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How to boost your self-confidence: a guide

  • How to boost your self-confidence in four steps
  • How to boost your self-confidence in 90 minutes
  • How to boost your self-confidence without leaving your house

The painter Vincent Van Gogh once said,

How to boost your self-confidence
How to boost your self-confidence

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”

The thought of being self-confident is something many desire to be but can’t force. However, no one is born with boosted or lowered self-esteem or confidence. Self-esteem and confidence is an attribute that grows as a person grows.

Reading this, many readers might wonder about How to boost your self-confidence? Taking an example of succession, or moving from one level to the next, for example, in school, a person will likely have a boost of self-confidence on the completion of one level, but just as quickly can find lowered self-confidence on noticing they’re now at the beginning of the next level.

On average, every third person in the world suffers from low self-confidence. The good news is, the solution is personal development. The more you accomplish, the more confidence you’ll gain. Furthermore, the more you accomplish, the more you know you’ve accomplished, and this reinforces your belief in your ability to accomplish still more.  In a nutshell, accomplishment boosts self-confidence.

What is the literal meaning of self-confidence?

Before proceeding to a conclusion on How to boost your self-confidence, let’s first determine the true sense of self-confidence. Being self-confident means believing you can do the work or pull off the role. 

And there’s a secret: the more specific your goals and interests, the more you’ll accomplish… That is to say, specificity yields action. For example, the more you know what to do, the more specific your understanding of what actions to take, the easier taking action will appear, and the more readily you’ll take action. Conversely, the less specific and more vague a goal, the less likely you’ll take initial action because you have no specific place to start and no specific action to take.

How to boost your self-confidence

Self-confidence predicts the level and amount of action a person is willing to take. The less self-confidence, the less risk and the less “out on a limb” a person is willing to go. The more self-confidence, the more actions that person will take and the more they’ll accomplish, regardless of minor setbacks they’ll encounter.

If you want to take specific action, make specific plans.

If you want to be self-confident, make specific plans and then take action on those plans.

As for how to boost your self-confidence, here are four things you can do.

1. How to boost your self-confidence with self-reflection

First, do some introspection and take a personal inventory. Sit down and make a list of all the things you’ve done in your past that have been a success or an accomplishment. Even if they weren’t full, resounding successes, they delivered a result that hadn’t otherwise been achieved. For example, maybe you wanted an A, but you got a B, maybe you wanted a million dollars, but you got 100,000. Your result doesn’t have to be the be-all and end all. It doesn’t have to be the full moonshot if you launched and landed safely, or even if you just managed lift-off.

Any measurable result that delivered an outcome you’re responsible for, even if you worked with someone else, take ownership of it and put it on the list. You’ll find that if you take 10 or 15 minutes with this, and have some fun with it, like any adult, you’ve got decades of experience on the planet, you’ve done lots and lots and lots of things, and you can make a list of a couple of dozen things that you’ve accomplished.

By the end of the exercise, it’s almost a certainty that you’ll have found how to boost your self-confidence.

2. How to boost your self-confidence inside your existing network

But wait, there’s more. As you continue with that exercise, the next thing to do, number two, would be to share those things, share that list with some people. And the bigger the list of people, the better. Ask them what they think about it.

What you’re going to find is that you’ve got fans. There are people who are interested in those things. I’m sure you could name a few right off the top of your head. You could even name a few who aren’t interested. And you know, the important thing is, don’t let the haters turn you off. Don’t let your previous training, anyone who told you it’s not important or not worthwhile, anyone who told you it’s not that big of a result, don’t let them have the final word on the topic. They’re not boosting your self-confidence. Right?

So, if you’re interested in how to boost your self-confidence, share your wins with people who are your fans. Share with people who have an interest in what you’re doing and who otherwise are positive, supportive role models you want to be around.

So that’s number two: share your successes with other people who are positive and supportive.

3. How to boost your self-confidence by expanding your network

The third thing you want to do is make a list of those people and make a point of meeting them regularly. Surround yourself with people who are positive, supportive, and help reinforce your self-confidence because they’re encouraging and supportive. You might even call them fans. Some of them may even say, “I’m your fan. You’re really awesome!”

Start surrounding yourself with people who know how to boost self-confidence.

4. How to boost your self-confidence by taking action

Fourth, keep making plans and doing things. Being in action and making accomplishments, as Vincent Van Gogh implied above, reinforces your sense of self-confidence, gives you more to share, and boosts your willingness to share your good work with your expanding network of friends and fans.

Those are four things you can do starting right now if you want to know how to boost your self-confidence.

How to boost your self-confidence with the Life Purpose Blueprint

If you’re interested in getting started today for free, get your copy of the Life Purpose Blueprint, which is the perfect way my clients have successfully used to boost their own self-confidence successfully.

Click the link to get your free blueprint.

https://dylancornelius.com/life-purpose-blueprint-offer

How to boost your self-confidence today

Start today and get free access to the first pillar of my Career Acceleration Roadmap: Purpose, where you’ll find 15 questions for self-reflection, as I describe in step 1 above. This is a personalized blueprint that will enable you to express yourself and your purpose in life.

Click here and begin your journey with the Personal Purpose Blueprint today!

Improve your self-confidence with your free Life Purpose Blueprint now. Clarify your purpose. Be inspired. Get the Life Purpose Blueprint now.
Improve your self-confidence with your free Life Purpose Blueprint now. Clarify your purpose. Be inspired. Get the Life Purpose Blueprint now.

What they say?

“I have an insane amount of confidence that I didn’t have six, seven, eight months ago.”

Omario K., Attorney and Professor

Omario K.Attorney and Professor

“Dylan gave me the grounding to quickly create more productive teams that could work together… And then also, just the personal courage and confidence.”

Karen W., Project Manager

Karen W.Project Manager

“When we had conversations, I left feeling powerful, like the only possible outcome is achievement of the goal, like failing isn’t possible.”

Latha K., Project Manager

Latha K.Project Manager

It gives you a lot of confidence.
Karen went from dissatisfaction to confident leadership to change careers to change her life.
George improved his self-confidence at work and clarified his purpose in life.
About me
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Dylan Cornelius

Hi, I'm Dylan Cornelius.

I help mid-career professionals who feel stuck, burned out, or directionless build or find the best job — and career — of their lives.

I studied psychology at UC Berkeley and earned my MBA at Santa Clara University. I've spent 30 years on both sides of the hiring desk — as a technical recruiter in Silicon Valley, a hiring manager who interviewed thousands, and a leader at Oracle, IBM, Charles Schwab, LPL Financial, and PNC.

Whether you're actively searching, quietly questioning, or not sure what you want next — you're in the right place.

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Karen W., Project Manager

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Omario K., Attorney and Professor

"I felt like I didn’t have much to say in a cover letter or a networking conversation. Now I’ve had a lot more things to say — I’m a lot more prolific in self-promotion, in an assertive but humble way."

—Omario K.
Attorney and Professor

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