3 Ways To Boost Self Esteem

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A recent study of 2,000 people by Colgate has found that almost half of Brits are struggling with low self-esteem. In contrast, a similar survey by Geehair found that 60% of men don't feel confident enough to do their job, and 80% of respondents aged 35 to 53 don't feel confident in their appearance.

While you can indeed fake it till you make it, you also want to be doing other things aside from faking confidence; this post is going to look at what you can do to boost your confidence.

Identify your Issues

Is there a certain thing that is holding you back? Do you have any perceived flaws you feel are impacting your confidence? Are you worried about your weight or mental health? 

Whatever you think is playing a part in your low self-confidence, write it down and get it out of your head. From here, you can then address the issues or make a plan to manage them.

It doesn't matter what your issues are or if you can do anything about them, but if you can, make a plan on how to rectify this. For example, if you want to lose weight, then you can find many healthy and nutritious meals online to help you eat better and lose weight without over-restricting yourself; if you are concerned about any aspect of your appearance, you can book in for beauty treatments such as an eyebrow transplant if are experiencing hair loss in this area if you book in with a therapist to discuss anything that is holding you back.

Change Your Mindset

This isn't always as easy as making physical changes. However, how you think and talk about yourself can impact your confidence, and this is something that needs to change if you want to have a chance of boosting your confidence.

Instead of focusing on the negatives, turn it around and look for the positives. Some people find success in writing a gratitude journal and writing down three things they're grateful for each day or that they like about themselves. Others find writing positive affirmations or positive statements about themselves to be a good confidence boost. Andi, if you find your negative thoughts creeping, add a “but” at the end and add in something positive. Stop thinking about what you don't believe you are so good at, and look at what you are good at. 

Let's say you took part in a new exercise class or sport with friends and were exactly as skilled as others. Instead of criticising yourself over what you don't think you did well, look at what else happened. Did you have fun? Did it make you smile? Were your friends grateful you showed up? Small tweaks to how you see and process events can help you shift your mindset. So your thought process might go like, “I was really rubbish at xxx today, but I had so much fun trying”.

Stop Comparisons

Lastly, stop comparing yourself to others. Don't constantly look at other people and compare yourself to them; this will only lead to you feeling worse about yourself. You can never know how someone else is feeling or what it took for them to do something by simply watching from afar. For this reason, you should avoid comparing and putting others, especially strangers, on a pedestal above you. People will typically want to show the best version of themselves in real life and online; knowing this and separating it from reality can help you feel better about yourself.