5 Positive Steps to Build Confidence and Destroy Fear

King Solomon, considered by many to be the wisest man ever, stated, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7).   There are many other quotes and sayings that suggest the same message, “What one thinks about, He or she becomes!”  A few months ago, I had the pleasure of reading the book, The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David Schwartz (1987). Dr. Schwartz goes on to explain different techniques to program your mind for success.  A major part of reaching success is having confidence and overcoming fear.  This isn’t always a simple task, so Dr. Schwartz provided some helpful and positive steps that one can take to increase confidence and overcome fear.  Below I explain the 5 tips that he provided, which I hope you find to be as helpful as I did. 

1.     Be a Front Seater

While I was in high School and college, I always thought it was always cool to sit toward the back of the classroom.  There have been studies that show that those students who sit near or in the front of the class are likely to do much better on the test, and in turn establish more confidence.  The same concept can be applied post college; whether in meetings at your job, going to a seminar or conference, or even going to a sporting event.  The closer you are to the front, the more confidence you are likely to have, and at the same time fear starts to remove itself from the picture.

Related Video: Ted Talk on the Skill of Confidence

2.     Practice making eye contact

This is a great way to start building confidence. However, you just want to make sure not to be extreme to the point where it’s creepy.   An important lesson that I learned in reading a biography about Nelson Mandela, is that he always used great eye contact. He always held his head and shoulders high instead of slouching over or looking down.  When you walk tall and look people directly in their eyes, it gives you confidence and also lets the other person know that you are self-assured.  This definitely applies for when you encounter someone who is considered important because you don’t want to come off as shy or timid. Practice making eye contact and standing tall, and you will almost immediately feel more poised.

3.     Walk 25 percent faster

For all my people on the East Coast, you probably do this automatically.  However, those of us from the South or Midwest should probably start using this rule.  When you start to walk a little faster, from an outside perspective, it seems as if you have somewhere important to be.  On the inside you feel a little more assertive, and it makes you want to have somewhere important to be.  Science and history shows that once your mind believes something, it begins to figure out to how to make it a reality.  So, walk a little faster and start feeling more confident.

Related: More Ways to Overcome Fear

4.     Practice Speaking Up

There are plenty of opportunities where you should start practicing the act of speaking up.  For many people this may come natural, and for others it is something that takes repetition.  If you work at a job, you can begin to speak up in team meetings, in one on one sessions with your supervisor, or reaching out others in different departments to learn new things.  In social settings, begin making it a point to start a conversation with a stranger and find out something about the person.  Another great opportunity to speak up is at a seminar or conference where the speaker offers the chance to ask questions.  Each of these examples will help you begin to build confidence and start to overcome fear.

5.     Smile Big!!!

This is my personal favorite because it is one of the easiest things to do and it always gives you a pleasant feeling inside, especially when it is genuine.  The best communicators, leaders, and influencers have mastered the art of smiling.  In the biography that I read about Nelson Mandela, it said that it was his smile that won him the election in South Africa.  Smiling not only gives you self-assurance, but it also extremely contagious. Smiling puts the person that you’re speaking to at ease.

Start to implement these five steps and you will begin to build more confidence, overcome fear, and stare success directly in the eyes!!

 Related: More Benefits of Smiling

At The alston collab we provides Quality Content for financial education for millennials as well as for generation x, Download Free eBook on financial education to overcome financial stress