During a bout of self-doubt, it’s hard to pull yourself out of the rut and into a new view. However, with a little work and practice, you’ll refresh your perspective. Once you see things in a new light, you’ll find that you weren’t treating yourself right. Check out these useful tips for building belief in oneself and changing the way you look at the world.

Control Your Consumption

As the director of your own focus, you’re responsible for the content that enters your brain. If you want to build up belief in yourself, you must learn to manage and curate the subject matter you view and absorb. Try to seek advice from others who’ve already accomplished what you hope to achieve. If those people aren’t accessible to you, search for whatever professional or personal development material you can get your hands on. Look for inspirational quotes, documentaries, and new topics to study, that might get you closer to your goals. Increase your knowledge and understanding of how to use what you’ve learned, and you’ll feel more confident in your abilities.

Find the Silver Lining

It’s difficult to be positive all the time, especially when you’re having trouble believing in yourself. However, there are some great ways to put an end to your spiral of denial. To start seeing the so-called “silver lining” of each cloud, start doing the following.

• Surround yourself with positive people who build you up, want you to succeed, and are willing to help you get closer to your goals.
• Practice positive self-talk. Remind yourself that you’re valuable and that you have a lot of wonderful contributions to offer the world.
• Counter other people’s negative comments with positive ones. Any time you have a negative thought, replace it with a positive one. When you think, “I don’t want to go to this meeting, I never feel involved. What’s the point of being there?” Replace that thought with, “This meeting is a great opportunity for me to ask questions and share new ideas.”

These tactics will reinforce your brain’s positive response to negative influences. Your “negativity defense system” won’t be fully operational immediately, it will take time to retrain yourself. Don’t lose hope, just continue to think and act positively.

Health, Wellness, and Attitude

One of the best ways to improve your belief in yourself is to focus on building other aspects of your life. Your health and wellness are a great place to start, as they have a large effect on how you feel. Eating healthy foods, exercising regularly, and taking time for relaxation will help improve your physical and mental health. Another great practice to aid in calming your mind, lowering your stress levels, and expanding your perspective is mindfulness meditation.

Leaving room for your passions is important for your happiness and overall health, too. Many passions are means of expression, which is vital to releasing thoughts and feelings that you regularly might not share. When you release those overbearing emotions, you free up space in your head. In some cases, exercising your passion is also a form of meditation and relaxation.

When you’re relaxed, you take the time to think logically and step back to look at the big picture. This wider perspective helps with decision making and overall performance in all areas of life. Having a refreshed perspective will improve your attitude and give you the reassurance that your voice is important, too.

For those individuals who can’t seem to get the words out, here are some ways to help you find your voice.

1. Say what you want to say. Nothing works better than this. When you say what you want and share how you feel, others who resonate with you will reveal themselves. Then you’ll realize you’re not alone in your thinking, and you can create a support network of like-minded people.
2. Listen, reflect, connect. Listen closely to conversations and reflect on your feelings and thoughts about the topic at hand. When you’ve arrived at a conclusion and an opening in the conversation arises, add in your ideas (to conversations that you’re a part of). Taking the time to mull over your response will make sure that it’s refined and not something that has already been said.
3. Ask questions. It shows that you’re involved, curious, and wanting to deeply understand.

When you don’t hold back, but instead use your voice to express your thoughts and ideas, you open up the doors to more opportunities. You’ll soon realize that you have more to contribute than you initially thought. Knowing that your voice and opinions are valued will dramatically increase your confidence.

Encouragement and Positive Perspective

Follow these guidelines and listen to others who tell you how much you rock, because you do, even if you struggle to believe it! When in doubt, give yourself positive encouragement, or ask a close friend to lend a hand. Keep moving, trying, and learning. For every accomplishment you make, your self-confidence will receive a little boost. Remember, only you can stand in your way!

Sometimes believing in yourself means letting your mistakes go, which is not an easy task. Check out our blog for some tips on how to start letting go of your failures.