Confidence, we strive to be more confident in our life. Confidence is a feeling or belief in yourself and your abilities. It is knowing you are capable and have the skills or qualities necessary to succeed. How can we strengthen and build our confidence so we are able to reach our goals and desires?
The crippling effect of self doubt:
One of the things that can paralyze confidence is self doubting ourselves. How many times have you had a great idea and you start to doubt your ability and the whole idea is squashed? This is usually because self doubt has started to take over.
Self-doubt starts to attack our confidence and we begin to doubt ourselves. We start to doubt if we have the ability to make our idea a reality. Self doubt can stop us in our tracks and hold us back from achieving our goals and living our best lives. It is important to realize it is our thoughts that are creating our self doubt. There are tools we can use to shift your doubting mindset to one of confidence allowing us to succeed at making our idea happen. One of the tools I find very helpful is affirmations.
The power of the mind:
The mind is a powerful thing it can stop whole cities from being built if a person lets doubt run the show. Your thoughts are very powerful and when they are focused on the negative they can be very harmful, hence the phrase "stinking thinking". It is this kind of negative thinking that can start to break down your confidence beginning the process of self doubt and crushing your dreams or ideas.
Affirmations and how they work:
Are you aware of affirmations and how they work? Affirmations are positive statements or phrases that focus on self improvement and they can change the way we think or feel. They have the power to change our way of thinking by repeating them often this can shift our focus towards your goals and desires. Actively repeating affirmations daily with conviction and feeling the emotions behind them, can start the process of believing in their power and transforming your life.
Our brain stores all our experiences in a large data base. When we initiate something new or different our brain goes into the data base and brings out the past experience file which explains, what you did in this situation before, the steps you took to do it and the result it created. So if the final result was failure the brain will send the message " do not do that you will fail".
Repeating positive affirmations as if they have actually happened and have happened successfully, will create a new file. Your brain will believe you have really experienced your idea and it has been successful. The message your new file will send is, do this and you will succeed. Your mind knows this because this new file has created a mindset that states you have done this before and succeeded.
Act as if you have already reached your goal:
Be as excited as you would be if you had really succeeded, be exuberant, cheer yourself on, do a fist pump or a "way to go, I did it", jump for joy or do a little dance! Feeling the emotions activates your amygdala, the part of your brain responsible for emotion. Put some power behind your affirmation and it will become more powerful.
How to use affirmations:
Choose affirmations that resonate with your goals and align with your thoughts words and actions. Use "I am" statements, such as I am confident I can climb to the top of the mountain. To make it easier on yourself it is also beneficial to add the words "with ease". I can climb to the top of the mountain with ease.
Repeat them daily, the best time is to repeat them in the morning and before you go to sleep. I like to repeat them when I am driving or when I am alone because I am able to use more conviction and emotion without affecting anyone else.
Ok, now you have created your affirmations and you are practicing them regularly, now what? It's time for action. Start by taking small steps towards your desired goal. Let's say your goal is to climb a mountain, start strengthening your body with healthy food and exercise. Practice climbing smaller hills and work up to bigger ones.
Take Action:
Action is the key to success. I am sure you have thought or talked about doing many things but without action they are just that, thoughts and talk. Action brings your thoughts and your talk into reality. The best advice I have received in my life is "just get started" and that is the advice I am giving you. Put yourself out there, sign up and join a hiking club or hire a trainer, seek out others that have been there before you. Just get started.
Be consistent:
Using affirmations consistently and reaching goals will help build up your confidence even higher. Creating and repeating positive statements daily for an extended period of time will be instrumental in establishing a healthy habit of support for yourself. Feel the thrill of getting started, the sense of accomplishment you will feel when you have completed small steps towards your desired goal.
Be patient:
It takes time for affirmations to become part of your belief system. A good rule of thumb is do something consistently for 21 days and it will become a habit. Be consistent, stay focused on the positive, continue to repeat your affirmations, believe you can do it. You will see the how the power of positive affirmations can build confidence and set you on the road to living your best life.
Wendy's words....It has been a pleasure writing this blog for you. Just the act of writing this gives me a heightened sense of excitement for you to experience the power of affirmations. You are capable of achieving your goals and dreams it's a matter of finding the right tools that work for you. Affirmations work for me and I am confident they will work for you. Enjoy the journey.
In Gratitude
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