7 Tips to Boost Your Self-Confidence, Energy & Personal Effectiveness
One main reason why people fail in their careers is that they stop active learning. As they stop learning or improving themselves, their knowledge becomes obsolete and subsequently become ineffectual - unable to deal with challenges effectively, their self-confidence diminishes, and become hopeless.
This motivational article outlines 7 tips on how you can best improve your self-confidence, personal effectiveness and productivity at work.
1. Develop A Positive Self-Concept
"Self-concept is our perception or image of our abilities and our uniqueness." Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, 2013
A positive self-concept means accepting the fact that we must always have the right attitude, knowledge, and skills to be effective and successful in whatever we do.
Our self-concept shapes our attitudes. Attitudes influence behaviors. Our behaviors develop our habits. Positive habits lead to effectiveness, success, and greatness.
Thus, having a better self-concept is a prerequisite to achieving self-confidence, self-effectiveness, self-excellence, and success.
An example statement of a less positive self-concept is: I am better than I used to be.
A better or more positive self-concept statement sounds like this: I will be better than I am now.
2. Direct Your Energy Positively
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. Therefore, the things we think, the things we say, and the things we do—even the things we do not do—produce energy that impacts us.
By directing our energies to be positive, we generate positive results. And, if we work on creating more positive energy, we will see improvements in our lives and touch more lives than we thought possible.
Music is the easiest way to shift our energy quickly. Athletes often listen to certain songs before games to help channel adrenaline. Artists listen to music to help get their creative juices flowing.
Energy gets transferred between people all the time. If a rundown person came and sat nearby, you might experience a bad feeling, even if that person didn't speak.
Do you remember the last time you got encouraged after someone gave you some short positive advice—listening to a motivational speaker or a song?
When you wake up in the morning, hurl the curtains open, and let the sun get into your room, you become energized.
Another way to attract energy is to use external positive energy sources, like reading an encouraging book, listening to an inspiring song, or watching a motivational movie. When exposed to a dose of positivity, our energy will rise, and we will become much more energized to move ahead.
3. Be Very Clear about Your Goals
Whatever you seriously crave tends to materialize in your life. So, be very clear about your goals. The more focused you are on your goals, the more effective and productive you become.
One of the most effective ways to succeed in anything you want to be successful at is by focusing only on the actions that bring you closer to your goal.
"You cannot aim for no target." M. R. Kopmeyer
4. Write A Daily To-Do List
A to-do list helps us identify the most important things we must do first. This list will save us ten times in improved productivity. So, spend 5–10 minutes each day planning your activities with a daily to-do list.
The best time to list what you need to do is at the end of the day. By doing so, you will wake up knowing what you should do and focus on producing your best results.
Always get the most important things done first. The 80/20 principle, or Pareto's Principle, says the most valuable task carries the highest marks or values. Thus, if you have ten things to do and do the two most important tasks first, you have achieved 80 percent effectiveness.
Taking action produces an immediate result. Delaying here means delaying results. Acting allows you to solve a problem immediately. Taking the needed steps will make you more effective and successful.
Set a deadline for job completion for every task. The deadline is the latest time or date for something to be accomplished. Setting a deadline for job completion prevents you from doing other things that slow down the completion of your immediate task. In other words, setting a deadline helps you focus your energies and resources to complete a task as fast as possible.
5. Be Very Organized
Clutter irritates our minds and is a source of ineffectiveness. Hence, tidiness is crucial—organizing our home, workplace, work, finances, etc. With tidiness, we will be more focused, effective, and productive.
6. Be Great at People Skills
None of us is better than all of us. Together, everybody achieves more.
We need people's cooperation and support in our careers and lives. Hence, ensure that your people skills and the quality of your relationships with others are always good.
Remember that the most successful people in the entire history of human beings are excellent team players and builders. Thus, the better we interact with others, the more supportive they are toward us.
7. Be Healthy and Fit Mentally, Physically, and Emotionally
The modern definition of fitness describes a person's or machine's ability to perform up to three points: physical, mental, and emotional fitness.
Health is "a state of complete mental, physical, and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of illness." Therefore, the healthier and fitter we are, the more productive we become.
Here are 7 things that you should adhere to to achieve maximum fitness and strength:
Always make sure to eat nutritious foods only.
Exercise regularly.
Detox: eliminate internal waste or toxic waste.
Refrain from smoking. It can cause lung cancer and eventually slow you down. If you're a smoker, consider stopping smoking seriously; the sooner, the better.
Drink a minimum of 2.5 liters of water every day. Drink more milk.
Avoid liquor.
Have adequate and restful sleep. To be stress-resilient, we should get at least 8 hours of sleep daily.
By Taidin Suhaimin
Since 1993, he has conducted seminars, conferences, and courses for thousands of individuals, from diplomats to primary school students, from more than 250 organizations in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
"Self-confidence is a superpower. Once you start to believe in yourself, the magic starts happening." Anon