Confidence is not something everyone is featured with. Most of us have to work at it.

One of the fastest ways to grow your confidence is by starting with small changes, and practicing them every day. These essential tasks are valuable for anyone of any age, at any stage of professional or personal life.

Be tough and confident person

1. Do not make excuses

Stop making excuses for yourself about why you can’t change anything about your life.

Because it’s not true. It just feels comfortable to do nothing. Maintaining the status quo requires less energy, less thinking, less doing. And yes, in return, that’s what you get. Less of a life.

2. Embrace obstacles into your life

confidence

How often have you told yourself, If only I didn’t have that chocolate ice-cream in the freezer, I would have maintained my diet? In those moments when you’re trying to rationalize your decisions and actions, you’re blaming the obstacles for not achieving your short or long-term goals.

Or, to put it differently, you’re giving them top priority and more importance than anything you can do or change with your behavior.

But what if obstacles were to serve a different purpose in our life? Instead of using them as an excuse to avoid something or even to quit something, it’s more beneficial if you use them to your advantage.

It’s a subtle switch of your mindset, but it can make a huge difference in how you react to a potentially problematic situation. If you’ve failed at an interview or exam, good! Now you’ll have more time to prepare and organize your things more effectively. Got it !!

3. Practice a growth mindset

If you’ve adopted a fixed mindset, you think being successful is due to good genes, a particular talent or gift, or something you are or aren’t born with but can never change. Learn how to benefit from right thinking. Positive thinking does not mean that you keep your head in the soil and take no attention of less enjoyable situations of life.

Succeeding means being perfect every time, achieving results easily and effortlessly, without much preparation or learning anything new. It’s about staying in the comfort zone and repeating what works.

The downside to a fixed way of thinking is never stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something that is tough and challenging. Yet that’s where real success happens — in the growth mindset way of thinking.

To nurture a growth mindset, shift your focus from the end result (making straight A’s in school or getting a promotion at work) to the actual process of becoming successful. A growth mindset person doesn’t think that success is being the best—they believe success is doing their best.

You can start by moving away from your comfort zone (doing everything the same way over and over, using the same tools and processes), and towards a zone that’s uncomfortable and new.

Like say, come up with a better way to improve how you do your work — break down a large task in smaller increments, or tackle a difficult cognitive problem early in the day when your mind can concentrate better. Or, wake up a bit earlier each morning to practice a new fitness habit, such as going for a run or swim.

4. Avoid toxic people at all costs

Toxic people are everywhere, from the workplace to the family, and often in your circle of friends. Stay away from energy drainer people because they can be extremely negative, mentally draining repeating, telling you how work is impossible.

Yes, they’re always complaining about their lot in life (or suggesting you should see yours the same way), or just focusing on what’s preventing them from being happy.

However, they may claim to know what’s best for you, that they care about what happens to you, and that’s why their advice is to be careful, not to try anything new, not to move forward. That’s when things can veer off into seeing the world full of impossibilities, instead of possibilities.

Avoid toxic people at any cost. Don’t engage in awfulizing scenarios and negative banter over the phone. Why not do something important for your personal development, like read a book or start an online course on a topic that fascinates you or maybe do yoga or think of turning into an entrepreneur… Sounds good ?

5. Practice saying NO often

If you often find yourself running out of time to do what you need or would like to have time for, that means you’re saying yes to too many things, and ultimately wasting time and energy on things that are not that significant in the long run.

What are some typical real-life examples? Giving in to distractions of any kind, such as spending hours on insignificant activities, pointless conversations, answering every phone call, or indulging in passive forms of entertainment such as watching TV or Netflix for hours.

When you say no to distractions, you make a positive change that will impact your daily life and improve the quality of your overall life. One should practice how to progress in your career by letting go.

Exercising your “no” muscle means literally saying no in a variety of situations in your daily life. Know your priorities — and stay in tune with them. Be aware of what is relevant to your life and why you’re working on something. Practice saying “No”…

Final Thoughts

It’s fascinating how tough and confident people set themselves apart from the crowd.

Where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to overcome-Concludes Hirav Shah, Business and Brand Enhancement Expert and Renowned Business Advisor.