6 Ways To Boost Your Confidence This Winter

No one starts out in life with total confidence. Well, no, that’s not true – most little kids are born with confidence (we all start out as a superstar singer, dancer and all-round know it all!) but unfortunately, life has a way of knocking us down pretty early on. I know it did for me, anyway. Confidence and self-esteem is an ever-evolving journey, and I speak from experience when I say that it’s not always easy to believe in yourself. Confidence comes with time, patience and even at 28 I am really only scratching the surface. We do, however, need a little boost from time to time. The old self-esteem can take a hit when life is looking particularly rough (and let me tell you, 2019 has been a bloody killer for me) but with the right help, confidence is something that will happen.

With that in mind, it’s important to know what you could be doing to boost your confidence up when it’s at its lowest. After all, the more you do to boost your confidence, the better you’re going to feel. Through this tricky year, here are just 6 simple methods I’ve used to keep myself on track when things have been feeling a little tough:

Exercise Off The Anxiety

Heading to the gym after a long day at work can feel like a slog, but those endorphins are well worth chasing. Trust me, my personal training and weight lifting journey has been up and down over the past year, but since I’ve made it into a consistent routine, I’ve felt so much better for it. If you can, try and make a point of going to the gym – even if all you do is walk on the treadmill – and you’ll feel fantastic after you go. That movement, the blood pumping in your ears? It’s all going to bring you to a higher level of happiness and confidence over time. Plus, who doesn’t feel better when their body has worked hard and subsciously, your clothes are fitting a little better.

Getting Glam

There’s something I absolutely love about putting on a red lipstick and cracking pair of boots when I’m not feeling quite myself. If I’ve got a meeting at work, where I’m doing a presentation or meeting clients, and I am just not feeling 100% myself, a slick of red lippie really helps to give me a little super power. A secret to myself that no one else knows about! Red lipstick makes me feel powerful. When we look good, we feel good, which is why we dress for ourselves and no one else. Of course, that doesn’t have to mean makeup, or clothes, it could be getting glam in your own way – dying your hair a new colour, getting a new piercing, whatever makes you feel good about yourself.

Rediscover Your Passions

Go back to basics and discover a hobby that you can truly put your all into. Sometimes we get so busy with work, seeing friends and dating that we can forget what actually makes us, well, us, and what we truly enjoy spending our spare time on. Doing what you love the most can make you feel content and happy. This contentment leads to higher confidence levels and a much better understanding of how the world views you. Find something that you can put all of your energy into, and own it completely. I actually recently rediscovered video games and The Sims; silly but simple things that bring me comfort when I feel down and bored and like I have nothing else to do.

Look After Yourself

A good old pamper night can do wonders for your self esteem. Run yourself a long bath, switch your phone off, grab a glass of wine or a hot chocolate and soak yourself happy. When was the last time you washed your hair and used a hair mask? When was the last time you treated your complexion to a face mask? Grooming? May not seem like a big deal when you can’t be bothered to shave your legs, but it’s a big deal if you want to feel confident! From IPL treatments and waxing to fully body buffing in the shower, good grooming leads to better self-esteem. Your body is a wonderland – John Mayer said so.

Do Something Selfless

Do something for other people. Since my grandma passed away I’ve had a whole new perspective on being selfless. Doing something kind for other people really helps you to feel good about yourself – and honestly, if you’re doing something nice for someone else, it truly doesn’t matter what the motivation behind it is. I have recently applied to volunteer with Age UK and I can’t wait to get started. There’s a void in my life where I miss helping others, it truly does give you a glow. But, you don’t have to be so extreme of course, simply smiling at someone on the street or offering to do the brew round at work can have the same effect.

Running and Reading

Lastly, I have recently rediscovered reading. There’s a famous quote by Will Smith that I always like to go back to, about the key to life being running and reading. For running (and the gym, that I mentioned before), you have to get over that voice in your head that tells you to give in when the going gets hard. Then, for reading, Smith says ‘here have been gazillions of people that have lived before all of us. There’s no new problem you could have–with your parents, with school, with a bully. There’s no new problem that someone hasn’t already had and written about it in a book’. And it’s true. I was such a reader as a child and a teenager and moving into my 20s I lost that a little, now I am devouring books again like there is no tomorrow, but instead of fantasy novels, they are self-help books and studies. The more knowledge you have, the more confidence you will have in your convictions.