Author: Ally

Do you want a technique that will give you an instant confidence boost? One that will immediately raise your confidence and keep it higher for the rest of the day? One that, if repeated often enough, will raise your baseline confidence permanently?

I’ve got just the technique for you. It’s called exercise.

I know what you’re thinking -what in the world does working out have to do with my self-confidence? I want to feel better about myself, not get in shape. Well, you don’t have to work out enough to get into better shape for exercise to raise your confidence. You don’t even have to do aerobics.

How does this work? Well, when you exercise, both your body and brain are stimulated in many different ways. They dump out a lot of the toxic chemicals from stress and anxiety. This alone makes you feel better. But this isn’t what boosts your confidence.

Exercising makes your brain release a class of chemicals called endorphins. These chemicals are also referred to as feel-good hormones because that’s what they do. They boost your mood, your self-confidence, your self-esteem -pretty much everything that has anything to do with the interaction of your brain chemistry.

 A whole lot of these endorphins get dumped into your bloodstream whenever you work out. They make you feel better instantly. The effects are long-lasting too. Researchers have detected noticeable increases in endorphins many hours, and sometimes a full day, later. 

If you exercise enough, the baseline level of these hormones in your blood will also increase, leading to a nearly permanent boost in your mood and self-confidence. How’s that for a simple technique to raise your confidence?

But it gets even better. You don’t have to spend hours at the gym to get these effects. You don’t even have to do an aerobic workout or hop on any of the machines. While it’s true that more intense types of exercise release more endorphins, any form of exercise will cause at least some increase in your endorphin levels.

This means that even taking a walk will boost your self-confidence! All you have to do is walk for 10 or 15 minutes and you’ll notice an improvement in your mood and self-confidence. If you do this daily, you’ll get a permanent improvement just as you would if you went to an aerobics class every day.

Try this technique today. What have you got to lose?

A good way to boost your confidence is by looking back at your past successes. No matter how much you’ve done (or feel like you haven’t done) in your life, you’ve accomplished some things and come a good way up life’s path.

You may doubt this if you’re currently struggling with self-confidence. It’s hard to see the stars when you feel like you’re trapped in a cave. That’s understandable. But you can beat this feeling.

There are two ways to do this. Both involve a pen and paper. Sit down in a quiet place where you can be by yourself. The first method is the Journey method. Think about where you were when you started whatever Journey you’re currently taking. Maybe you’re trying to start a new career, reach a new goal, or something else.

Where did you start? Write that down. What have you done since then? Write done everything you’ve done to advance yourself on this path. Everything, from the smallest to the largest item. 

What have you learned? About the goal and about yourself. Write it down. What worked and what didn’t? Write it all down. Then look back over the list and see how far you’ve come. You might not be where you want to be yet, but you’ve come a long way from the starting line!

The second method, for overall confidence, is the Success method. It’s the same thing, only you’re going to write down every one of your life’s accomplishments. Put everything you’ve ever succeeded at on the list. Include big and small items. Scored top of the class in 5^th-grade reading? Put it down. Ran a marathon? It goes on the list.

If you have trouble with this method, ask someone you trust who cares about you for help. Other people might be able to come up with things you didn’t, particularly if you’re dealing with a horrible self-confidence crisis. 

When you’ve finished with either of these lists, you’re going to have a tangible record of things you’ve accomplished in your life. It doesn’t matter how much you feel like you’ve failed at; this list will show you things you’ve succeeded at too.

Use these lists to remind yourself that you can and have accomplished things in the past. You can do so in the future. You can reach any goal you set. All you have to do is believe in yourself!