If you’re anything like me, confidence isn’t a thing that comes naturally. Growing up with terrible social anxiety, I’ve felt like a bumbly, nervous wreck pretty much my entire life. Which, as a kid, was certainly not a picnic, but now as an adult makes life ten times more difficult.
There is truth in the statement “confidence is key.” According to an article, confident people tend to be more self assured, therefore more successful. And self assurance and success are two things that I feel we can all use just a little bit more of in our lives.
So, I found another article listing 25 ways to become more self confident and chose seven of them to practice throughout the week, ranking each on a scale of one to 10. One being from Millicent from “Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and 10 being Beyonce in the “Crazy in Love” music video.
Day 1: “Do Something You’ve Been Procrastinating On”
I like, most college students, have a love/ hate relationship with procrastination. I hate the results that it gives me but, boy, do I love to do it. So this week I decided to jumpstart on the incredibly long list of things I had to do before next week came around. I finally washed my makeup brushes, studied for the two tests I had the next week and finished an annotated bibliography that had been sitting on my laptop for weeks. I even finished a book that I bought months ago but hadn’t had the time to finish.
Confidence Level? 7
Being productive is definitely any easy way give yourself more confidence by relieving the tension. Personally, my problem with procrastination stems from my fear of failure. If I don’t ever do the assignment, I can’t possibly f*ck it up. But in the end, getting some much needed stuff off of my to-do list made me so much more confident in myself.
Day 2: “Slow Down Your Words”
I hadn’t realized exactly how I quickly I spoke until I took the time to slow down my talking. According to several sources, people with low self confidence tend to speak quickly because they’re nervous and/or they don’t think what they’re saying is of value. For me, I think it was combination of both.
So at work and in class, I took the time to be cognizant of how fast and softly I spoke. Not gonna lie, it was extremely awkward. But by the end of the day, it wasn’t too bad.
Confidence Level? 6.5
I don’t know if it was a placebo effect or if it actually worked, but I did feel a lot more confident after this exercise. Slowing down allowed me more time to actually breathe and collect my thoughts. A little awkward but overall worth it.
Day 3: “Exercise/ Photoshop Your Self Image”
This was by far the sweatiest method of the seven. If you couldn’t guess, I’m not the most athletically inclined individual. But there I was, bright and early, in my apartment’s communal gym. When I came in the gym originally, it was empty. Being alone on that treadmill while Britney told me to “Work, b*tch” was the most fun I’ve had in a gym. But then people appeared which was the real challenge. All the thoughts and self consciousness came flooding right back. And I scampered away to do some floor exercises in the privacy of my own room, which was better.
Confidence Level? 5.5
Confidence is not going to happen magically overnight, I realize. So it’s probably best to start small and work yourself upwards. For me, exercising in my room makes me feel more confident in my body than going to a gym will. For others, a gym might be more fitting. I know a friend of mine prefers the gym because she’s more likely to call back into bed if she works out at home. But the whole point of working out is to get those endorphins pumping. Endorphins make you happy.
Day 4: “Groom Yourself”
Luckily on this day, I already had a Demi Lovato concert to go to anyway. I wore my first ever pair of platform heels and, despite the fact that I stumbled around like nobody’s business, I felt d*mn good. Sexy, even. A feeling which I’ve never felt in my life
Confidence Level: 9
Swaying around in a bomb a*s outfit while Demi Lovato was singing “Confidence” was the peak of this entire week. I felt amazing. But I’m not sure if I would’ve still felt this amazing if I had dressed up this fancy outside of the concert out of the fear of looking out of place.
Day 5: “Get Prepared”
On this day, I decided to get a jumpstart on my week and do some much needed preparation. I picked out and ironed my outfit the night before, which cut out at least 10 minutes in my morning routine. I printed out all my notes and put them in my bag that night as well. I even packed myself a lunch.
Confidence Level: 7
Productivity is one of things that really makes me feel good. And while I might not always have the time to do all the preparation the night before, taking the time when I can makes things easier for me in the long run. Confident people usually tend to have their sh*t together. The more of my sh*t I get together, the more confident I feel.
Day 6: “Be Generous”
Another thing I did besides preparing myself for the next day is bake, something I love to do but never seem to have the time for. So I decided to bake some mimosa cupcakes (which are delicious by the way) for my roommates. Sharing something I worked hard on with two people I really cared about felt nice. Not to mention nailing the recipe really boosted my ego.
Confidence Level: 6.8
Sharing proved itself to be even more than caring. I guess doing something out of your way to make someone else happy, no matter how small can be rewarding.
Day 7: “Get to Know Yourself”
This one was one of the most difficult ones to find time for. Writing for two publications, working part time and having school really eats up the hours in my day. But alas I managed to carve out a solid hour to get to know myself. I turned off my phone, took a walk and just ruminated my own thoughts.
Confidence Level: 5
It was pretty relaxing but, personally, didn’t do much to boost my self esteem. But I’ll probably do it again to unwind and have some me time.
Conclusion: A lot of these methods were incredibly helpful and easily will be incorporated into my life. Others were more of a strong pass. Overall, this was a fun experience that I would recommend to anyone looking for a way to curb their anxiety and let their hair down. Not to mention that there were 18 other methods I have yet to even try!
So don’t be afraid to ask yourself “what’s wrong with being confident?” today.