Confidence is the cornerstone of leadership. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can others believe in you? Here are seven ways mental hacks you can use to be more confident in yourself:
1. Push through self-limiting beliefs.
As children we think we can conquer the world, but somewhere between childhood and adulthood, our enthusiasm and natural inclinations to dream big are squashed. Parents and teachers start imposing their own beliefs—about what we can and can’t do in life—upon us.
How to make it work for you:
Find your limits by exposing yourself to different situations and pushing through the uncomfortable. Once you have confidence in yourself, you’ll be amazed what you can accomplish.
2. Never confuse memory with facts.
Your brain has a built-in confirmation bias. That means it stores information that is consistent with your own beliefs, values and self-image. This selective memory system helps keep the brain from getting overloaded with too much information. So recognize that your memory does not always provide you with accurate information.
How to make it work for you:
Revisit the facts of a memory loaded with self-limiting beliefs and try to gain a more accurate perspective on the event. Talk with others that might have a different perspective.
3. Talk to yourself.
Talking to yourself can make you smarter, improve your memory, help you focus and even increase athletic performance. The Navy SEALS and Special Forces use the power of positive self-talk as a way of getting through tough times.For example by instructing recruits to be mentally tough and speak positively to themselves, they can learn how to override fears resulting from the limbic brain system, a primal part of the brain that helps us deal with anxiety.
How to make it work for you:
Be positive, because the way you talk to yourself influences your neurobiological response to it. When you say, I know what to do here or see things as a challenge rather than a problem, you’ve turned your response into a positive one.
4. Think positive to overcome your negativity bias.
Negativity bias can chisel away at our confidence because we’re hardwired to pay attention to all that we’ve done wrong.
How to make it work for you:
- Come up with five positive thoughts to counter every one negative thought.
- Let every positive thought sit for 20 seconds before moving to the next positive thought.
- Do not try to suppress negative ones.
- Label the emotions for what they truly are and move on.
5. Raise your curiosity levels.
Curiosity is the foundation of life-long growth. If we remain curious, we remain teachable and our minds and hearts grow larger every day. We can retain our beginner’s mind by always looking forward and discovering new experiences and uncovering new information.
How to make it work for you:
Ask questions and be curious because:
- It makes your mind active instead of passive.
- It encourages you to be more observant of new ideas.
- It opens up new worlds and possibilities.
6. Overcome self-doubt.
If you lack self-confidence, you will always feel like you’re at the mercy of other people. When you assume a victim mentality, you are no longer resilient to life’s inevitable obstacles and roadblocks.
How to make it work for you:
No one but you is stopping you from achieving what you want to accomplish. It’s time to identify the areas in which you doubt yourself and remove those barriers.
7. Face your fears.
When we feel in control, we’re not afraid. When we have a level of comfort with something, it’s not scary. When we don’t feel in control, we don’t think clearly because our emotional brain is in the driver’s seat and takes over. This is why fear often seems random and irrational—our emotions are in control.
How to make it work for you:
Harvard Medical School professor Ronald Siegel recommends this in his book, The Mindfulness Solution:
Think about your worst fear. Spend time with it. Now make your fear worse by getting closer to it. Imagine the worst that could happen. Now focus on your breathing. Feel your body relax. See, you didn’t die, did you? You’re on your way to conquering your fear.
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