5 Steps To Help Build and Strengthen Your Confidence

When we look at the various examples of effective and successful leaders, one of the traits we see that they share in common is exhibiting a strong sense of confidence. Now by confidence, I’m not referring to pushy, aggressive, or self-serving behaviour. Rather, I’m pointing to those leaders who create this air of calm reassurance about them, who are clearly happy with their lives and are comfortable with who they are; those who we often refer to as being “natural born leaders”.

Ironically, confidence is not something you’re born with, it’s something you develop from inside. And confidence is certainly not linked exclusively to positions of authority, but is something that everyone can nurture and develop in themselves. But how exactly do we foster this feeling of confidence, especially in those moments where we feel it starting to wane? To answer this, let’s look at the common traits found among those who exude a sense of confidence:

1. Believe in yourself

One thing that’s obvious when you see or hear a confident person is that they have a keen awareness of what they are capable of. When they walk onto a stage to give a speech, stand at the top of a ski hill at the beginning of a race, or when they face their team to offer some guidance on what to do next, there’s no mistaking that sense of assuredness about what they can deliver in that moment.

Confident people also demonstrate a firm understanding of what they believe to be right and wrong and this understanding comes from within them, as opposed to being determined by what they feel those around them would want.

2. Know and appreciate your limitations

This is probably the least evident part of the puzzle in being more confident and that is accepting your limitations. Too often, we tend to obsess over what we can’t do well. But if we look at someone who we’d consider to be a confident person, it’s clear that they are not plagued by any feelings of inadequacy as a result of their personal limitations.

In fact, being aware of one’s limitations allows confident people to cut themselves some slack over being unable to succeed at these tasks, in addition to not having any issues with asking others for help.

3. Challenge yourself

Of course, knowing your limits and perceiving them are two separate things. And this is where challenging yourself comes into play. By challenging yourself, you’re not only getting a more accurate assessment of your true limits, but you’re also giving yourself the opportunity to increase your comfort zone. With more space to grow in, it will be easier to feel confident of your abilities going forward.

4. Recognize your accomplishments and the praise you receive

Another obvious aspect of confident people is that they don’t shy away from recognizing their accomplishments. More importantly, though is the fact that they are aware of what others have said about their efforts and how they’ve benefited from them.

Although most of us acknowledge what we’ve achieved, over time we tend to forget these past accomplishments, and especially how those efforts benefited others. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep track of your achievements, along with what others have said about them. After reviewing this list and seeing the positive impact you’ve had on those around you, it’s hard not to feel confident in your abilities and how they are perceived and valued.

5. Visualize a confident version of yourself

When we think about presenting a confident side of ourselves, we often use others as the example that we should emulate. However, what we should be doing instead is imagining how we’d behave if we were the model of confidence. For example, what would your body language look like? When you speak to others, how would your delivery sound? What kind of information would you share about yourself, and how you would describe your accomplishments?

By visualizing ourselves as the example of confidence, it becomes easier for us to project this out for others to see as we’d be reflecting our inner selves in the process and not simply mimicking the behaviours of others.

In the end, we need to remember that confidence does not come from attaining a title or position, nor is it something that can be given to us by others. Instead, confidence arises from an understanding and appreciation of our own abilities and how our contributions can be of benefit to those around us.