In the last post, I wrote about how people let others tell them what they should do, wear and buy when they aren’t feeling great about themselves.

People have such high expectations of themselves now that it is almost impossible to reach those standards. Many people always feel like they are failing.

So how can you gain your confidence and have a positive, yet realistic view so you can make the right choices for you and your family?

The ways that have worked best for me:

• Do less tasks so you can do them better. You gain confidence when you do things well. Cut down on the number of things you do, so you can do them well. Instead of half heartedly doing it all.
• Think of life as a process or a journey. If you make a mistake or a wrong turn, you take corrective action. Berating yourself for the rest of the journey only annoys the people around you.
• Don’t assume everyone is better than you. Most likely every person you meet can do some things better than you and other things worse than you. Most people just get good at hiding their imperfections. (But, doesn’t that take so much energy?)
• Take care of yourself. Get enough sleep, move your body, eat fresh healthy foods and take some time alone every day. It’s hard to feel confident when you treat yourself badly.
• Make choices using integrity. You never feel good when you cheat, lie, pretend to be something you’re not and make choices you know are wrong.
• Notice the things you did right. In order to have a realistic view of yourself and your abilities, you can’t see only what you did badly or didn’t finish. Look at the room when you are done cleaning it. Say, "Thank you." instead of, "It was nothing." (Then wonder why no one appreciates you). During my weekly planning I write down 10 things I accomplished over the past week.

Here are a couple sites on building your self-confidence:

Mindtools
Confident1

Ask, "What would a confident person do in this situation?" Then have the confidence to choose your life.

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