Your confidence level needs to be replenished daily as Mia Hamm of the US Women’s Soccer Team said, “Confidence takes constant nurturing. Like a bed, it must be remade every day.”
There will always be situations, events and people who erode your confidence, because you are hard wired physically to perceive threats and generate anxiety. A threat to your self-esteem, your reputation and your status is just as real as a physical threat from a wild animal.
You have to actively choose to be confident and take action to maintain your confidence day after day. Given that your life is probably already packed full, how can you do this?
Make confidence building activities doable and a little more glamorous than making your bed. Fight being seduced by your automatic thoughts that feed your anxiety. Incorporate these following simple actions into your daily activities to cultivate and build your confidence level.
1. Do affirmations in the shower. Affirmations have been around forever, it seems, but they work. Write 3 to 5 affirmations and post them on the bathroom mirror, where you will read them every morning. Say them out loud in the shower. Better yet, sing them for fun and motivation.
Flash subliminal affirmations on your computer screen for an effective, passive form of using affirmations to create confidence. There are several good programs available to effortlessly help you reprogram your unconscious mind.
2. Read something for just 5 minutes in the morning that boosts your confidence level. Yes, only 5 minutes a day will make a substantial difference. You choose what is motivating, inspiring or educational for you to hear every day to feed your growing confidence. This “do-able” will keep you pointed in the right direction.
Include something educational that relates to an important focus in your life, whether it is family relationships, career skills or sports performance. Knowledge and skills are significant contributors to your confidence.
3. Listen to an audio that builds your confidence while you commute. The amount of material that is available is incredible. A 30-minute drive to and from work equals 5 hours/week of education, inspiration or knowledge.
The famous Earl Nightingale, personal development pioneer and radio legend, claimed that 5 hours per week would put you at the top of your field in 3 years. You are spending the time driving anyway. Why not create more confidence by adding to your knowledge and skills?
4. Count your achievements, your “wins”, the successes, the triumphs, and the little things you did today that make you proud of yourself. This simple exercise performed at the end of every day will build a tremendous amount of healthy, vigorous confidence. This is not bragging. This is not arrogance. This is healthy pride in your accomplishments that builds your confidence level.
5. Listen to guided imagery to boost your confidence while you sleep. Turn on your Ipod or CD player and put in the ear buds to passively listen while your drift off to sleep. That’s the only effort required to reprogram your unconscious mind to achieve, perform and have the confidence you need to reach your dreams.
These 5 simple choices will pay huge dividends in your confidence in a short amount of time.
Visit http://BeConfidentToday.com/ to cultivate confidence with guided imagery, articles, and consultations with Lynn Kennedy Baxter, BSN, MA., High Performance Coach and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. Take the first step, because confidence is your choice and you can have it.
© 2011 Lynn Kennedy Baxter, BSN, MA
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