Last week, Sandy explained that confidence comes with knowledge.

The more you know about yourself, your profession, and the things you like or want to do, the more confident you are.

When you believe in your capabilities and put in the work, you can do much more and a lot better than you think.

But what can you do in the interim while you are putting in the work? Even if you do not yet feel confident in taking an exam, selling real estate, or playing the violin in public, how do you start boosting your overall self-confidence today?

You fake it ’til you make it.

Here are seven simple things you can do to instantly make you feel better about yourself and bolster your confidence.

1. Help others.

How do you feel when you make a difference for someone else? You feel good. Not a month from now, or in a week, or even tomorrow. You feel good right away.

That’s because helping someone else helps you forget about yourself as well feel grateful for what you have.

Instead of focusing on your own doubts and weaknesses, take some time to help others as often as you can, and you’ll see your self-confidence grow automatically in the process.

2. Take care of yourself.

Do you take care of yourself?

Most people would answer “yes” when asked that question. However, if you ask in what ways do you take of yourself, it may be harder to get a clear answer.

Taking care of yourself is any activity that you do deliberately to take care of your mental, emotional, and physical health. Good self-care is key to improving your mood, reducing anxiety, and creating a good relationship with yourself and others.

What does taking care of yourself have to do with confidence? Self-confidence also depends on a combination of good physical health, emotional health, and social health. It is hard to feel good about yourself if you hate your physique or constantly have low energy.

So, make time to exercise and cultivate healthy eating and sleep habits. Also, dress the way you want to feel. You’ll quickly see that making an effort to look after your own needs boosts your self-confidence.

3. Create personal boundaries.

Instead of accepting what other people want or expect of you, define your own life. Learn to say no and create other personal boundaries that align with your goals and desires.

Also, start asking for what you want. Start with people you know well and as you get more comfortable with it, expand the practice to larger circles. The more control that you have over your own life, the greater your self-confidence will be.

4. Do something you’ve been procrastinating on.

If there’s something on your to-do list that’s been sitting there for a while, decide if it’s something you truly want or need to do to get to where you want to go.

If it’s not important, take it off of your list and forget about it. If it is important, get it out of the way by doing it first thing in the morning. Either way, you’ll feel great about yourself for getting it off your list.

5. Speak slowly.

This is a very simple thing, but it can have a big difference in how others perceive you. That’s because confident people usually speak slowly. However, people who feel that they aren’t worth listening to will speak quickly because they don’t want to waste other people’s time.

If you’re not confident about what you’re saying, it may feel awkward to speak more slowly than you normally would. Try it a few times anyway, and you’ll start to feel more confident.

6. Adjust your posture.

The posture you adopt can affect how you feel about yourself. While it might feel a little silly at first, trying out more powerful stances can help adjust your frame of mind. If that’s too much for you, simply sitting up straight can make you feel more confident in what you’re doing.

7. Clear your desk.

This might seem like a small thing, but it can work wonders for your state of mind, including your self-confidence. Make it a point to clear your desk at the end of each so that it’s clean and orderly when you start work each day.

And if your desk starts to get too messy during the day, and the world around you is in chaos, clearing off your desk will help you put your work life in order and make you feel more confident about getting things done.

You’ve got it in you

The placebo effect tells us that our expectations can be strong enough to overcome diseases and afflictions.

So, why shouldn’t you be able to alter your expectations about your own abilities and experience a renewal of confidence?

Get into the habit of telling yourself that you can be successful in all aspects of your life, and you may find that you are not only able to handle many more challenges but that you have been able to all along.

If you want to be confident, find out who you are by always telling yourself and believing the best about yourself.

You do that by refusing to think or talk about the way you don’t want to be. You must see yourself the way you want to be—not in the future, but now. Today (and every day moving forward), you want to think, walk, talk, and act like the person you want to become.

Believing the best about yourself is not Pollyanna thinking. After all, theology and science indicate that you are God’s highest form of creation.

Now that’s something you can believe in.

And when you do, you’ll open yourself to new ideas and possibilities like never before.

To your success,

Bob Proctor