To Boost Your Confidence, Do These 3 Small Nudges

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boost your confidence

We all need small nudges from time to time to keep ourselves going. These small nudges cultivate positive changes in behavior and boost your confidence.

We all know, of course, that confidence is about feeling good in our own skin. It is about knowing ourselves well and learning to live with this person. So far, so good. This post explains 3 small nudges to boost your confidence.

A while ago, I came across the wonderful book by Dr. Richard Thaler โ€” a professor of economics and behavioral science at the University of Chicago, called โ€œNudge: Improving decisions on Health, Wealth and Happiness.โ€

Nudges are small prompts that can lead to huge changes in behavior. And the beauty of the theory is that it can be applied to almost every situation that needs a better ending.

Such as: making people pay their taxes on time, enlisting more organ donors, convert to using renewable energy for electricity. Itโ€™s such a powerful tool that both the British Prime Minister David Cameron and the US President Barak Obama used it to achieve certain domestic policy goals.

Related: 23 Beautiful Ways Confidence Transforms You and Your Life

And, by the way, in 2017, Prof. Thaler won the Nobel Prize for Economics for his Nudge Theory.

Nudges do work. And we can use them to change the things we want to improve in our personal lives too. For instance, if you lack the motivation to go to the gym, find an accountability buddy.

Want to eat healthier? โ€” Start bringing your own food to work. Want to help the planet? โ€” Make it a default option to bike or take the bus to work instead of driving. Want to be more confident? โ€” Set daily encouraging prompts on your phone to make yourself feel better (I actually do this, along with the reminders to smile, learn something new, talk to someone).

Try it. nudges will boost your confidence and change your life.

There are many, many ways we can improve our outcomes by using nudges. And best part โ€” we donโ€™t have to alter the status quo in a dramatic way. No behavioural shocks. Small tweaks here and there can make all the difference.

Sounds great, right?

I write and research about confidence quite a lot, so I became really interested in testing how (and if) the Nudge theory can work to enhance self-esteem and self-belief.

Find How Nudges Can Boost Your Confidence.

Few trials and errors down the road, here are my three small confidence-boosting โ€œnudges, โ€ which I found to be real confidence-boosters if used daily.

1. Pay attention to how you look and present yourself

Confidence is a positive affair with your self-image.

Itโ€™s barely a secret that first impressions matter. How you carry yourself matters. How you come across, the image you want to project, matters. If you go to a business meeting where you make acquaintances with new people, for instance, and wear casual clothes, you may have a challenging time building trust and respect (unless, of course, you are in Silicon Valley).

The best part, thoughโ€“you donโ€™t have to break the bank to buy expensive clothes or do plastic surgery, or use lots of makeup. Itโ€™s all about looking composed, carrying yourself with respect.

The nudge: Think about what youโ€™ll wear in advance, imagine how the clothes will make you feel. If you want to be confident, buy and wear what amplifies your sense of self-assurance.

And never underestimate the mental shortcuts and the biases people resort to. Use them in your favor.

Related: How To Be Pretty: 25 Ways To Look More Attractive, Naturally

2. Devote time to yourself and do what makes you happy

Confidence is about self-fulfillment.

We are all so busy with our livesโ€“errands, chores, work, familyโ€“these take up most of our time. We often neglect to take care of the most important person in our universeโ€“ourselves. We may have even forgotten how to make ourselves happy.

And this is not good for confidence.

Every day, I devote my lunch hour to myself. I donโ€™t take phone calls, donโ€™t check my email and social media. I spend time with myself. Do things that make me and only me happyโ€“go to the gym, take a walk, go to my favorite spot for lunch. It makes me feel goodโ€“doing something for myself that is mine only.

Boost Your Confidence
How Small Nudges Can Boost Your Confidence

The nudge: Donโ€™t be ashamed to be a bit selfish. Set a me-time reminder every day. Go do your nails. Go for a walk. Indulge in some ice-cream. Introduce some sunshine back in your life.

Being there for others is important, of course, but donโ€™t forget that you are also the person who knows you best and can find the best ways to make yourself feel good.

And donโ€™t underestimate the power that self-care and a bit of pampering may have on your mental health and self-esteem. Self-love is needed for confidence.

Related: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret Thatโ€™ll Transform Your Outlook On Life

3. Learn self-acceptance

Confidence is about feeling good to be yourself.

Self-acceptance is a bit like a Catch-22 situation. On one hand, being too self-accepting may mean that you like the status quo and you wouldnโ€™t be too interested in changing the Current You. On the other hand, though, being too self-criticizing is not great eitherโ€“it may throw you into a perpetual battle with yourselfโ€“to do better, to always strive for perfection, to never be satisfied with your achievements.

So, what is the right way to self-accept?

The first step to self-acceptance is self-knowledge. Because you canโ€™t really accept what you are not aware of, right? So, make it a habit of purposely getting to know yourself.

For instance, every morning, as part of my confidence-boosting ritual, one of the things I tell myself is 1 thing that I like โ€” and try to be quite specific. For instanceโ€“one of my favorite books is the Godfather, or that one of my most-liked dishes is the Greek salad, or that I like working with numbers.

Itโ€™s a good prompt โ€” this exercise reinforces your identity. It makes you think consciously about who you are, your likes, dislikes, your preferences. Itโ€™s great for self-exploring.

Related: 30 Important Life Lessons Iโ€™ve Learned In The First 30 Years Of My Life

The second step to self-acceptance is to acknowledge that you are not perfect. No one is. You have good parts (externally and internally), ok parts, and a side of you that needs work. And this is absolutely fineโ€“itโ€™s pretty much how most people are.

The right way to accept yourself so that you can become more confident with the person living in your body is to NOT to say to yourself things as: โ€œYou are so stupid. You are not worth it. No one likes you.โ€ All these things are not motivating, they have the opposite effect. They put you down, drown your energy, and wonโ€™t spur any action on your side.

Disliking yourself this way makes you lose self-respect.

The nudge: Watch your thoughts, as they can become your destiny, as Lao Tzu wisely taught us many years ago. Challenge the inner critic.

Your internal dialogue should be along the lines of: โ€œI know Iโ€™m not perfect. I know I need to work on my social skills/ grades/ relationships/ etc. and I will get there.โ€ This sets a much more positive tone, acknowledges that you are work-in-progress, and reinforces your self-belief that you can persevere.

Try these nudges to boost your confidence and let us know the results in the comments below.

. . .

And finally, also remember that no one is confident all the time, no matter how they appear. We all need an occasional boost, priming, or a nudge to our self-assurance.

All that matters is that you continue to believe in your starsโ€“that regardless of what happens, you will be able to get on your feet again and will continue to evolve.

And you can find an โ€œI-will-survive-no-matter-whatโ€ nudge too, more power to you.


Written By: Evelyn Marinoff
Originally Appeared On: Evelyn Marinoff
Republished with permission
For more advice on how to become more confident and live a more fulfilling life, join Evelyn's Facebook page here
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