6 Easy Tricks to Feel More Confident

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Confidence is something that almost everyone alive today wants. Single people proclaim loudly that confidence is seen as sexy. Employers claim that confident employees are a must. Even parents teach their children to value confidence.

For all its touted importance in today’s society, confidence is not something that everyone has in abundance. Some people are naturally very confident while others do not have enough confidence to fill a thimble. In the latter sort of case, most people want to develop some confidence. Developing and growing your confidence takes time, practice and effort. It requires you to leave your comfort zone and to confront yourself in ways you do not wish to do.

Confidence can be hard won at the end of a lengthy battle, but what about those times when you need a quick burst of confidence such as right before a job interview? During those times, you can trick your brain into thinking you are more confident than you are. Some of the ways to accomplish this confident are difficult to do without a friend assisting you, but there are plenty of ways to get a temporary boost of confidence. Here are six of those easy tricks to feel more confident.

Power Posture

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Strange as it may sound, your body language has a huge impact on your level of confidence. When you sit or stand with your shoulders hunched, head tiled down and body compacted, you subconsciously begin to think and act in more submission, passive manners. If you take a more dominant posture, however, you feel more confident and in control.

There are a variety of power postures, but the best known require you to straighten your spine and lift your gaze from the ground. Then, stand with your feet shoulder width apart and either throw your arms up in a v-shape like you are celebrating a great victory or puff out your chest and stand with your hands on your hips like a superhero.

It does not take a long time for power postures to begin to affect you. Stand for a minute or two in the morning in a power posture or take up the posture in the bathroom before an interview. These are small instances, but they will add up overtime.

Affirmations or Mantras

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Cliché as it may sound, how you talk to yourself has as much of an effect on your confidence as how you carry yourself. If you speak negatively to yourself or always berate yourself, you will destroy your burgeoning confidence. Instead, use positive self-talk such as affirmations and mantras to keep your spirit up and your insecurities at bay.

Though often associated with meditation, mantras do not have to be used in conjunction with meditation or any sort or spirituality. As such, your affirmations could be religiously based, such as a Vedic mantra or inspiring Bible verse, but it could just as easily be a more general quote or even a simple statement of “Today, I will…” that focuses on how a person will act or who they will be instead of what specifically they will accomplish. For example, “Today I will be courageous” is more likely to be used as an affirmation than “I’m going to talk to my boss about a raise this afternoon.”

Dress For Success

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Have you ever noticed that attractive people seem to be more confident? Part of the reason is that they likely spend a little more time on their appearance in the morning. They leave the house believing that they look attractive which gives them a small burst of confidence. Since confidence has its own appeal, someone who is attractive ends up twice as confident and looking more attractive than ever.

Vanity is not the way to grow confidence, but spending a little extra time in front of the mirror in the morning can do wonders for your confidence that day. When you feel attractive, you are confident in your physical appearance. This removes one common cause of insecurity and helps you stand a little straighter. Spending a bit of extra time on your appearance also tends to imply a less rushed morning and a greater focus on yourself. The lack of stress in the morning helps you feel calm instead of frazzled, and the focus on yourself reminds you that you matter. A reminder of that simple fact can help increase your confidence a great deal.

Indulge a Talent

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Everyone has something they are good at. When you need a burst of confidence, remind yourself of your talents. If you are musically talented, pick up the guitar and play an old favorite song. If you are physically strong, do a handstand or a set of pushups. If you are a great cook, whip up a gourmet snack. Do something that you are good at in order to feel your confidence in that area of your life. That will help you transfer your confidence over to another area.

If you need a confidence boost during the middle of the day and cannot actually do something, remember how it feels. Scroll through social media to find that picture of you crossing the finish line of your first marathon. Reread an email from your boss telling you that you did a fabulous job. Duck into the bathroom and throw a few punches if you are into martial arts. Solve a riddle or two on your phone. Remind yourself of what you are good at, and then go chase down what you want next.

Complete a Goal

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Confidence is created by success. If you need some extra confidence, then you need a little bit of extra success. To get a small burst of confidence complete a goal. This does not mean that you cannot be confident until you successfully run a marathon or finish writing a book. Even a small success can do wonders for your confidence. If you need a boost at work, decide you are going to be more organized and then clean off your desk. Make it a goal to answer all of your emails before lunch, and then start working your way through your inbox. If you are at home, aim to have all of the laundry folded and put away by lunchtime.

Completing a small task helps you gain momentum and gives you the motivation to complete another goal. The success you feel at completing even a small goal will give you the confidence to chase after another goal. The combination of confidence and motivation is a formula for success.

Prepare and Overprepare

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Arguably the best way to feel confident about anything is to be as prepared as possible. There is nothing worse than entering into a job interview, sitting down to take a test or even simply walking into a meeting with your child’s teacher and feeling completely out of your depth. When you feel like you do not know what you are doing, you have absolutely zero confidence. You might be able to fake it, but that is all you can do.

In order to be confident, you need to be prepared. Before you go to a job interview, role play with a friend in order to practice answering difficult questions. If you have an exam, study more than you think you will need. Preparation can even help in social situations. When you need to have an uncomfortable conversation with someone, decide what you are going to say before you meet with them. If you want to ask someone on a date, practice asking in front of the mirror. It may sound ridiculous, but any way you can make yourself feel more prepared will help you be more confident.

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Growing the sort of confidence that lingers with you for years is a lengthy and difficult process, but it is perfectly possible to give yourself a temporary boost in confidence. Whether you spend a little extra time on yourself in the morning or mutter positive affirmations under your breath, those small actions give you not only a single burst of confidence but start building up your long-term confidence as well. This is because you feel more confident the more often you feel confident. As Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” The same can be said of confidence, so get out there and start building up your confidence for both the long and short runs.