a long way toward true self-confidence. Once you start to believe what you tell yourself, self-confidence can soar along with success, happiness and contentment.
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