11 Great Ways to Build More Belief in Yourself

Morning Leaders,

Self-belief is the secret to getting what you want. Believing you can do something or achieve something is the first step to taking action towards that goal. What stops most people is they are unable to see past the challenges, they fear the unknown or they cannot imagine what’s possible with the right action, patience, and desire to pursue what they really want.

Developing more belief is a series of events and habits applied consistently. You don’t just do one thing or achieve one outcome and boom, you now have incredible belief in yourself. It needs to be a ritual, a daily habit, a commitment to yourself that you want to want to progress and achieve more.

11 ways you can build sustainable self-belief.

1) Body Language - sit upright, smile, and give good eye contact. Move around with purpose and that you’re going places. There is a lot of research around how our physiology (which is our body and our physical movements) reflects within our psychology (which is our brain and behaviours). For example, if we don’t smile, stand upright, and give people good eye contact we’re probably not going to be feeling that great or confident in ourselves. On the other hand, if we smile, dress well, and walk around with purpose we’re going to feel much more confident in ourselves.

2) Appearance - dressing well and looking after yourself makes you feel good - when you’re more comfortable in your own skin it will radiate confidence from you.

3) Mentors - find people that are further along on a similar journey and have high levels of confidence. Who you spend time with is who you become. Expand your network and ask for help.

4) Get Uncomfortable - getting consistently uncomfortable to the point where it becomes habitual is a powerful way to build resilience. This discomfort is where the growth happens and where you start to believe that you can really do anything that you set your mind to.

5) Exercise - the best medicine. It keeps your mind sharp and your body physically fit. The endorphins which are released when you exercise are the feel-good hormones that block out that negative self-talk.

6) Identity - Identity is the result of the story you tell yourself. It’s this identity that shapes your behaviour, and your behaviour over time will lead to your outcomes. How could you be telling yourself a better and more positive story? Which will lead to different outcomes.

7) Limiting Beliefs - they slow us all down. We all have situations or events that develop a belief in our minds. Depending on the event or its meaning, we can struggle to work past it and may not even be open to trying again. Overcoming these limitations starts by questioning our thoughts and focusing on what we can do and facing up to those demons that are preventing us from experiencing new things.

8) Speak up - whether it’s in a group setting or a team meeting. It could be a question, challenging someone, or sharing something of value. Make it a habit to speak up in meetings and provide value to the group. Doing this is a massive confidence-building vitamin and after a while, you are not worried about what others think. Something to think about: Most people have their own worries or struggles going on, the last thing they have time to think about is what you’re doing. Be you and speak up.

9) Progress - when we’re learning new things and becoming competent within our role our confidence levels go up. Sometimes we don’t celebrate the small wins or record our progress enough. Maintain a journal or winning list so you don’t lose track and can reflect on your successes to see how far you have come.

10) Goals - set yourself weekly, monthly and yearly goals which will stretch you and get you excited. Achieving your goals is a great feeling of progress, achievement, and a coin in the belief bank. It also gives you direction and focus, so you can get on with the important items rather than sweat over the tasks which won’t get you there.

11) Failure - you have to be comfortable making mistakes. Recognise these are just bumps in the road and what it takes to become better. Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of the journey towards success. Don’t be discouraged, reflect, evaluate and try again. When you’re comfortable getting things wrong and being vulnerable you’ll really start to establish strong roots in your belief system.

If you apply some of these ideas over the next 90 days you will begin to see a big shift in your belief system. Beliving in ourselves and in our journey can accelerate and help us achieve more.

All the best

David

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Resources Of The Week

• YouTube Video - Tony Robbins - Fear. Tony is a motivational speaker and performance coach who has coached some of the world’s most influential people. In this video, he shares the blocker in life for most people and some practical steps to overcome this.

• Book - Daniel H. Pink - Drive - Daniel’s book deep dives into why intrinsic motivation beats extrinsic motivation over the long term. Also covering the surprising truths about what motivates us.

• Blog - Leaders vs Leaders of Leaders. Came across this blog that provided me with some value and great insight and I wanted to share. It uncovers the key differences in thinking and behaviour between a Leader leading individual contributors and a Leader leading other Leaders.

Quote of the Week

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