16 Simple Ways to Build Your Confidence and Improve Your Self-Esteem

“Self-confidence is a superpower. Once you start to believe in yourself, magic starts happening.”

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I get it; it’s not always easy to be confident. Sometimes it can be really, really hard.

Trust me, as someone who has struggled with confidence and the concept of self-worth all my life, I can relate on the deepest possible level. 

Looking back, my lack of confidence affected almost every area of my life. My career wouldn’t grow because I was too afraid to push myself out of my comfort zone. I wasn’t meeting anyone new or making friends because I was petrified of putting myself out there. I avoided anything that felt uncomfortable and, as a result, I wasn’t achieving any of my big goals. 

At one point, I doubted almost everything about myself. Needless to say, this took a huge toll on my mental health. I felt hopeless and incapable of making a real change in my life. The struggle was real.

But, there’s good news! What if I told you that no one is born confident? Confidence is a skill that can improve if you practice it. When I realized there were steps I could take to work on my confidence and improve my self-esteem, everything changed for me.

What is confidence? Confidence means believing in yourself and trusting your judgment, abilities, intelligence, and skills. As a confident person, you recognise your strengths and successes, and you’re generally not affected by other’s opinion of you.

In a nutshell, confident people: 

• Value themselves and believe they are worthy, regardless of their flaws
• Take responsibility for their mistakes and turn them into learning opportunities
• Feel secure within themselves and don’t rely on the approval of others
• Face their fears, go after their dreams and pursue new goals and challenges
• Adopt a growth mindset and tend to have a more positive outlook on life

So, why should you build your self-confidence? Although it’s pretty much a no-brainer, improving your self-confidence can help you to:

• Stop doubting yourself and your abilities
• Finally feel and believe you are valued and worthy
• Feel more motivated and ambitious to take action towards your goals 
• Succeed and grow in all areas of life
• Improve your attitude and build a more positive mindset
• Reach your full potential and increase overall happiness

The key to becoming the most confident version of you = really believing, deep down, wholeheartedly, without a doubt, that you are capable of anything. The truth is that you have no idea how truly powerful you are. You just have to get yourself to a place where you believe that. 

Below I share 16 confidence-boosting tips to help you work on your confidence. Let’s get started!

1. Remind yourself of your past achievements 

Make a list of everything you’ve done in your life that you’re proud of to remind yourself how badass you are. This list is proof that you are capable of great things. Look back to it when you’re feeling intimidated by a task or when you’re feeling “less than.”

2. Collect evidence of the amazing person you are

Lists are going to be your new best friend!

What things are you good at? What are your strengths and talents? What qualities do you have that you admire? What do you like about yourself? What’s your favorite part of your body? In what ways have you shown kindness and helped others in the past?

Recognize the value you have to offer to the world and look back on these lists when you need a little boost.

3. Build self-discipline

This one really changed the game for me!

Set some attainable goals and smash ‘em! Do what you say you’re going to, even when you don’t feel like it. When you keep your promises to yourself, your confidence skyrockets because you’ve proven that you’re the kind of person who follows through on your intentions.

The more progress you make towards a goal, the more your confidence in your ability to achieve that goal grows. Do one small thing each day to bring you closer to achieving your goals and track your progress so you can reflect on how far you’ve come with pride. 

4. Build a confidence mindset 

This is all about exercising self-awareness and noticing when your mind is sabotaging your confidence (which can be quite often). When you hear that voice saying, “I can’t,” immediately flip the script to reframe this kind of talk.

Instead of telling yourself that you can’t do something, try looking at something from a growth perspective. For example, “I might not know how to do this right now, but I can learn. I can figure this out. I can achieve anything I set my mind to.”

It will take some practice at first, but soon enough, it’ll become second nature.

5. You are your biggest fan

Not only are we our own biggest critics, but we’re also our greatest cheerleaders! Use that to your advantage. This means advocating for yourself and ditching negative thoughts and self-talk.

Affirm yourself, praise yourself, hype yourself up and cheer yourself on. It’ll do wonders for your confidence!

6. Improve your skills

Immerse yourself in your hobbies and interests. Spend time researching them, reading about them, and practicing them. Improve your skills and hone your craft.

Investing time into things that are meaningful to you is a tried and tested way to build self-confidence. 

7. Comparison is the thief of joy

It’s completely normal to do this. Everyone does, but try to be mindful of how you compare yourself to others (social media can be a real culprit here!)

Spending too much time comparing or doing so in a destructive way can harm your confidence and self-esteem as it can breed feelings of jealousy, self-doubt, and inadequacy. When you compare yourself to others, it’s easy to overlook your own uniqueness and forget how amazing you are.

Here’s a secret: no one is above you. Here’s another secret: no one is you, and that’s your superpower!

8. Take pride in your appearance

Have you ever noticed that when you take a little bit of extra time to get ready in the morning, you feel that much more confident in your own skin? I personally feel like a completely different person when my hair’s brushed and I’ve got my favorite jeans on (and maybe a little mascara too).

Putting effort into your appearance affects how you think and feel about yourself, which affects your confidence and how you interact with the outside world. Spend a little time on yourself each morning and dress in a way that makes you feel beautiful.

Feeling and looking your best is a quick way to boost your confidence!

9. Show up for yourself

Develop healthy habits and invest in yourself. Take care of your health and body, practice self-care, and take time to do the things that make you happy. Set boundaries with yourself and others and put yourself first.

Prioritising yourself and committing to your own well-being will boost your self-esteem and send out a very important message: you are worthy and deserving of all things wonderful in the world!

10. Visualize

Imagine your most confident self and show up as her.

How does she dress? Speak? Carry herself? What are her values, standards, and her perspectives on life? What does she do for fun? Who does she hang out with? What goals and aspirations does she have? What habits and routines does she follow? What are her priorities, and where does she draw the line?

When you act as the most confident version of yourself, you will naturally feel more confident.

11. Monitor your inner dialogue

This. Is. So. Important. Take a minute to observe how you speak to yourself because the things you say directly affect how you feel about yourself.

Remember, confident people think highly of themselves. Saying nasty, hurtful things to yourself (that are not even true) will only hurt your confidence and self-esteem.

Take note of what you say to yourself over the next few days. Look back on what you’ve written and ask yourself whether you would say these things to a loved one. If not, these are probably not things you should be repeating to yourself.

You are more than good enough, and you don’t have to always be so damn hard on yourself.

12. Who are you?

Take some time to discover who you are and get to know your true self. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your passions, goals, and aspirations? Who and what matters most to you?

Explore your values, core beliefs, and principles and apply them to your everyday life. Set boundaries and honor them. Journal, dig deep, and ask yourself some thoughtful questions.

Reflecting on what makes you who you really are will highlight your incredible uniqueness, and greater self-awareness leads to greater confidence and self-esteem.

13. Accept yourself 

This is all about embracing your quirks, weaknesses, insecurities, regrets, past mistakes, and failures. It’s about understanding that the things you might perceive as negative about yourself don’t define your worth as a human. It’s about ditching the self-criticism and approving of yourself, just as you are, because confidence begins with self-acceptance.

“The secret to self-confidence isn’t to stop caring what other people think, it’s to start caring about what you think. It’s to make your opinion of you more important than anyone else’s.”

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Accepting yourself unconditionally, flaws and all solidifies your self-confidence and frees you from relying on validation from others.

Remind yourself that you don’t need to be perfect to be a magnificent person. When you accept yourself just as you are, you automatically start to feel better about yourself. As a result, how you treat yourself (and your confidence) improves.

You are wonderfully unique, and there is beauty and power in allowing the authentic you shine through. 

14. Strive to keep learning and growing

You can love yourself just as you are AND adopt a growth mindset at the same time. Have an ongoing self-development plan. Empower yourself with knowledge. Feed your mind and learn new things. Determine how you could improve and work at it every day.

When you gift yourself time and energy in the name of personal growth, your confidence and self-esteem will blossom.

15. Be gentle with yourself

Here’s a little secret: confidence is not an “all or nothing” type of thing. Being confident doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re confident in everything you do or that you never feel fear.

You can’t expect to (and you won’t) feel confident ALL the time because confidence naturally fluctuates. Even the most confident people have moments of fear and anxiety. It’s just about learning to push past those feelings to get things done anyway.

Keep this in mind the next time you feel frustrated with yourself for not making progress with your confidence.

16. Eat the frog

Think of something you’ve been putting off or something that scares you. Guess what, it’s time to do that thing!

It might seem counterproductive, but the quickest way to build confidence in yourself is to do something that makes you uncomfortable.

The idea is to push yourself just outside the lines of your comfort zone and do something you’d only do if you were just a little more confident. When you achieve that thing, you realize that you can do hard things, and your confidence grows a little bit.

Continue with this process, develop a taste for frogs and use them as little opportunities to challenge your confidence. Brick by brick, a more confident and self-assured you is built.

What do you feel like you struggle with the most when it comes to self-confidence? What’s your favorite confidence-boosting tip? Let me know below in the comments!

And don’t forget to download your free confidence-boosting workbook below…