I’m Not Good Enough Yet

Confidence - Do You Have Enough?

Having confidence is an essential part of our lives in general. Naturally, there are times when you have more confidence doing certain things you are very versed in. 

Other times, especially trying to tackle something you perceive difficult, you may be lacking. But the confidence I'm referring to is the kind where you can step back, look at yourself, and say, "I really like myself". 

Are you the kind of person that persistently says, I am ready to take the risks necessary to achieve my personal and professional goals? 

Also, how is your outlook for the future? How do you feel about your life  now? Based on what you are doing today, is it going to bring about great things in the future?

If your answers are not glowing on the positive side, you may need a dose of a little more self confidence. 

Here's how you can get it. 

Identify Your Negative Thoughts

Throughout the course of the day your mind presents you with millions of thoughts. Some never reach the point of conscious thought, but many do. Those are the ones that we can start to look at to see if you can spot any negativity that may be robbing your self confidence. 

If you start hearing thoughts like, "I can't do that", or "If I do that, I will fail." How about this one, " No one wants to hear what I have to say"?  You have found the culprit. 

Those types of thoughts are of the pessimistic nature that will not benefit you to push through to win. In fact, they will not help you in any way.  

Start closely examining your thoughts to see how many negative thoughts are dominating your thinking patterns. This is the first step. 

Turn Your Negative Thoughts To Positive Thoughts

Just to warn you, what I'm about to say sounds simple, but it is, in fact, one of the hardest things to practice. Why, because sometimes it's hard to get us to admit what we're thinking is negative. 

We try to rationalize by saying we're just thinking realistically. But if it doesn't encourage us to move forward, it's just plain negative. 

But, as you begin to identify your negative thoughts, quickly turn them into positive ones. 

Turn, "I can't do this", into "I can do this with a little more practice." You get the picture. Every negative has another positive side. Just turn the coin over to find it.

Refuse To Focus On Negative Thoughts More Often Than Positive Thoughts

As hard as you may try to eliminate the negative self-talk, your thoughts will still serve up a mix of both. That means we become the referees of our thoughts. We have to make the call. 

As soon as we see negative thoughts coming, we can call them out, refuse to focus on them. They are stubborn sometimes, so we may have to do it over and over again. 

The bottom line is that we want to let more positive ones come though, and hold the negative ones hostage. The more we do it, the easier it is to do. And the more positive things we get to experience.

Maintain A Positive Support Network

Construct your network with people who are a positive force that helps you propel yourself forward. Clear out the rest that think they know what you "should" be doing with your life. Negative remarks and unwanted criticism only makes you feel bad. Stay far away from that. 

Watch out for the well-intended family members who weigh in on how you should be living your life. They can have the most negative affect on you especially when you have to interact with them regularly. 

Take some time and make a list of all the people in your life that make you feel great about yourself. And consciously make it a point to spend more time with people like that.  

Eliminate Reminders Of Your Negativity

Cleaning house of the negative things that don't make you feel good about yourself may involve people as well as places you used to go.  

This cleaning means avoiding spending any time around anything that makes you fell less about yourself. You may not be able to get rid of every source, but you can get rid of as much as possible. 

Take some time and sit down and think about all the things that bring you down. It could be mean friends, working at a place you hate, living with an unreasonable mate, or just going to places that give you bad memories. 

Go through this list and put what you can in your garbage to be eliminated from your life.

Identify Your Talents

Talk about a confidence booster, imagine how you would feel if you discovered a brand new talent that you didn't know you had. 

Everyone is good at something.  Try finding something new that your are good at, and give yourself permission to do it. 

Art, music, writing, dancing, or just teaching someone to study better. You'll be surprised what you can find out about yourself if you look hard enough.  If you can't see it, maybe you can ask a trusted friend to point you in the right direction.

Adding a new hobby or a new interest into your life is a great way to increase your confidence, and may even give you the opportunity to meet other people with similar interests.

Plus, there is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment.  

Take Pride In Yourself.

Look at your personality traits that make you admirable. 

You may have a great sense of humor, or have the ability to cope in stressful situations. You might be the go-to person that helps others solve their challenging problems. 

Those are all things that can make you feel good about yourself. And don't forget about your personal appearance. 

You may be a fashion connoisseur, and just want to pride yourself in the way you dress. Letting your light shine is where you want to focus your attention

Accept Compliments Gracefully

Watch how people receive a compliment, and you will begin to notice the ones that display a case of low self-esteem. 

When you hear people shrugging them off by saying things like "Oh that was nothing", or "Yeah right, anyone could have done that", you are looking at a classic case. 

If this sounds like you, practice taking the compliment to heart and saying "Thank You". Then let the person know how much you appreciate them for complementing you. 

If you can master this, you can add it to your list of confidence boosting behaviors.

Look In The Mirror And Smile

The next time you want a confidence boost, take a look in the mirror, stop, and smile at yourself for 10 seconds.

Sounds funny but studies surrounding this practice called "facial feedback theory" suggests that your brain picks up and intensifies certain emotions. 

Smiling in the mirror makes you feel happier, and can even make you feel more comfortable with your appearance giving your even more confidence. 

Practice smiling at other people and watching their response. If they smile back, you'll feel good to know you've done something positive. Have some fun with it and see what happens.  

There Is No Better Feeling Than Self -Confidence

There are times when we don't feel comfortable in our own skin. We are sometimes beat down by so much negativity around us, but there is a way to get our confidence back. 

This article just scratches the surface, but will help get on the path to greater awareness of the things in our life that makes us feel good about ourselves. 

Everyone has so much to contribute to one another, and when we are happy with who we are, we tend to give life our very best. 

Protect yourself from negativity, work on doing want makes you feel good about yourself, and smile at someone today, even if that someone is you.