6 Self Confidence Boosters for the New Year

Sometimes looking back on the year is rough on your confidence, especially if it was one that was full of challenges. The inner dialogue of your brain is a curious thing. Even though it is a part of you that you navigate each day, or you let have a little extra control, typically you aren't given any sort of preparation or tools on how to deal with this unique little beast. As you close the year, take a look at some ways to take action in taming your thoughts and make them work for your own benefit. 
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1. Post it! Get yourself some post-it notes and write yourself some quick notes of encouragement. They can be as simple as two or three words like, “You’ve got this!”, or “You’re Strong”. Keep them in areas where you will see them frequently. You’ll be surprised how just a glance at the words can interrupt the negative thoughts you are hosting. 
2. Smile at yourself in the mirror! Take a minute to acknowledge that you are someone to be kind to and worth a smile. You can even tell yourself something encouraging or give yourself a compliment. “You look great today!”
3. Try new things! Make a list of things you would like to try and try them. You don’t have to be great at the thing from the start, but if you enjoy it and want to get good at it, make steps to get better. If you don’t like it, you at least tried something new. Part of building confidence is not just getting better, but learning how to fail, then getting back up and trying it again. 
4. Catch the fraud! Recognize that the thoughts that make you feel terrible, worthless, and full of shame are traps. Once you see them as that, work on stopping the thoughts. From here, let the thoughts take a more natural space so that you can see yourself more clearly. Tell yourself what is really true. 
5. Find a song that makes you feel good about yourself! Play the song when you need to boost your confidence or when you just want to celebrate yourself. It can be your mantra. 
6. Be patient with yourself and be willing to give yourself a lot of space to practice, mess up, practice, mess up, practice, and keep on going. It’s not easy out there. 

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Self Confidence is not only a valuable skill, it allows you the space to understand yourself better. Like any skill, it requires effort and practice. Learning to navigate the world through a lens of who you understand yourself to be is the best possible scenario for your success. You are valuable and worth the effort.