by: Iain Legg
Lack of confidence has the power to cause great problems in your life, not only because it makes you feel powerless and out of control, but also because it triggers you to act in ways that are usually counterproductive to what you want to accomplish. You’ll find yourself shying away from challenges, procrastinating on goals you set, earning less money, or even experiencing problems in your interactions with others.
Visualization is one great way to help boost your confidence in these situations, and others.
Using visualization to boost your confidence requires changing and improving your self image, from the inside out. Low self-confidence is usually accompanied by a negative or limiting self-image, so creating a new, positive self-image through visualization will usually result in increased confidence.
To begin, first take a few minutes to jot down some ideas about the self-image you’d like to have. Obviously, confidence will be one of the traits you’ll include on your list, but also consider other traits you’d like to have, like compassion, integrity, motivation and focus, and so on.
Once you have a list of personality traits written, close your eyes and call up a mental image of your current self. Does this person have any of the traits you’ve just written down? Most likely you’ll have at least one or two – even if you’d like them to be more prevalent.
Now, imagine that those traits and the others you’ve chosen are beginning to become obvious in this mental image of yourself. For example, you might see yourself standing a bit taller, smiling with happiness and purpose, or wearing an expression of peacefulness on your face.
Keep adding more and more visual cues to this mental image of yourself until you can see yourself as the person you want to be. (It will probably take more than one session to gain a clear and strong mental image of this new you, but do the best you can. The more you practice, the easier it will become.)
Now, as you look at this strong, confident person in your mind’s eye, begin to switch your focus slightly so that you are feeling and behaving as he or she does, mimicking his or her demeanor and posture. Feel yourself growing more confident, self-assured, impassioned about your life, motivated about your goals, and so on.
See yourself interacting in your daily life with newfound confidence and enthusiasm! You’re interacting with people easily, making eye contact and moving through your life experiences with zeal. Stay with this inner vision for as long as you can, making it feel as real as possible.
Then, even after you return to your normal activities, be sure to keep calling to mind a mental picture of this new you as often as you can, and make an attempt to feel and act like that person did during your visualization exercise.
Rather than reacting to situations like you normally would, pause and remember that you are now a confident, self-assured person! How would such a person handle this situation?
The more you shift your focus to express this new self-image, the easier it will become to keep it going – and gradually become that person inside and out!
