Do you feel like your self-confidence could stand some improvement? Boosting your self-confidence improves all areas of your life, but being totally confident is something most of us just aren't good at. Here are some ways you can give yourself more confidence naturally and use it to your advantage.

Work on Your Posture

How you carry your body has a direct influence on your mind. If you walk with sloping shoulders and head down, you'll naturally feel less confident about yourself. Making a couple of conscious adjustments to your body language can have a powerful effect on your mind.

Instead of looking at the ground, keep your chin up. Look straight ahead of you as you walk. Keep your back straight and fight the urge to slouch. Suck in your gut and it will force you to straighten up. Keep a straight posture also when you're sitting down.

Look Your Best

Confident people care about how they look because they know the impression it makes on others. If you don't care much for clothes or grooming, you might have that 'lets himself/herself go' look that just screams lack of confidence.

Buy some new clothes and check out new styles. Don't try anything drastically different; take a style you like and just make a simple upgrade. Dress a little bit sharper than each occasion calls for. There's something about dressing nicely that just makes you feel good.

Don't React

Are you an actor or a re-actor? If you're always at the mercy of external events, this destroys your confidence. It means that any bump in the road that comes along could derail you completely. People who are confident respond to everything with the same inner cool.

It takes practice, but you can learn not to react to things. Keep sudden emotions like anger, panic or frustration at bay. Detach yourself and see things objectively. When you receive criticism, take it in stride. Think carefully before you make your response.

Quit Worrying About Others

To be really self-confident, your confidence shouldn't rely on others. That's what the 'self' part means. If you get praise or support, that's nice, but you don't rely on it or beg for it.

There are two reasons why you shouldn't worry about other people so much. One is that comparing yourself to others often leads to confidence issues. Everybody is different and there's no comparison; we all have our strengths and weaknesses. When you compare, you're almost always comparing unrealistic imagined versions of yourself and others.

Another reason to stop worrying about others is that you've got to quit playing the blame game. When things go wrong, don't look for whose fault it is. That's a losing game no matter how you play it. Instead, take responsibility for your own thoughts and actions and don't worry about those of others.

Take Action

Finally, take action at every opportunity that presents itself. Commit yourself to taking action at least once a day. Confident people don't use words like 'should' or 'ought to.' They simply do what they want to do. You should be the same way. Taking action gives you results and teaches you about your abilities, and this is ultimately what builds real self-confidence, just like my latest hero Vicky!.

Cheers for reading... I write about all things that interest me on my weblog. That in itself boosts my self confidence and has allowed me to do things that I never would have dreamed of. as my dad used to say. "Live the life you love & love the life you live."