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8 Tips for Becoming Comfortable with Power

8 Tips for Becoming Comfortable with Power

As you mature and grow into your life, you’re going to eventually assume progressively more powerful roles. At home, at work, or as an entrepreneur, the interesting thing is that once you have a position or title, everyone perceives your power, but it’s not given to you by them. To become more comfortable with power, follow these 8 tips.

1.Embrace Your Aspirations

For some reason, many people feel they cannot acknowledge their ambitions. This is especially true for women. They often hide their aspirations from others because they don’t want other people to criticize them or dissuade them. Ambition is normal. You don’t have to be miserable in the present to want more for the future. State what you want and do it with pride.

2.Avoid Negative Self Talk

It’s hard to totally avoid negative self-talk but what you can do is to train yourself that when you hear that negative talk in your mind to transition the thought to something positive or even neutral. Some studies even suggest that for bad days turning your negativity into something more neutral is just as effective as being falsely positive for helping you change your mindset.

3.Ask for Help When Needed

One thing that many people falsely assume as they move into their power through personal growth and development, their career, and homelife is that no one knows everything, and no one can be the expert on everything. Plus, there are always going to be things you don’t know and the worst thing about that is you may not even know what you don’t know enough to explain it or ask the right questions. For this reason, ask for help and bring in experts to help you make better choices.

4.Share Opinions and Ideas Confidently

When asked, give feedback by sharing your opinions and ideas. Share your thoughts confidently. When you do this, it will highlight your confidence and make you seem even more knowledgeable and powerful. Some people will appreciate what you say, even when you share negative aspects. Other people will focus on the negatives and that’s okay as long as you are truthful, and you share from an unbiased point of view. Just make sure that you keep everything confidential so you each gain and feel the trust.

5.Accept and Acknowledge Your Fears

Powerful people have fears too. It’s fine to have them and totally normal and natural. One reason people have so much imposter syndrome is due to buying into the idea that people “up there” don’t have the same fears that everyone else has. The good news is that everyone on the earth has fears, even the President of the United States or a ruler of the most oppressive regime. Strong man or not, they are also fearful. But it’s when you accept and acknowledge it that it loses its power over you.

6.Find Time to Be Quiet

Your brain needs downtime each day to renew while also still awake. Take time to be in a quiet place so that your brain can recharge. Go for a walk in the park, meditate, try float therapy. Do what you can to give your brain time to reset each day either through meditation or something else that is planned and quiet.

7.Be Open-Minded

Open-minded people listen to what others say, are empathetic, and are able to hear feedback without being defensive. They can listen to other ideas and accept them even when they disagree with them. Open-mindedness makes you curious about what other people think and keeps you very considerate of diversity. Plus, it’s much easier to keep your cool when something goes wrong.

8.Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

The only way to grow is to experience some discomfort. If your life is just a breeze with no stress whatsoever, you are probably not living up to your potential. When you leave your comfort zone, you enable growth to take place. Learning new things and doing the things that make you feel a little difficult or uneasy will make you feel good about yourself when you’ve gone through it due to the dopamine release, you’ll experience.

The truth is, the more you’re able to disregard your discomfort, the more you’re going to be able to take your position of power and use it for good. The good you can create in your life and others is also a very powerful thing that cannot be denied. And true power, authentic power, comes from you and not anyone else.

A Dozen Ways to Successfully Deal with Stress

A Dozen Ways to Successfully Deal with Stress

Stress is what happens when you have so much to deal with emotionally or physically, and the burdens overwhelms you. This is why you can deal with many stressors and then all of a sudden something minor like dropping a glass of milk makes you start crying or feels like the final straw.

When you let stress build, it can feel as if it’s all too much to handle so you end up doing nothing. Or worse, you start trying to deal with the stress by using alcohol or other unhealthy coping mechanisms. Dealing with stress head on is always best and here are a dozen ways that you can effectively do that.

Use Meditation

By using visualization or other forms of meditation, it can help relieve the pressure of stress building up. You don’t have to be an expert to get started with meditation, either. You can use self-help books, online tutorials, guided imagery podcasts or other means.

Meditation takes your mind out of the middle of the stress and allows you to focus your thoughts. While you’re meditating, the constant badgering you sometimes get from stress will be eliminated because it won’t have center stage in your thoughts.

This practice can be done anywhere at any time and it doesn’t take long to reap the benefits of using meditation to deal with stress. Your mind and body will align and relax while using meditation.

It helps you let go of the negativity brought on by stress and instead keep your mind set on what’s good, what’s peaceful and what’s helpful to you. Meditation gives you a coping skill that helps you eliminate the effects of the flight or fight response that occurs when you’re under stress. You’ll be able to lower your blood pressure and feel the weight of your stressors lift from your shoulders.

Know Your Stressors

Sometimes people aren’t prepared for handling stress because they don’t know exactly what it is about their life that’s causing the stress reaction. By understanding what causes you stress, you can manage and eliminate it.

Fear and anxiety is a stressor. You can feel this kind of stress when you start playing the what if game - what if you lose your job, what if you can’t your bills, what if your partner breaks up with you, what if you get sick, etc.

This is projection thinking that takes you out of the present day and causes your mind to live in a state of what “could” happen in the future. It’s worrying about something that hasn’t happened and may never happen.

Issues with relatives can also be a stressor. You could have people in your life that you simply don’t get along with. Or you could have family members who are involved in situations that are bad and you feel the stress from that.

Leaving your normal way of life can be a stressor. This includes things like taking on a new job or leaving one, moving to a new home or new state, ending a relationship or starting one, going to college or graduating or having a child or having a child move out.

It’s anything that shakes up how you routinely live your life. Health issues can be a stressor. Whenever you not feeling well or you’re dealing with a chronic health problem, it can cause stress.

You feel the stress more when the health issue gets in the way of you being able to handle your day to day activities or your job. Job performance, both good and bad, can be a stressor.

When you do well at work, you may feel the stress and pressure to continually outdo yourself. When you do poorly, you may fear the boss’s reaction or the loss of your job.

Work and family balance is another stressor.

You can feel pulled in two directions and feel like your life isn’t balanced. This can cause you to feel stressed that you’re not able to do your best at work or at home because your time is being stretched too thin.

Track Your Stressors

You can’t fight what you can’t see coming. But when you write down what you’re going to be handling that day, it helps you deal with stress. It does this because you’ll be identifying all the situations for that day and what the potential stressors are going to be.

Identify what it is about the situation (or the person) that’s going to be in your day that’s causing you to feel the stress. For example, if you have to attend your child’s school for an event and the ex you don’t get along with is going to be there, you should know ahead of time how to handle the negative emotions that will rise up.

Maybe you can strategize a way to minimize interaction, too. Know ahead of time that when you feel the anger, you’ll practice meditation deep breathing exercises – because this can help you keep the situation and yourself calm.

Discover the Power of No

One common cause of stress is being too busy saying yes to others that you end up saying no to yourself. Know your limitations and don’t exceed them. Every day you’re going to be bombarded with people and situations that want you to say yes and give your time and energy.

But being a consistent “yes” person is the road to stress. You can’t take time for yourself or what you really want to do if you don’t practice using the power of no. Most people refrain from saying no out of fear that they’ll appear selfish, but saying no to someone isn’t selfish.

It’s practicing the art of self care. When you have a problem telling other people no, or even telling yourself no to things, you add to your workload and can over-do what you’re capable of.

You’ll end up - not only stressed - but your immune system can take a hit as well since stress lowers your body’s immune system defenses. Learning to say no can free you from the guilt that comes along with saying yes.

Many people only agree to something because they feel guilted into it or they guilt themselves into it. Just keep in mind that by saying no, you’re taking care of your body and that’s a good thing.

When you say no, let that be your one word explanation. If someone asks, “why not” in response to your no, recognize that as a boundary issue. You don’t owe anyone a reason. By saying no, you free yourself from overextending your own time and causing yourself unnecessary stress.

Get Enough Sleep

When you don’t get enough sleep, it can cause a delayed reaction time in situations such as driving or trying to do your job. It also causes memory problems, weight gain, and can lead to serious health issues.

But not getting the right amount of sleep can cause stress and worsen the stress you may already have. A lack of sleep causes your decision making ability to be affected and you end up making poor choices that increase your stress.

This happens when you get tired and you end up not really wanting to deal with whatever you’re trying to handle. So you end up saying no to good opportunities and yes to bad ones.

The lack of sleep can cause a cycle. When you don’t get enough rest, it causes stress, which in turn causes insomnia. With each feeding into the other, it can make your stress level increase and reach the point where you find it difficult to deal with even minor problems.

Stop Ignoring Problems

You might believe that it’s better not to deal with an issue that’s causing you stress - that if you don’t handle it, you’re protecting yourself. But what you’re doing is actually making your stress worse.

Common problems that people don’t like to deal with yet cause stress are: home repairs, car repairs, financial problems, children or teenage behavior, arguments/issues with your spouse, family problems, environmental problems or fear of world problems.

When a problem arises, deal with it as soon as possible. If you put it off, the problem can only get bigger and when it grows, it’ll take more of your energy and resources to fix.

Problems don’t ride off into the sunset just because they aren’t dealt with. They linger, quietly nagging at the back of your mind even while you’re trying to ignore them. This internal nagging is at work building your stress. Face your problems, deal with them head on, and free yourself from stress.

Lower Your Expectations

One of the reasons that people have stress is because their expectations are out of whack. They have high expectations for other people and for themselves. So when things don’t work out as they expected, they feel not only disappointed, but stressed as well.

You can tell if your expectations are causing you stress if you think that your life wasn’t supposed to turn out the way that it has - or if you think your partner wasn’t supposed to behave the way he or she did.

It causes you stress because you were expecting something you didn’t receive. You feel disappointment that the picture in your mind wasn’t painted correctly in reality. Relief from stress is found by having realistic expectations for yourself and for the others in your life as well.

Learn to accept yourself for who you are, and others for who they are. When you consider your life, rather than feeling stressed for what hasn’t worked out, focus on the good that has. Stop putting the pressure and stress on yourself to do more or to be more.

Find a Hobby You Enjoy

When you find something you like doing, it acts as a stress reliever because it gives you an outlet.  A hobby can be a way for you to release the anxiety and pent up emotions that go along with dealing with stress.

You can get involved in music such as finding new songs or new bands. You can check out the local music scene where you live and attend free music festivals or shows for singers and bands just getting started.

Painting and other creative things such as sketching or coloring can be a hobby that works as a stress outlet. There’s also journaling. You don’t have to be good at writing to journal.

It’s just putting words down that are talking about how you’re feeling or what’s gone on during your day. Some people get into gardening. You can do vegetable and fruit or flowering gardening.

You can do a mixture of all three. Taking up knitting or crocheting is a great hobby that can help you deal with stress. You can learn a new skill such as a second language. Or you can learn how to play an instrument.

You can get involved in community theater or take acting classes. Going for regular hikes to explore new places is a great way to deal with stress. So is volunteering. By investing yourself in someone else, it successfully manages stress.

Create a To-Do List

You might wonder why creating a to-do list can help you manage stress. The answer is because when stress hits, you feel like everything is going wrong. You feel like nothing is within your ability to cope.

This feeling of being out of control can increase your stress level. Sometimes stress develops because people feel like they have so much to do or to overcome that it causes action paralysis, which then worsens stress.

By creating a to-do list, it helps a person prioritize the important things and they’re able to focus on getting one thing at a time accomplished. Rather than focusing on what they have to do in its entirety, which can make stress rise, they’re able to get through the day by choosing bite size action steps.

When you have a step-by- step to-do list it allows you to feel like you’re in control. This works well even if you don’t necessarily have a lot on your plate to handle. A physical list takes the pressure off your mental checklist.

Find Your Support System

One of the worst things about stress is when you try to keep it all inside. When your job isn’t working out well, your partner isn’t being helpful, and your kids are constantly pushing your buttons, you need a way to come to terms with the stress that you’re feeling.

If you don’t let it out, the stress pressure builds. You need to have someone to talk to about what you’re going through. This someone may not be able to do anything to change your situation.

But by simply being there to listen, it relieves you of the buildup you’re feeling. Talking through what’s happening with you and what’s causing your stress makes you feel better even if the situation is still present.

Your support can be a trusted friend, a relative, a romantic partner or a trained counselor. Sharing how you’re feeling relieves the emotional toll such as anxiety and depression that are often linked to stress.

Create a Strategy

Every single bit of stress in your life can be traced back to a trigger. It’s always cause and effect. Something happens and there’s a mental, emotional or physical reaction. There are consequences or changes that led to the stress.

For example, your boss gives you a better position. You make more money. Now you’re stressed. Not because you got the position that you wanted, but because there are more responsibilities.

It might be more time away from home. You might feel worried that you’re not up to par.

What you have to do when stress hits is trace backward to get to the root of your stress. When you find that, you can create a strategy to eliminate the stress.

If you take the new position at work, have a plan to enlist more help at home or hire outside help. If you’re worried you’re not knowledgeable enough about the new position, ask for help such as more training or take a course. Your strategy should make you proactive and show you what you need to do to help you deal with your stress.

Let Go

You must reach the place where you realize that despite how hard you try, there are some things you just can’t solve. By wasting time worrying and trying to find a fix for the unfixable, you’re just creating stress.

You can’t fix a coworker who’s lazy or is a jerk. You can’t force a loved one not to break up with you. You can’t order every event in your life to be as you wish it to be. You don’t have any control over things that are outside your ability to change.

What you have to do is accept what you can’t change and make peace with it. When you waste energy striving to try to force things to happen that are beyond your scope, you end up frustrated and stressed.

Accepting that you’re powerless to change everything that affects you is a hard thing to do but it’s necessary in order to deal with stress. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re strong enough to move on with your life rather than remaining stuck.

How Your Brain Chemically Triggers Confidence When You Exercise

People with high levels of self-esteem are self-aware. They know who they are, what they are about, and have a clearly defined value system. No matter what happens in their life, they can make it through because they are confident in the decisions they make, since they clearly understand themselves and are self-assured in their actions and behaviors.

Self-esteem perpetuates confidence, and confidence can help build self-esteem.

This is due to how your brain works when you accomplish something. If your brain recognizes something you did or thought as being positive in some way, endorphins and other pleasure-inducing chemicals are released. This just makes sense. By rewarding behavior that promotes happiness and health, your brain encourages you to perform those positive actions again in the future. This happens today because of a process which started with early man.

The Fight or Flight Process

Your earliest ancestors had a very tough time getting through life. Danger lurked around every turn, and each day was filled with problems that made mere survival very difficult. So, it was important for the human brain to develop a pleasurable reward system when one of your cave-dwelling predecessors had a successful hunt, found nuts and berries to eat or started a fire.

That same reward system is alive and well in the human mind today.

Many times, when faced with a threat, which happened on a regular, daily basis, your ancestors had to make an instant decision whether to fight or flee. They may have been faced with a saber-toothed tiger, a dangerous environment, or some other threat. When this happened, the fight or flight process made their senses come alive.

Every fiber of their being was on high alert. Their minds were instantly focused and clear. Their muscles tensed, their heart began beating faster, to send oxygenated blood to all of their muscles, and they were prepared to either run away from the threat, or fight it.


This is the exact same process that happens when you exercise.

The number of life-threatening dangers you encounter these days are few and far between, especially when compared with early humans. However, the fight or flight process which releases positively empowering endorphins and hormones is the same as it was back then. Since fleeing or fighting in the face of danger triggers a lot of the same processes and chemical responses that exercise does, exercise can give you a boost of self-confidence.

Success Breeds Confidence

When prehistoric man encountered a cave bear, he sensed two things – a threat to his existence, and a potentially large food supply. The first time he had to fight a cave bear, he was probably scared to death. However, upon successfully defeating that dangerous threat to himself and his clan, a surge of self-confidence was the reward. Accordingly, he became more confident and sure of his actions as he encountered cave bears in the future.

The same exact chemicals which promote confidence, higher levels of self-esteem and self-assuredness that your cave bear-defeating ancestors enjoyed is triggered when you exercise. The physical activity required for prehistoric man to take down a large, dangerous opponent or threat mimics the same tensing, stretching, lifting, bending and moving that takes place during common exercises.

Since your brain doesn’t understand the difference between exercise and noticing a threat to your existence, confidence-boosting endorphins are released. The physiological process that happens when you exercise also boosts your immune system, reducing your risk from becoming infected or contracting disease.

So, in many ways, exercise, mild or intensive, for young and
old, men and women, for the weak and the strong, creates
an automatic process which can build confidence.

The role of exercise and promoting confidence and belief in self also has to do with the results you see. You get a sense of achievement when you notice your exercise efforts are paying off in some way. You may be losing weight, running faster, thinking more clearly, or accomplishing some physical goal that you set.

As you see yourself progressing towards some reward or goal that exercise is enabling you to achieve, you can’t help but feel good about yourself. This may include liking how you look in front of a mirror for the first time in years. Your exercise may lead to compliments from others, which not only cranks up your confidence, but promotes your desire to continue exercising to keep receiving such compliments.
Combined with the “feel good” endorphins which relieve stress and make you feel great psychologically, your feelings of accomplishment positively compound your confidence and self-esteem. As it turns out, confidence in one area often leads to confident belief in other aspects of your life. So take up an exercise program today for physical and mental benefits, an unconscious, automatic release of hormones that will make you feel good about yourself, and a strong belief of confidence in your abilities.

The Role Giving Plays in Building Confidence

Your emotions are directly related to chemical processes that automatically occur in your body. When you feel happy, healthy and content, the hormones and chemicals which promote stress automatically begin to dissipate. Endorphins and other chemicals which promote a healthy body and happy outlook, and actually boost your immune system, are released. This is the automatic, unconscious way that your mind promotes you to take care of yourself.

The opposite can also occur.

Cortisol is nicknamed the “stress hormone” for a very good reason. It triggers inflammation throughout your body, which can lead to physical as well as emotional problems. Cortisol levels spike when emotions like fear, anxiety and uncertainty are experienced. Your body’s negative response to poor emotional states is the brain’s way of telling you to adopt positive emotions instead.

This relates to how giving and charity can be used to boost your confidence.

When you are upbeat, happy, healthy and feel good about life, it is easy to be confident. You are living proof that the actions you are taking and the things you are doing are impacting you in a positive manner. This means you are confident in your ability to create a positive living environment, and achieve results which are desirable to you.

If you lack confidence, try donating your time, possessions or money to a worthy individual or a needy cause. Studies show that the chemical rewards of giving promote positive feelings of self-worth. Giving of your time or some other resource to someone who is not as fortunate as you make you feel good about yourself.

Consciously and subconsciously you recognize this charitable behavior as producing positive emotions and results. Just as it does when it senses happiness and peacefulness, your brain rewards your positive behavior with a rush of pleasurable chemicals throughout your body.

Give to Others to Get Confidence and Self-Esteem

This provides a very easy way you can boost your confidence and adopt a strong, healthy belief in yourself. The dopamine, endorphins and other chemicals which promote happiness and self-assuredness are present even in the smallest acts of giving or charity. This means that simply holding a door for someone can trigger a small boost of confidence in yourself.

Incredibly, research shows that the improvements in self-esteem, self-worth and confidence are not related solely to
the giver.

The person on the receiving end of an unexpected good deed often times feels better about themselves as well. Subconsciously they deem themselves worthy of receiving an act of generosity, which boosts their self-image.


James Fowler is a Professor of Medical Genetics and Political Science at the University of California in San Diego. His research shows that one person doing a good deed, giving of their time, money or some other resource, often starts a positive and amazing trend. That small act is returned by the recipient of the good deed. They reach out to someone else, often several people, with an act of generosity as well.

Everyone begins to feel good about who they are, their confidence and self-esteem is boosted, which makes them more likely to help someone else in the future. The scientific term for this altruistic marvel is “upstream reciprocity”.

In layman’s terms, the recipient of a good deed, or of a caring, giving action, adopts a “pay it forward” attitude. They may not be in a position to pay back the person that positively impacted their life. So instead, their newly stoked self-esteem and confidence leads them to search out others less fortunate than themselves. The chain of giving continues, and professor Fowler has noted that in many situations, this happy domino effect can spark significant and positive change for many.

Giving is selfless. But it can also provide a selfish boost of confidence that leads to a more positive self-image, and triggers a chain event of positivity.

Self-Esteem vs Confidence – Is There a Difference?

Whatever you feel, whatever emotion you are processing at any given moment, your mental state triggers hormonal and chemical releases. When you enjoy high levels of confidence and self-esteem, you naturally boost your resistance to disease and infection. The chemical processes attached to being self-assured and thinking highly of yourself are related to corresponding high levels of mental and physical health and well-being.

These are automatic processes.

Your mind is very selfish. It wants you to feel good. So when you do feel good about yourself, and confident in your actions, your brain rewards those feelings by making your body and your mind happy and healthy. Alternately, when you doubt yourself and lack confidence, even in small, simple endeavors, negative hormones and chemicals are your unfortunate reward.

This negative response leads to high levels of stress and inflammation, which in turn can become the jumping off point for a long list of mental and physical health problems.

While confidence and self-esteem both impact your overall health and well-being in a positive way, they are not the same. They are definitely related in some ways, and entirely different in others. Let’s take a look at each of these positive self-beliefs individually, for a deeper understanding of how they are alike and different.

Confidence

The way you feel about your abilities in particular situations dictates your level of self-confidence. This can vary from time to time, depending on the situation or set of circumstances you find yourself in.

You may have a high level of confidence in the kitchen. You have been cooking, baking, broiling, boiling, sautéing and frying for years. You have yet to run across a recipe you couldn’t turn into a mouthwatering and delicious experience. Even when presented with something you have never prepared before, you have absolutely no doubt that the finished product you create will be perfect.

That same sky-high level of confidence may disappear entirely if you are asked to speak before a large group about cooking. Even though you have a wealth of information on the subject, the idea of standing in front of a large public audience absolutely leaves you shaking in your shoes. Although you are more than confident about your cooking ability, you are less than confident about your ability to speak in public.

By working at something, you can become better at it. This raises your level of confidence, which in turn boosts your belief in yourself, promoting a healthy level of self-esteem.

Self-Esteem

Think of self-esteem as self-love. You either hold yourself in high or low self-esteem. While confidence can be defined as how you feel about your abilities to accomplish certain things, self-esteem is how you feel about yourself overall. Just as confidence can build by repeating certain behaviors or tasks, a high or low level of self-esteem usually develops from multiple experiences and circumstances you have encountered in your life.

The situations you have witnessed or personally encountered that have had some type of impact you shape how you view yourself right now. Children who are told they are worthless and will never amount to anything experience low levels of self-esteem. The people they look up to, admire and respect tell them they are not worthy of love and caring, and these recurring life experiences years later create an adult that lacks self-love and self-worth.

The opposite is also true.

When you love yourself, your level of self-esteem improves dramatically. People with high levels of self-esteem are more confident. As your self-esteem grows, your confidence not only lends itself to things you are familiar with and good at accomplishing, but you are confident you can handle unfamiliar situations as well. As long as you love yourself, and own a high level of self-esteem, you are ready to tackle any task or endeavor confidently.

A Wonderful Cycle of Mental Health and Well-Being

Even if you don’t think much of yourself, you can boost your confidence through repetition of a task. You eventually become good at it, and your self-esteem skyrockets. This improved belief in self lends itself towards confidence in taking on familiar, and even unfamiliar, situations, experiences and endeavors. This creates a beautiful, self-perpetuating cycle that effortlessly promotes mental and emotional health and well-being.

How You Can Build Confidence Through Simple, Daily Routines

Are you a confident person? Do you lack confidence and belief in self? Either way, there is a simple routine you can follow to call upon confidence and high levels of self-esteem whenever you want. That routine is … building daily routines!

We are going to get scientific for just a moment.

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) in your brain reinforces familiarity and recollection. When one of your 5 senses experiences something that you have encountered before, and it made a memorable enough impression upon you, your MTL triggers your recognition memory. Even if the thing you encountered triggers a negative memory, your brain is confident in its ability to understand the experiences that surround that memory, and to respond accordingly.

Confidence arises when you understand what is about to happen, something is familiar to you, and you responded with a positive performance or reaction in the past when that same situation occurred. You have seen this series of events unfold before, you responded, and the outcome was favorable. This makes you confident when presented with the same scenario in the future.

You can use this to your advantage to build confidence.

Because of the way your MTL works, familiar memories are accompanied by lower levels of cortisol than unfamiliar experiences. Cortisol is famously nicknamed the “stress hormone”. When levels of stress and anxiety are lower, it is easier to feel confident about yourself. Serotonin and endorphins are a couple of neurotransmitters that help stabilize your mood and make you feel calm, peaceful and stress-free. They are more prevalent when you encounter something that is both positive and familiar.

Now let’s look at routines.

A routine is simply a “sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program”. Studies show that any new routine practiced daily for 3 to 10 weeks becomes a subconscious and automatic behavior, rather than an action that has to be consciously thought about. Therefore, if you want to become a more confident person, develop some simple daily routines that eventually become unconscious and automatic, and your brain will trigger the release of chemicals which lower stress and promote confidence.

What Specific Daily Routines Bolster Confidence?

The beauty of the routines/confidence relationship means that any regularly followed pattern of behavior will help you feel confident and self-assured. The magnitude or difficulty level of the daily habits you perform are not important. Because of the way your brain makes you feel when something is familiar, like a regular, daily routine, the chemical reaction which is triggered in your body promotes less stress and anxiety, and makes you feel certain and confident in your abilities, whether your routine is simple or complex.

Why Confident People Are So Sure about Their Values and Beliefs

Your values are the things you believe in. When something is important to you and you hold in high regard, or it is useful in making you healthy and happy, you place a very high value on it. Values can be different from one person to the next. Consider them your standards or principles of behavior.

Simply put, your values are your judgment of the things
that are important in your life.

When you are weak of mind and suffer from poor self-esteem, your values are not very concrete. You don’t look upon yourself as worthy of admiration or respect, from you or others. Because of this, it naturally follows that you believe your values must not be that important. Subconsciously you think, “If I am not confident in myself or my actions, it must be because my values are not worthy of defense or strong belief.”

Why Confident People Are Confident

Everyone has values. Some people take their value system with them to the grave, while others seemingly adopt a new set of “important” beliefs on a regular basis. The difference has to do with confidence. If you are absolutely certain that the things you judge as important in your life are as essential to your existence as oxygen, you will display an unwavering a confidence about the people, places and things you value dearly.

As it turns out, science has found that confidence is not a singularly located emotion. In other words, someone who is confident about their ability to perform their job can’t help but have a high level of self-assuredness in other behaviors and activities. Confidence spreads through your system in a good way.

As you develop a strong self-belief in one area of your life, you begin to develop confidence in other areas as well. The more self-esteem and self-confidence you accumulate, the more absolutely certain you become that your opinions, values and actions are infallible.

Confidence Bolsters a Strong Belief System, and Strongly Held Values Promote Confidence

In a way, confidence fosters and protects your values. However, the opposite is also true. If you have a concrete, well-defined value system, it is easy to be confident. Think about it. If you know without a shadow of a doubt which people, places and things are extremely important to you, confidence and self-esteem are natural byproducts.

Regardless of what anyone else thinks, when you are certain that your values are correct, you defend them without a second thought. This kind of unwavering belief in self is shown in people with strong value systems. It is also a characteristic of self-confidence. If your values are not clearly defined and strongly held, you will suffer from a weak character. It is very difficult to be confident in mind and action when you are uncertain about your own values, and when they are guarded only with weakness.

The Positively Viral Nature of Confidence

Did you know that you really can’t be confident in just one thing or ability? When you have a high level of belief in your ability to do a particular thing, your entire being is imbued with a belief that silently says, “If I am incredibly good at this one thing, why can’t I be good at everything?”

Confidence in any endeavor naturally and automatically creates a belief system that you can probably also do other things well. This lowers levels of stress and anxiety, in addition to removing your fear of failure. You are accordingly willing to take more risks, try new things, and learn new skill sets, which leads to higher levels of achievements in any course of action you decide to undertake.

Your Confidence Helps Others Succeed

Have you ever been around a supremely confident individual? If you spend enough time around that person, you will unconsciously develop a stronger self-image. Consciously you may have thought, “How can I also develop such a high level of belief in myself?” On the unconscious level however, your mind is already going to work lowering your risk aversion, dropping your levels of anxiety and stress, and increasing levels of hormones and other chemicals which boost confidence.

You may have heard people refer to a single athlete that makes everyone else on the team better. This is how incredibly powerful confidence is. It is viral, but in a good way, leading to higher levels of achievement and self-esteem wherever it is found.

Coupled with the fact that “actions speak louder than words”, self-confidence seen in one individual shows others what is possible. When you see someone who is comfortable with who they are, a person who is always positive, happy and smiling, who seems to never let anything ruin their mood, you can’t help but begin to feel the same way.

This natural law of confidential influence can be used to elevate performance, and accordingly the achievements, or any group of individuals. You can use it to help your children feel good about themselves, a mental state which leads to improved social interaction and better grades in school.

If you’re the head of a corporation, sales group, local charity, sports team or any other collection of human beings working towards a common goal, displaying confidence automatically raises your chances of success and achievement.

Look at people who are super-confident. How do they stand? What is their body language like? How do they talk or communicate? How do they walk? Mirror these behaviors yourself, and you will notice you automatically feel more capable and successful. Once you firmly believe you can confidently undertake any task or approach any endeavor successfully, you pass this supercharged self-belief on to others around you.

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