It’s a new year and you are probably wondering what happened to January! Time doesn’t wait for anyone, so like most people you are working towards your goals and dreams but you are already starting to doubt that you will have the time to complete everything. I am here to guide you and tell you that you CAN achieve anything you set your mind to. It’s about changing your mindset and believing in yourself to improve your self-confidence. When you believe in yourself, you can overcome self-doubt and everything becomes possible. Being confident is important in building business relationships and personal relationships to help you succeed in any area of your life. I have learned that confidence is gained through experience, we are not born confident, but it can be developed by learning to trust yourself. Don’t worry if you don’t feel like a superhero at the moment as developing confidence requires time and patience and accepting your body and mind. It is never too late to learn to love your body and accept yourself for who you are. In this way, you will feel empowered to achieve more and let go of limiting beliefs that are destroying your confidence. Creating confidence doesn’t mean that you will have all the answers as no one is perfect. It’s about loving and trusting yourself enough to know that you can handle difficult situations and learn from the experience. There is no better time than this moment to start developing your self-confidence, become unstoppable and overcome self-doubt. I will share some tips that I have learned in my journey and hope that it will help you realise that you don’t need to wait for anyone to save you as YOU are the hero of your story.
“You are the hero of your own story.”
Joseph Campbell
ACCEPT YOURSELF
When we are born our life becomes a program as we are influenced by our parents, caregivers and other people during our early childhood. Our understanding and perception of the world can be created from our environment. For example, someone that grew up in a loving environment surrounded by positive people who encouraged confidence can be more self-accepting than someone that grew up in a difficult environment. No matter what has happened in your life and how circumstances have shaped your life, you CAN learn to accept yourself as you are.
The process of self-acceptance can be powerful and sometimes it’s a long journey to realise our gifts and talents within ourselves.
These are some ways to start loving yourself and work on self-acceptance:
FORGIVE YOURSELF
Learn to forgive yourself and accept that you cannot change the past. Give yourself permission to move forward with your life, accept your limitations and be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. Realise that no one is perfect and accept what you cannot change. This will allow you to make peace in your body and help you to move forward and work on the things that you can change.
FIND THE POSITIVE
Accept that you will have negative thoughts and there will be self-criticism but know that you can change these thoughts when you are aware of them. Instead of focusing on the negative and what could go wrong, focus on what is working in your life. If you focus with positive thoughts, positive energy flows in that direction and your external world will start changing.
PRACTICE SELF-CARE
Focus on your needs and take time to relax, make yourself a priority once in a while as it’s important to recharge your mind and body. You are not a hamster on a wheel, slow down and make time in your schedule to exercise, cook healthy meals, pamper yourself, step away from the noise or whatever else that you feel is causing you stress. Look after your emotional health and physical health and if you need to take a day off to rest it doesn’t mean you are lazy. It means that your body is telling you it needs to rest and recharge. Listen to your body and it will look after you.
Here is further information from a previous blog post on self-care: MAKE SELF-CARE A PRIORITY AND TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
CELEBRATE YOUR INSECURITIES
It is a powerful feeling once you accept your life and all that you are. Realise that your power is in THIS moment and celebrate all that you have accomplished. Sometimes there are certain areas of our life, like career or relationships that we feel stuck and we need to change. Don’t judge yourself, recognise and acknowledge insecurities and embrace all that you are feeling in the moment, the good and the bad. Find the power in the unknown and you will realise that you don’t have to wait for everything to be perfect before you feel confident as that is your true confidence, it is in your self-acceptance. Stop comparing yourself to others, recognise your own unique gifts and talents. The society we live in has created pressures and demands for high standards and perfection over time and when we look at social media it seems that everyone else’s life is perfect and we have somehow failed. Things are not always what they seem and appearances may be deceiving, this is not reality. For example, you might feel disappointed if you don’t look your best when you get out of bed in the morning and your waistline suddenly expanded with that last piece of chocolate cake you ate for dessert. Are you going to start worrying about it and give away your energy before your day has even started or are you going to accept your body and love yourself? Congratulations you are human, if you enjoy food you enjoy life.
CONFIDENCE IS DEVELOPED
Believing in yourself is a choice to accept all your limitations and achievements. It is about giving yourself permission to fail and loving every part of your life without judgement. You are unique and you are developing the mindset to achieve your goals and dreams. Confidence is a tool that is learned and developed over time with experience, it is about knowing and accepting that you are not perfect. Create a positive view of yourself and learn to handle criticism as when others criticise you, they are actually criticising themselves. You are a work in progress, break free from the self-imposed ideas and be kind to yourself. Don’t waste your energy worrying about what others are thinking of you, it’s just their opinion. Focus your energy on developing your goals and ideas and as you evolve, the negative situations and people will leave your life as there is no space for them in your positive world. Continue to stay positive, trust yourself and accept yourself with unconditional love.
LET GO OF CONTROL AND BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
Our minds have been conditioned to believe in the negative and doubt ourselves. Let go of fear and trying to control everything, we need to accept that we are never actually in control of our lives. Love yourself unconditionally, accept everything about yourself and watch the magic in your life unfold. Confidence develops from within and when you can let go, you believe that you can deal with any situation in your life.
Visualise and discipline your mind for success. Every experience, good or bad is moving you closer to your goals and dreams. Confidence is trusting yourself, BELIEVE anything is possible and you will be unstoppable.