How I Turned Into The ‘Yes, I Can!’ Guy

When faced with hurdles, most of us often find ourselves in a rabbit hole, surrounded by negative energy, pessimistic feelings and obstructive attitude. However, boosting one’s self-confidence is dead easy, if one knows the right way. You will find hundreds of articles on the net listing out various measures and steps to boost your confidence but I’ll list out the 8 tested points which helped me rock my self-confidence sky-high. And you don’t need to do all of them, as if this were a recipe … pick and choose those that appeal to you, maybe just a couple at first, and give them a try. If they work, try others. If they don’t, try others.

1. Working Out– This has been a game changer for me. I can’t stress enough on this point and how much it has helped me mould me into a pragmatic human being. Guys, when you exercise, several neurotransmitters such as Dopamine and Oxytocin are  secreted by the brain.  Dopamine has been associated with pleasure and reward. Though it’s named the ‘feel-good’ hormone,it helps you feel awesome about yourself! Oxytocin is called the love and bliss hormone, which helps you spike your confidence levels and battles those frequent mood swings. Hence working out is one of THE best methods to boost your self-esteem.
2. Groom Yourself- When you look good, you automatically start to picture yourself into as better environment, replicating several positive scenarios in your head, that gives that morale the much-needed boost. Identify your niche. Try out various outfits, hairstyles, beards or even a simple piercing (at the appropriate places!) and find out which suits your style the best. Go on sporting that look, and see those heads turn on the street!
3. Be Your Own Critic– As someone has rightly said, the best help which you can get is at the end of your own arm. No one knows your flaws better than you. Single out your weaknesses and start working on them day by day. Don’t let anyone talk you down. Iron out those shortcomings by daily practice, working on them one by one, all the while being in the positive and motivated. It’s exactly like climbing a ladder, the more lacunae you overcome, the higher you climb in the social pedestal and the more you start to cherish yourself.
4. Talk To Yourself– Try this while looking in a mirror. It might feel ridiculous at first but after sometime, it will be amongst the best tools in your arsenal to battle that low-self esteem. Talk about your problems and how you plan to overcome them at the earliest. Look yourself in the eye and praise yourself if you did an extra rep in your workouts, or if you were able to overcome that math problem which you were pondering over the last many days, or simply because you look good- it warrants no specific occasion.
5. Set Small Daily Goals Instead Of Big Targets- You know how mountaineers climb the mountain, right? They don’t just pop over at the top in one night, it involves trekking small distances everyday to eventually reach the summit. Similarly, set daily targets for yourself, no matter however minuscule they are. The thing here to keep in mind is, if you look at task as a complete whole, it might seem too big and very difficult. However, if you break it into several small parts,and start tackling them individually on a daily basis, no sooner you will find that you have mastered it! Think of it as eating a pizza; eating small slices of pizza one at time obviously seems as a more convenient task as compared to devouring it whole!(at least for most of us, if not all! )
6. Cut out the negativity– It’s very important to train your mind in the optimum environment, and for that, you need to squeeze out all the defeatist and gloomy energies from your vicinity. Cut those toxic people out who try to demean you or belittle you everyday, for such people don’t have your best interests at heart. They act speed-breakers in your development process, and when you are going at jet-speed you don’t need no speed breakers, ain’t it?
7.  Do what you love doing This is kind of a clichéd fact. Doing what you love immediately makes you happy. Be it playing a musical instrument, or listening to songs or walking by the pond, or simply completing a book- such activities instantly make you feel in a secured environment, and take your mind off your problems. Like for me, I like writing blogs !
8. Be knowledgeable – When you get to know how things work around you, it gives you an immediate sense of happiness and pride. Stay abreast with the current affairs and the news. Develop a inquisitive mind, start to questions your environment- how does the petrol make my car run; how is my government functioning or are the stock markets really a magical realm where everyone churns out tons of money, and if so, why shouldn’t I teach myself to do the same? Remember, the more informed you are, the lesser problems you will find yourself in.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, there may be many more which I am yet to explore, but these are effective enough to bring out the change which you are looking for. Along with these, sport a smile as often as you can, stay in a positive sense of mind while encountering a hurdle and surround yourself with people who make you feel good about yourself. Remember- problems are the cinder-blocks, upon which you build your castle of fortitude. Feel fortunate that you have been besieged with an obstacle,for God seems you worthy enough to conquer it and come out flying!