Let’s not confuse self-confidence with the annoying person in our lives who ‘loves themselves a little too much – this is arrogance’! Despite having good intentions, many people live their lives in the background of others, not fully experiencing themselves in the world around them. Taking actionable steps on a daily basis to build your self-confidence is just as important for creating a healthy and happy life as sticking to a healthy diet or keeping-up with your workout schedule. In fact, to be able to succeed long-term with your healthy habits, having self-confidence is key!

Benefits of self-confidence:

• Maintaining motivation to achieve a challenging goal
• Appreciating the world and people around you
• Discovering and learning new skills and ways to challenge yourself
• Letting go of agonising guilt for (whatever you did that caused you to react emotionally, for example crying at work, snapping at a colleague or children, having a mini breakdown when you drop your packed lunch!)
• Kinder to yourself (without the guilt)
• Enjoying what you do on a daily basis

There is no ‘quick fix’ however there are little known ways to help you start today to help you develop your self-confidence and to start getting more out of life.

Little Known Ways Build Self-Confidence:

Value who you are by identifying what you like about yourself.

Get yourself 5 small cue cards or post-it notes and write one thing you like about yourself on each. Consider your strengths and what your best-friend would say about you to help you get started. Stick them up where you will easily be able to see them and spend 1-2 minutes each day focusing on them.

Value what you do by committing to everything you do as a professional.

Respect yourself by respecting how you put yourself out there to the world, think of everything you do as an expression of yourself and your capabilities. Start with small steps; get up on time (do not hit snooze), make your bed to your best ability, create a breakfast you are proud to eat, dress for work like you mean business, whether you have a meeting or not, keep a diary for personal and work life and stick to your schedule…

Develop an attitude to gratitude and appreciate

Value what you have and what you already have achieved by receiving and giving gratitude. The next time someone pays you a compliment, instead of pushing it to one side, or justifying why you do not deserve it – for example, when a woman compliments another woman on a piece of clothing, the woman receiving the compliment will argue by saying something like “o this old thing” or “it was only 50 dirhams” or “it would look so much better on you”, rather than receiving the compliment and saying thank you – accepting and be grateful. Another way is to get yourself a jar and a pack of cue cards, each day write one thing you are grateful for that day – the more specific the better, place the card in the jar and whenever you are feeling low in confidence, open the jar and read through what you have written throughout the year, you won’t be able to help but feel better about yourself.

Self-confidence is the ability to accept and respect yourself for the person you are. As with all self-improvement it will not be easy, to change you need to step out of your comfort zone, take time to reflect and see this transformation as a long-term process to achieving better health and happiness.

“When we turn pro, we will be compelled to make painful choices. There will be people who in the past had been colleagues and associates, even friends, whom we will no longer be able to spend time with if our intention is to grow and to evolve. We will have to choose between the life we want for our future and the life we have left behind.” – Steven Pressfield

Next step:

A health coach supports you in identifying and overcoming the obstacles that are holding you back to living your healthiest and happiest lifestyle. If you would like to know more about the health coaching program or in need of an accountability partner, get in touch by emailing heidi@heidijonescoaching.com