Step By Step Guide To Cultivate Self-Confidence
Everything is possible if you believe in yourself.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you are right” — Henry Ford
When I was in college, I never thought I would be able to run 3 miles. I never thought I would be able to learn guitar. I never thought I would become a good cook. My mind was filled with negativity and these negative thoughts brought self-doubt and disbelief.
It was not until I moved to the United States that my life took a different path. I was forced to cook because I was craving home-cooked Indian food. I made a lentils dish the first time and threw it immediately because it was so bad. After a week, I cooked my first decent edible dish which gave me confidence and self-belief that I can cook. Fast forward to 2 years, I can cook almost any Indian dish.
The same thing happened when I ran my first mile. This instance made me believe that I could run 3 miles. It took me a month of training to achieve my desired goal. After learning cooking and running, I believed that I could also learn guitar. Learning guitar was hard but I had a belief in myself that I would play guitar one day. I failed many times and thought of giving up but one thing kept me going — my belief in myself. Finally, after 6 months, I played my first song on the guitar. It is still my proudest moment.
If you notice, one thing was common in every story — I believed in myself. Without self-confidence and belief, a person can’t achieve anything noteworthy.
Here is a step by step guide on how to cultivate self-confidence:
1. Positive Affirmations:
Every morning after waking up say these words to yourself — “I have the ability to achieve my goals. I demand of myself persistence, self-confidence, and belief to achieve my goals.”
When I am brushing my teeth, I look at myself in the mirror and repeat these words. The goal is to fill your mind with positive thoughts which breed self-confidence. This is the principle known as auto-suggestion. These affirmations fill me with the energy and belief to master the obstacles that fall in the way to success.
2. Visualization of your goal
Every day, after waking up or before going to sleep, close your eyes and think of who you want to become. Visualize yourself achieving your goals, think about how happy you will be, create a mental picture of the future yourself. The goal of this technique is to make you believe that you possess the personality of the person you intend to be. You just have to take action to become that person.
I apply this formula every night. I visualize myself running in the morning, doing my research, writing the articles. The key is to visualize in vivid detail. I visualize trees and buildings I will see while running. I visualize myself sitting on a desk with my laptop writing an article. I visualize myself working in a laboratory with different chemicals.
There is some power when you visualize yourself taking action. It’s like when you taking action in reality, it feels like you have already done it and you find it easy to do your tasks.
3. Scheduling your goals
After doing all the mental work, it’s time to take action. At night, write out the actions you will take to bring yourself closer to your goals. Write your plans and also schedule them. Writing that you will do exercise is not enough. Writing that you will do exercise at 7 am is the way to go.
I schedule my day on an hourly basis. I write what I will do every waking hour of the day. This was I remove all the mental blockage to start my plans. I also keep this list with me to keep myself on track.
Conclusion
Self-confidence is the key to achieve success. No matter how talented or hard-working you are, nothing will work out if you don’t believe in yourself. Self-confidence can be cultivated by the principle of auto-suggestion, visualizing your dreams, and scheduling your actions. The goal of these activities is to imbibe your subconscious mind with the thought ‘believe in yourself.’
A person does not know his capacity for achievement. You have the power to get anything in your life you want.
“Life’s battle don’t always go to the stronger or faster man; but soon or late the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.” — Napoleon Hill