Getting Confidence Back. A Simple 3 Step Guide

At some point in your life, you will be at the top of your game, the roads bumpless, potholeless and paved along a scenic highway. But there will come a time when the highway will detour and the conduit will seem strange and ugly.

That’s where your confidence ends! But it doesn’t mean you cannot get it back.

Loss of confidence happens for many reasons. Sometimes this lack of mojo can result from too many wins or a multitude of piling psychological factors fusing to ambush and take you down all at once.

What do you do when you lose that skip in your walk? How do you reclaim what was rightfully yours and is there a way to inject a natural steroid into your brain to jumpstart your body cables?

No. But…

…there are a simple set of behaviours you can integrate into your life to ease you back into the game. Although it must be said none of these can work unless you put the effort in. At the end of the day, only you can make you do the things you want. If you can move your arms, you can move your feet.

1.    Set A Gentle Benchmark For The Day

Lulling around in bed can seem like an attractive option to you at this point, especially if you are a freelancer, or self-employed. Even when I am at the top of my game, carrying around my heavyweight belt, it is often tempting to work from bed. But I have a set of principles and guidelines I try not to break which is the benchmark for my day.

Every morning, my alarm goes off at 7 am, even though my body wakes at 5-6am, and I follow this process:

Step one: Rise

Step two: Drink a bottle of water I had prepared the night before.

Step three: Get up

Step four: Shower

Step five: Eat breakfast (a very carefully, consciously prepared bowl of organic oats with oat milk, mashed banana and cinnamon)

Step six: Start my passion

If step three fails, joking aside, I will count myself down like a rocket – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. This is an infectious and fun way to lift your body up out of bed. Apple’s OS offers a plethora of tools and time management options hidden in plain sight, such as the health app, its alarm system as well as plenty of alternatives available via the app store.

2.    Go For A Walk

During my time in Japan, I would make a point of ignoring public transport opting to walk everywhere. This led me to lose 1 stone and I better conditioned my body both physically and mentally. Not only did it prompt a physical and mental launchpad, but it also provided a way for me to resurrect confidence. When I look back at my trip, I studied the health app on my phone discovering I had walked between 25,000 to 36,000 steps per day.

Secondly, I discovered that I had uncovered a wellness beacon that the Japanese were all too familiar with, and that is Shinrin Yoku, meaning: the ancient art of forest bathing. Forest bathing triggers a physiological response, allowing you to feel more composed and relaxed. Obvious considering that forests are naturally splendorous to look at.

Furthermore, an interesting fact to examine is the biological impact of shinrin-yoku. Trees naturally produce a chemical compound known as phytoncides, which are released to kill fungal bacteria and protect them from killer diseases. An immune system if you will. When phytoncides are released they decrease stress hormone production (cortisol) in humans and promote better concentration and improved immunity, which is just the ticket we need when we want to get back in the swing of it all.

3.    Make A New Contact

Ok, so this might be a tricky one to navigate but it might be the curveball needed to win yourself over. I have many friends and contacts from both personal and passion fields. But nothing gives me confidence like talking to new people. Offline and in-person thank you very much.

Meeting people in person can re-establish a commitment to doing things and being somewhere, the exact same blueprint for running a business and learning new things. There are plenty of ways to do this, but try to avoid using an app. Instead, look for events nearby or somewhere completely new altogether. And if you can, choose events where you are required to talk to someone and in the field or category you are aiming to pursue.

4.   Do it.

“The only way to do a thing is to do it” – William Painter

“The only way to do it is to do it!” – Merce Cunningham

Whichever of these guys said it first, it doesn’t matter. Because the only way to truly do a thing is to do it indeed. And with that said, I will allow you to do it.