Life Archives | Mr. Salt and Pepper

Confidence Boost

Posted on 28th February 2018

Sabotaged By My Inner-Saboteur.

One of my biggest regrets in life was having fear of trying. I held myself back from pursuing my dreams for so many years because I wasn’t confident enough to overcome that fear. We often get sabotaged by our inner-saboteurs and for some reason, they creep on us when we are most vulnerable.

When I moved to the UK almost 9 years ago, I somehow lost my way. I was going through a complicated relationship where I masked those negative feeling by going to parties. One party after another and I saw myself going through life like a sloth trapped in a bamboo tree. Years went by and my ambitions drifted away from me because I forgot the reason why I started it all.

It was like this until mid-2016 when I started to grab life by its balls. I realised I couldn’t change my past but I can learn from my mistakes and use that to my advantage (a.k.a. turning negatives into positives). *ding ding ding* After a while, I discovered my idols and followed their footsteps to success. I invested in my craft, spent months creating things and the rest is magic. *throws glitter in the air*

So, ask yourself… What do you really want? Go beyond the obvious one or the one that you think you want but not sure about. What gets your heart pumping and scares the crap out of you at the same time? Yes, THAT is what I’m talking about! That is your heart’s deepest desire. Take some time to go through all the reasons why you “can’t” or “shouldn’t” go there and start your journey towards it!

Taking Control of My Self-Confidence.

Guess what? Self-confidence is not genetic and you don’t have to be reliant on others to increase it. *shook* If you believe you’re not good enough, don’t worry because that can be changed over time. So, here are my 15 daily actions to help boost your self-confidence:

Groom yourself. This might seems like an obvious one but getting into a daily skincare regiment can make such a difference in a long run.
Dress nicely. Try on many things and see what looks nice on you. Retail therapy also contributes to your overall wellbeing… Except for your credit card. *oops*
Eat well. It all comes from within, you know!
Change the way you think about yourself. All of us have a mental picture of ourselves and that determines how confident we are in ourselves. Therefore, if it’s not a good one – Facetune it! Try to find out why you see yourself that way and fix it.
Think positive. And kill your inner-saboteur! *scrolls up and reads the first paragraph again*
Get to know yourself. Start listening to your thoughts and write them down. Analyse everything. What are your limitations? Find ways to overcome those too.
Be kind and generous. Like the saying… What goes around, comes around. So, be good to everyone, especially to yourself! *aha*
Know your principles and live by them. Sometimes you have to go back to your roots to find the true meaning of life.
Focus on solutions. Rather than problems.
Increase your competence. It takes time to become competent in something. Therefore, study and practice every day.
Set daily goals and achieve them. Start small then work your way up. I used to fail miserably by making goals that are hard to achieve. Now, I make small goals so I can achieve them quickly. That makes my life a better place!
Change a habit. No, not a drastic one like quitting alcohol or cigarettes. Instead, focus on a small one and change it. For instance, I struggle to wake up in the morning for the gym. So, I set my alarm an hour early and put my phone somewhere where it forces me to get out of bed. *cancels his gym membership*
Exercise. Your body is a temple, so keep building it.
Always be prepared. I often find it hard to be confident when I don’t think I’ll do well in something. So, I spend some time preparing for it because life is full of tests.
Keep your space tidy. This one tends to work for me really well because it’s something I can easily keep under control.