Hi there… Below is our latest post about the 5 Steps To Build Social Confidence in your life today…
Public speaking is consistently cited as the number one fear among adults, beyond snakes, claustrophobia, and even death. Confidence can put a restrictive bottleneck on our success and happiness.
Almost everything you want in life involves other people: attention, love, money; All benefit from increased confidence. Your confidence limits even the simple joy of fearlessly being yourself. Here are five intelligent ways to build confidence so you can live your best life.
Get Yourself A Social Job Today
Your brain is an incredible machine capable of rewiring itself for new challenges and contexts. When you make a new habit, there is a point where something new and uncomfortable becomes so comfortable that it becomes a natural part of who you are.
If you find yourself in a situation that calls for social confidence, you might feel like this is an uncommon challenge you face because your brain hasn’t had enough exposure to consider this normal.
One way to slowly rewire your brain for confidence is to get a job that requires you to flex your social skills. Sales is the ultimate job for building these skills but for many, that is too demanding at first.
Instead, build up your confidence with jobs like cashiering and customer service until you have a foundation of self-confidence built.
Move on to more challenging jobs that force you to be charming and attentive, like waiting or bartending. These evening jobs are great if you already have a daytime job. When ready, move up to sales and think of it like being paid to become your most confident self possible.
5 Steps To Build Social Confidence
Don’t Be A Solo Act
A lack of confidence could be related to social anxiety, which affects 15 million adults in America. If that’s the case, rewire your brain by spending less time alone. When you’re alone too much, the social parts of your brain atrophy like unused muscles.
But when you spend more time around others, especially the public, your brain adapts until this new context feels normal and comfortable.
Avoid a closed office or dorm if you work or study on a laptop. Do your work at the library, a cafe, or an open office seat. It may give you some anxiety or distraction at first, but with time it will pass. If possible, share company with every meal of the day.
Even better if you eat with a large variety of people to avoid getting too comfortable with a select few. If you work out, prefer the gym to your home gym or group sports to make your exercise social. Get used to being around people no matter the time of the day.
Confidence in any area of your life will bleed over into your whole life.
Dress For The Life You Really Want
They say beauty is only skin deep, but self-esteem runs all the way to our core. In a perfect world, we would be judged by the content of our character, but unfortunately, we don’t live in that world.
The way we are seen can affect the way we see ourselves. When you get positive attention from your environment, the positive feedback will reshape your self-image and bolster your self-esteem.
Image is not just a passive quality. You can put on the right clothes, makeup, and hair, but if your behavior doesn’t align with the look, it can be felt as inauthentic. Support the way you dress with how you move and talk.
Stay on top of your posture and speak from your belly so we can believe your intention. They say you should dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. I say you should dress, talk, and walk like the person you want to become.
Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
Human behavior is a unique topic. There’s so much going on under the surface that remains invisible to so many people. We wonder why we can’t just flip a switch and be more confident. We look up to confident individuals as if they have superpowers out of our reach.
Studying emotional intelligence and psychology can help you know what’s going on under the surface so you can be more socially effective and therefore more confident. So many books are available in this category, but here are some of the best ones:
- How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
- The Gifts of Imperfection, by Shainna Ali, Ph.D
- The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, by Nathaniel Branden
Books and other written material represent a powerful way to broaden our mental horizons but sometimes words are not enough. Find real-life examples of confident people and become a student of their behavior.
Stand up comedians are masters of confidence and emotional intelligence. Watch how they move and hone in on their mannerisms.
Listen to their podcasts to see what makes them tick, watch their specials, and see them in person if possible. They are master storytellers fluent in body language, vocal tone and pacing, and non-verbal cues.
Build a Lively Social Network
Surrounding ourselves with social people and situations is a surefire way to boost our confidence. It’s easy to forget that friends need attention like plants or our connections die out. Check up on old friends and tap your social networks like Facebook to reconnect.
Find the most social friends in your current network and catch some of their confidence. Get-togethers don’t just happen.
Be the one who sets up the meetup. Remember to embrace variety because you won’t grow if you’re around the same people and having the same conversations in the same places.
15 million Americans with social anxiety
https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder
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