Psychological Tricks To Be Confident

Being confident in yourself and your abilities can make all the difference when it comes to succeeding at work, advancing your career, and achieving success on your own terms. But as many people know, gaining confidence can be tough – especially if you don’t feel like you deserve it or if you find yourself struggling with self-doubt and self-esteem issues. If you’re looking to boost your self-confidence, these psychological tricks might help.

 8 Psychological Tricks to Help You Become More Confident

1) Fake it ‘til you make it

From time to time, we all feel a little nervous about something. And that’s OK! While there are some things you can’t control (like impressing people you don’t know), most of us have an outsize influence on how others perceive us. So, it makes sense that if we pretend like we’re not nervous, people will believe it—and treat us more warmly. This works because humans tend to take their cues from one another; if someone seems confident and happy, they assume they must be so. If someone seems uncomfortable or anxious, they assume they must be so as well. It’s just human nature! So next time you’re feeling uncomfortable or anxious in a situation, try faking confidence and happiness for a while until you actually start feeling those emotions. You might be surprised by what happens next!

2) Take control

A lack of confidence is often a result of feeling like you don’t have control over your life. One way to feel more in control is by getting organized. When people are more organized, they tend to feel less stressed, which can translate into higher self-confidence. I’m not talking about tackling your entire house or apartment; just make sure that what’s important is in its place. For example, a few well-placed folders might be all you need for feeling a little more in control—and confident. Organizing doesn’t just help with mental health either. Studies show that people who are disorganized tend to earn lower salaries than their more organized peers, and being disorganized also makes it harder to focus on work tasks. If you want to feel better at work and start earning a bigger paycheck, then take some time today to get organized! Even if it’s something small like organizing your inbox, it will help give you an immediate boost in confidence and set up future success.

3) Create momentum

When you know why you do what you do, it can help give your life meaning. Think about why you're trying to be more confident and think about how that connects with who you are and what makes your life worthwhile. This sense of purpose will help support your confidence in tough times; it'll also make it easier for others around you to understand your goals, too. (This means, by the way, that any guilt or frustration from loved ones is actually a good thing—they want what's best for you!) Remind yourself daily of why being confident is important: Think about all those reasons we discussed earlier in terms of why having confidence matters and then write them down somewhere visible so they're always top-of-mind.

4) Find your purpose

Being confident means knowing your purpose, so take some time and reflect on your strengths and passions. Once you’ve identified your strengths, consider how they could fit into an industry that interests you—and then create a business plan around them. When it comes to your passions, there are three ways to transform them into a profession: become an expert in that field (make sure it is popular enough), create products/services in that field or be an entrepreneur who specializes in a specific area. It takes time, but if you are passionate about something it will all be worth it.

5) Get others involved

Psychologists have found that one of your best bets for boosting confidence is getting others involved in helping you find it. When someone else believes in us, we end up believing more in ourselves. So if you’re struggling with feeling confident, try asking a friend or family member for honest feedback on your abilities and talents. Don’t just ask what they think; listen carefully as they tell you about it—they may see things about yourself that you haven’t recognized yet. People also tend to be inspired by those around them, so getting others invested in your goals will help keep you motivated when times get tough.

6) Channel your energy

Sometimes confidence can seem like a nebulous, unattainable goal. But it's actually something you can summon up at will; all you need is a strategy and some practice. One of my favorite tricks involves drawing energy from unexpected places—like your surroundings, or even better, other people. If you're feeling nervous or hesitant before delivering an important speech or performance, take some time to observe your surroundings in detail. Look at specific items in your environment (instead of glancing around quickly), and describe each one out loud as if someone else were asking you about it. Take notice of colors, patterns, textures and so on; think about how they relate to what you're doing or feeling right now.

7) Practice in private

Our brains are built to crave feedback from others, so it’s no surprise that we often seek approval for our appearance or accomplishments. The trouble is, as soon as we get that approval (or disapproval), it no longer feels real—it becomes just another form of validation. The bottom line? Practice feeling confident in private before seeking external praise. That way, when you receive a compliment or get an important job offer, it won’t feel like your confidence is at stake. It will be easier to say thank you with grace and gratitude rather than panic because you don’t have anything else impressive up your sleeve right now.

8) Keep perspective

When you feel bad about yourself, it’s easy to think that everyone else feels that way too. But research shows that many of us are a lot more forgiving than we realize. Studies by Melanie Rudd of Yale University found that participants rated themselves harshly in categories they didn’t consider important, but considered other people’s performance on those same tasks as perfectly acceptable. In one study, for example, participants rated themselves poorly when rating their ability at managing finances (although they considered others’ financial skills just fine). This might seem like a natural human reaction—after all, who are we to be better than anyone else?—but it actually hampers your ability to improve yourself if you continue down a path you know isn’t working.