Question of the Day

The Advice Column

Today’s Question: How do I become more confident?

We all think confidence comes naturally, you either have it or you don’t. Well, that is a myth. Confidence is something you train to achieve. Here is how to get started.

• You need to first believe that you can be confident before you actually achieve it. You can do this by identifying self-doubt and acknowledging its presence. The trick is not to suppress your nerves but rather embrace them.

• Think of nervousness as half excitement. Once you start liking the rush of confidence, you will try to become more and more confident. It’s a journey rather than a destination.

• Another trick is to take care of yourself, hit the gym, sleep on time and just overall try living a healthier life. When you feel good about yourself, you project those emotions out to the world. I used to also be under-confident before but after hitting the gym for 2 years straight, I just feel way more comfortable in social environments and don’t feel that sense of timidness I used to feel before.

• Try talking to strangers, every now and then. The first 10 will be the hardest but once you talk to your first 10 strangers, you have won 80% of the battle. Even a hello counts. You might just meet some interesting people and if it goes south, well not like you will ever see them again.

  • My one last tip for you is to fake it until you make it. Everybody fakes confidence all the time. Once you realize that, then it’s just acting confident even if you really aren’t. Nobody can really tell the difference. I have often found myself in situations, where I was absolutely terrified but never showed it. I showed the exact opposite of what I was feeling, which led to the intimidation going away.

You should definitely check out this YouTube channel called “Charisma on Command”. The tips they give are insanely helpful in day-to-day conversations. Hope this helps.

Image Credits: https://dribbble.com/shots/2758567-Muhammad-Ali