Although I’m sure many of you will have seen blog posts and magazine articles that are boasting the same outcome as the title of this one; I can promise you that this list has some empirical truth to it!
Talking as somebody who last year decided to move five hours away from home to attend a university where I would know nobody, I would like to say that I’ve become quite a confident individual. Somewhat of an introvert still, but confident none the less.
So incase you are looking to start a new chapter soon or just want a little helping hand in boosting your confidence, here are a list of things that I have picked up along the way that have helped me become a somewhat well adjusted and confident human adult.
- Whilst you are busy worrying about what other people are thinking of you, everyone else is doing exactly the same thing. Even though a small voice in the back of your head may have you convinced otherwise, I can promise you that whilst you may be sure that everybody is staring at you because of any multitude of reasons, everybody else has their own list of reasons why it is in fact you that is staring at them. And even if they are staring at you; so what!
- Everybody feels lonely sometimes, everyplace can be lonely sometimes, but I can promise you that no matter how lonely you may feel you are not alone in feeling that way. If you don’t believe me then there are literally hundreds of soft indie-rock songs and cult novels dedicated to this subject. So grab a pair of headphones or go down to your local bookstore and eventually you wont feel so lonely anymore.
- Everybody gets spots, even adults. Nobody ever tells you that but it’s true.
- Everyone gets embarrassed, it’s sweet and it’s human and there is no need to get caught up on the little things. Just laugh it off and know that everyone has fallen over in public at some point or completely mispronounced a word whilst reading aloud in class.
- Fake it till you make it. Once you decide that you’re actually a pretty cool person and you deserve to be confident, you’ll slowly start to feel that way.
- Feeling confident isn’t the end result of following a step by step guide, but an everyday thing. Some days you will wake up and feel amazing, and some days you will wake up and feel unsure, and that’s fine. You’re only human, you don’t have to have it together 100% of the time. You’re allowed to stumble and make poor decisions, it’s all part of the process!
- Smile at strangers. I can tell you from experience that something as simple as smiling at one stranger a day can instantly make you feel a little bit brighter. You’ll be surprised at the amount of people that smile back. You never know when somebody might be having a bad day and a small gesture like yours could bring them genuine happiness!
- A final little tip that I’ve been practicing recently is to come up with one nice thing about everyone you meet. Maybe they have nice eyes, or they are polite, or even they are wearing a really nice outfit! You would be surprised at how easy it is to come up with something for each person!
Picture credit: http://robertdhamilton.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Confidence-Level.jpg