3 Quick Confidence Building Exercises
Confidence is a relatively simple psychological tool that provides great power, so why is it so hard for most people to achieve? In my opinion, most of the blame can be put on the fact that all humans spend the first dozen years of their life actively attacking the confidence of all around them.
Some people stop this in their teens, others do this their whole lives.This is because of the flawed human instinct that you can gain confidence yourself by destroying the confidence of others. Luckily, this particular flaw we can turn around to work for us.
Confidence is, by far, one of the most important skills in life that you can acquire.
We’re naturally attracted to and will have our opinions swayed by those who have (or appear to have) a lot of confidence. If you usually get the short end of the stick in the “naturally confident” department, this article is for you.
Here are 3 exercises that you can practice to start seeing a difference immediately.
Fake it until you make it.
When you fake confidence, people see that on the outside and start responding to you better. For example, ordering a coffee with a smile, eye contact, and tall posture will usually be met with a more welcoming barista. If you were to order with absolutely zero confidence and low self-esteem, their feedback would be very different.
After faking confidence enough, you pick up that others are responding differently and even treating you better. Over time, you actually begin to feel genuine confidence as a result and it becomes a loop.
You fake confidence, people treat you better, it converts into real confidence, and so on. Soon, you won’t even need to fake it anymore!
Practice talking to at least 5 strangers a day
Stop wondering to yourself what people think. You’re going to need to get out in the real world and get actual experience to get an idea of how to act when talking to a stranger.
To do this, I want you to practice approaching and striking up conversation with at least 5 strangers a day.
Be mindful of your posture and stand up tall
Posture is one of the more difficult things to work with because most of us are used to poor posture. There’s rounded shoulders, forward neck, the slump, etc.
The best thing to do is be conscious of your posture and remind yourself to stay tall. We all judge others based off how they present themselves. It’s just a matter of life. So why not put your best foot forward?
Above all, remember you are capable and worthy—just as much as anyone else, regardless of what you’ve achieved, regardless of what mistakes you’ve made. Knowing that intellectually is the first step to believing it in your heart. Believing it is the key to living it. And living it is the key to reaching your potential.
