Good self-esteem and confidence are two things that you are not born with. However, there are some self-esteem activities that may seem uncomfortable, but practicing them regularly will increase your confidence and belief in yourself.

If you know someone with great self-esteem, it is because they spent a long time building it up, using various activities and personal development strategies. If your confidence has been better in the past, you may wonder if it will ever get to the same heights again. It can, though it will take some hard work, time, effort and patience. It also will take a whole lot of soul-searching.

In the following post, we will look at uncomfortable self-esteem activities that will help you to boost your confidence.

1. Stand in Front of a Full-Size Mirror and Pick Five Positives about Yourself

Although it may sound simple, if you are in the throes of low self-esteem and confidence, this will be incredibly difficult.

However, stand in front of a mirror and pick out five things you like about yourself. It could be physical appearances or things about your style. This will help you build up your confidence by reminding you of good things.

2. Do Something That Scares You Each and Every Day

If you are feeling insecure about yourself and your life, you are no different to anyone else really. The best way to battle fear is by facing up to it.

When you choose to do something scary each day, you will gain confidence and improve your self-esteem with each new experience. For example, in order to overcome social anxiety, you may want to try and talk to people you don’t know well, no matter how hard and scary it seems.

Or if you have phone anxiety, push yourself to make one phone call a day. It will be incredibly hard in the beginning, but you will gradually see how your fears disappear.

Doing something scary every day is probably one of the most uncomfortable yet most effective activities to boost one’s self-esteem.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You will accomplish more than you can imagine

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You will accomplish more than you can imagine.

-Jack Canfield

3. Question the Inner Critic in Your Head

Most of the harshest opinions and comments don’t originate from outside of our own minds. Most actually come from that negative voice in your head, your inner critic.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you to face your inner critic and question them. It will also help you to find evidence to support or go against what your critic is saying. If you feel like a failure, ask yourself if there is any support to your negative thoughts and what doesn’t. To do this, you may want to use the method of Socratic questioning, which is particularly effective in dealing with one’s biased thoughts and beliefs and is widely practiced in psychotherapy.

Also, find any chance you can to reward, compliment and congratulate yourself. Even the smallest successes are worth celebrating, no matter how hard and uncomfortable it might feel.

4. Sleep Naked

Obviously, this is harder if you are not used to sleeping with your partner completely naked. However, if your self-esteem is in seriously bad condition, you may not even like to sleep naked alone. According to Travis Bradberry in a Forbes article, sleeping naked can actually help with your self-confidence when you are awake.

Perhaps it comes with feeling empowered because you are comfortable in your body and own skin.

5. Detox from Social Media

Social media, although a useful way of connecting people, can be destructive for your self-esteem and confidence. Especially if it was already a little weak in the first place. Looking at the profile pages, updates and pictures of those in your social circles can cause you to aspire and compare.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but as you only get a snapshot of people’s lives and often, the bits they want you to see, you can lose sense of reality.

Seeing just how amazing your old school friends are doing or the interesting holiday a work colleague had can leave you feeling flat. Particularly, if you feel you can’t achieve the same or enjoy the same perks in life as them.

It may feel very uncomfortable and unnatural, but take a break from social media. It doesn’t even have to be for a long time. Try a week or two to begin with. Trust us, you will feel all the better for it. If you are worried about not keeping in the loop, it may push you to actually speak to people face to face or at least over the phone.

6. Consider Faking It Until You Have Made It

This is a tricky one that you might feel uncomfortable about if you don’t like the idea of being dishonest. But, it’s worth putting that thought into context. Pretending to be confident when you are not is not lying, not really.

Some of the boldest and most confident people in the world are only that way because they act like they know what they are doing. The more you act like you are a confident person, the more the inner person will start to believe you are one.

So, when you get up in the morning, speak to yourself in the mirror and remind yourself you are a star. Then go out into the world and kick ass, faking it until you have made it to super self-esteem land!

We know a lot of the above self-esteem activities will be hard for a lot of people, but we would urge anyone who is feeling low in confidence to give them a try. You are not as bad as your head or anyone else is telling you, and it’s important you remember that!

References:

  1. https://www.rd.com
  2. https://www.entrepreneur.com
  3. https://www.psychologytoday.com

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This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Don

    Interesting articles you write. And personal interests are impressive. Sounds like a creative and open mind.

  2. Gary Hynous

    Hello Valerie, I enjoyed your various comments regarding these issues. As for picking something positive about myself, I can usually find qualities in myself that I like. I do like to try new things and challenge myself… like trying a new ride at the amusement park.There is usually a voice in my head that we all listen to. The thing is not to believe it but listen critically and decide what to accept and what to reject. This voice is usually ego driven. Sleeping naked is fun but it does take some getting used to! Social media’s like Facebook can become an addiction so I try to avoid them but do weaken at times to see what my friends are up to. I don’t have much luck faking it at my age so what you see is what you get. Take it or leave it.

  3. Divine Spirit

    🙂 peace

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