“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand brake on.” - Maxwell Maltz
Phenomenal self-confidence is an important asset to navigate through life. Some people have it naturally, but deliberate practice can also make you feel more calm and self-assured in front of people. Here are some quick tips for developing confidence, day by day.
1. Change your body language-
Confident people have amazing, expansive body language. There are broadly two types of body language related to confidence; the ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ stance.
The 'winner' posture is based on the fact that we naturally expand our bodies a little when we feel powerful. But in the face of embarrassment or humiliation, we take up as little space as possible. Vanessa van Edwards, a behavioral investigator and researcher states that the simplest way to look confident is to use expansive body language. This is done by taking as much space as possible, keeping your arms loose (as opposed to crossing them), keeping your shoulders relaxed and back, and opening your chest. This particular stance gives off the signal that you feel relaxed and confident.
Body language works both ways. Our body posture reveals what we are feeling, but changing our body language actually alters the brain signals received by our brain to trick you into feeling more confident.
3. Change your neuropathways-
Yes, you can actually add new neuropathways for confidence! Research has shown that a separate neural pathway is stimulated only when we write. Hence handwriting is also known as 'brainwriting.' When we write, brain impulses are sent from our brains to our hands (this is why each of us has different handwriting - literally because we have different brains!). But this also works two ways - just as our handwriting reveals our personality, changing the way you write can also chain your brain! Check out my previous article on confidence and handwriting.
4. Remember the time when you felt the most confident-
Recalling the time when you felt the most powerful is another amazing, instant confidence-boosting technique! Just the memory of the time is enough for a quick encouragement. This forces your mind to shift your focus from the present.
Bonus tip-
We are all born confident. Young children often display exceptional confidence, but when they get older, they might tend to lose some of the confidence in the way. Remember; no one is born with low self-esteem - it's always acquired. If you think you might lack confidence, chances are the reason lies behind a time in your childhood. Identify that particular time. There's always a reason for losing confidence, but there are many ways to bring your confidence back 😊.
References
Planton, Samuel. (2013). The "handwriting brain": a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of motor versus orthographic processes. PubMed Central.
https://www.scienceofpeople.com/how-to-be-confident/
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