Most people think about confidence as something you are either blessed to have or doomed never to get. But the truth is, there are scientifically proven ways to increase confidence. The bonus – they don’t require barrels of cash or challenging actions.
This should be good news for you!
Even if you are the most confident person in the world, there is a chance you may have experienced moments, or even extended periods of lack of confidence. Studies find that 70 percent of people question their abilities and feel like imposters at some point in their lives.
The cost of low confidence and low self-esteem are hefty. It is common for people with low confidence also to feel unworthy, unloved, and under-appreciated. All anti-success qualities.
However, this is a price you don’t have to pay if you successfully practice these scientifically back confidence-boosting techniques.
This article will share how to increase your confidence with 6 scientifically proven tips.
Let’s take a look at them:
What Does it Mean to Be Confident?
Before we explore the science-backed ways to increase your confidence level, let’s define confidence.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines confidence as, “a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances; faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way.”
However, your definition of confidence may waver from the official one. So, define it
When You feel confident, you have access to your power and feel emotions like joy, and happiness. And when you don’t, it can feel like you are fighting to move upstream in your life.
This is not a space where you can thrive, so let’s look at ways, confidence can be boosted.
6 Scientifically Proven Tips to Increase Confidence
Here are 6 ways you can improve your confidence.
1. Meditate to Boost Confident
Meditation helps clear erroneous, negative, and resistance thoughts that lead to decreases in confidence. The counter-effect is a boost in confidence.
Meditation doesn’t clear your mind; it helps you shift your focus away from thoughts that promote low self-confidence to neutral or confidence building thoughts.
If you would like to practice a meditation geared towards confidence boosting you can try one from Chopra Center “A guided meditation for visualizing Confidence” or an audio meditation from Great Mediation, “Guided Meditation for Confidence and Self-Esteem.”
In a controlled study published in Psychosomatic Medicine doctors monitored and compared brain (electrical) activity between mindful meditators and people who did not meditate.
The study found that the meditators showed more activities in the areas of the brain associated with optimism and positive thinking. There are two qualities that correlate with self-confidence.
When you meditate, you also work on correcting your posture. Which is also a confidence builder we will deal with next.
2. Practice Good Posture and Positive Body Language to Boost Confidence
Compare these two scenarios and think about how you would perceive each person.
You are at a networking event.
You walk over to a group of four people. As you introduce yourself to each person, you notice one young man standing with his head down and shoulders slumped over. When you shake his hand, you are greeted with a lifeless grip and he mumbles hello to you.
However, the woman next to him approaches you with shoulders back, head up, firm hand out. She takes your hand, gives it a good shake, and then introduces herself in a strong solid voice, “Pleasure to meet you. My name is Veronica, president of SVK Software.”
It is obvious which person you would classify as confident and who would be relegated to the unconfident box.
A study published in “School Psychology International” by psychologist from Luther University Halle-Wittenber concluded that a “dominant body posture might help children feel more confident in school.
Another study performed by the University of British Columbia says there is a correlation between feeling confidence and the body getting bigger, and the body reducing in size with feelings of defeat and shame.
Posture can visually indicate confidence levels.
This is why practicing good posture can boost your confidence.
Let’s practice it now.
Gently roll your shoulders back, bring your chin up parallel to the ground, feel your feet planted into the earth, and imagine there is a string coming from the top of your head pulling up towards the sky.
Your body is open. Blood can flow freely. Which means you are oxygenating your organs. And you benefit from this natural confidence boosting position.
You can even visualize yourself with a confident posture. What would it look like? How would you feel? How would people respond to you? How would you be perceived?
This visualization can help establish positive self-talk within you, which is our next tip.
3. Practice Positive Affirmations and Self-Talk
It doesn’t matter how you dress, where you live, or the title you hold, if you engage in a lot of negative self-talk it is almost impossible to feel confident.
This is why it is so important to encourage yourself with supportive words.
Your thoughts are the source of your behaviors. They influence how you show up in the world. So, if your thoughts are filled with insecurities, negativity, and self-judgement, it is impossible to feel the confidence you desire.
Author Shad Helmstetter explains this in his book, What to Say When You Talk to Your Self. He argues that people are programmed by thoughts which become the source for confidence or lack of confidence.
4. Eat Right
Diet has a lot to do with how you feel emotionally.
You don’t need scientific proof to verify this, but I will give it to you shortly.
Just think about how you feel when you overeat, gouging out on heavy, calorie-dense, processed foods. Independent of your physical weight, you feel heavy.
This heaviness can get in the way of whether you show up with or without confidence.
Food chemically reacts with the body.
In an article on Nutritionist Resource they discuss the link between food and mental health. They suggest that changes in diet can reduce stress and anxiety, and boost self-esteem and mood.
Since you are eating right, you might as well get physical. Exercise is also said to help towards building confidence. This is our next tip.
5. Exercise
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index interviewed 80,000 people about how they feel about their appearance based on how much they exercised.
Not surprising, the research found that people who exercise for 30 minutes a day are more confident about their appearance than those who exercised once, or not at all.
The British Medical Journal confirms these findings. Based on this study, 10-40 workout sessions improved mention focus and concentration.
Exercise is not just an activity to do for better health, it can help with your moods and increase your confidence.
6. Participate in a Media Fast
Have you ever fasted from food?
If you have and are like most people, giving your body systems a break allowed them to rejuvenate. You experienced more energy, clarity, ease digestion, and felt in optimal health.
Similarly, the daily intake of news and social media is high. On average people consume over XXX hours of social media. However, social media can lead to social anxiety.
Science of People says 60 percent of people report engaging on social media has compromised their confidence.
No matter what is really happening in the background of people’s lives, on social media, everything is perfect. This can cause comparison syndrome, anxiety, and judgement about your life.
Take a break from social media. Come back into your center, your own reality. Then feel your confidence rise.
Take Away
There are many ways to improve confidence and each step further enhances the other. All of these steps in combination will help increase your confidence whilst you are becoming accustomed to the new confident you.
Boost Your Confidence Today
Hopefully, you feel inspired knowing that confidence-boosting doesn’t require a trip to a remote country or years of studies with a guru. You can implement these 6 science-backed principles in your life today.
Pick 1-3 tips and commit to working on them starting today. Pick ones that feel doable to you. Ones that feel fun.
By making a few small changes to what you do every day, you can leverage the power of feeling and become more confident.
Blessings on your journey to achieve more confidence, and hence more success in your life.
Although I run this blog site, my aim is for this to become a place where readers can make suggestions about potential topics on increasing wellbeing and improving wellness. What you want to read about. It's not about me. It's about us.