Confidence. As women, most of us want it, some of us lack it, and it can feel hard to hang on to for any substantial length of time.

Don’t believe me? Here are some startling statistics:

A woman’s leadership study from KPMG revealed that of women surveyed:

• 73% feel they lack the confidence to pursue a job opportunity beyond their experience;
• 65% believe lack the confidence to ask for a promotion;
• 61% do not feel confident enough to request a raise; and
• 56% feel they lack the confidence to request a new role or position.

It also found that over two thirds of women (67%) said they needed more support building confidence to feel like they can be leaders.

That’s just in the career world. When it comes to other aspects of our lives, the trend continues.

Research from Dove® shows some disappointing results in women’s confidence with respect to self image:

• Only 4% of women surveyed globally consider themselves to be beautiful; and
• By the time girls reach the age of 17, 78% will be “unhappy with their bodies”.

It’s clear we have an opportunity to elevate our confidence so that we can rise to our full potential, pursue things outside our comfort zone, and live our fullest lives.

With this in mind, I wrote an eBook last year called The Confidence Toolkit, all about the confidence building activities we can start taking TODAY to shift our future. It’s not full of storytelling and my personal experiences – instead, it’s a research-based book summarizing 10 scientifically-proven ways to increase your confidence. Powerful stuff!

Onto the confidence builders!

5 Confidence Building Activities You Need to Try Today

1. Change Your Body Language.

“Fake it ’til you make it” and “act as if” are common phrases that may sound glib, but in fact speak to a powerful truth. When it comes to improving confidence, body language is a valuable and proven tool.

Social psychologist Amy Cuddy has done extensive research on the impact of “power posing” —  the practice of holding high-power postures — on our perception of ourselves. More specifically, she focuses on a quality known as presence, which stems from “believing in and trusting yourself – your real, honest feelings, values, and abilities.” According to Cuddy, our bodies shape our minds, our minds shape our behaviour, and our behaviour shapes our outcomes.

You can watch her TED Talk here for more on her research, or check out her book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges.

Adopting a power pose is a great way to make your body language work for you. Lock into a “confident” posture and hold it for two minutes; practice this regularly or before a big presentation, test, or event. By doing so, you’re making yourself appear bigger by stretching out and taking up space.

2. Exercise, Outside if Possible.

Exercising boosts your physical fitness but does it also boost your confidence? It seems so. According to a study conducted by scientists at Nova Southeastern University, low- and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise drives mood improvement and boosts psychological functioning. The reason: physical activity stimulates certain brain chemicals that can leave you happier and calmer. With regular exercise, you feel better about your appearance which, in turn, further improves your confidence and self-esteem.

It’s not only how you exercise but where. Studies have shown that the benefits of exercise are heightened when activities are performed outdoors. And it’s less about how long you exercise for, and more about how often. The key is to make it a regular practice.

If you’re not already following an exercise routine, consider joining a yoga class, trying an in-home workout DVD, or hitting the gym a few times a week. Better yet, go for a walk or jog in your neighbourhood, join a group hike in the woods, or bike along trails.

Check out my related blog posts for more inspiration to get moving:

Lazy Girl Workout Hacks: How to Make Exercise More Bearable

The Best Workout Motivation: 5 Ways to Get Moving

3. Dress for Success.

Have you ever heard the impression “dress for the job you want, not the job you have”? At its core, this expression speaks to the power of our outward appearance on our self-confidence. And it’s not just wishful thinking; this link is backed by science.

A study where participants wore either business attire or casual outfits to a test showed interesting results. Those participants wearing formal attire had increased abstract thinking, which is tied to creativity and long-term strategic thinking. This, in turn, is believed to be an effect related to feelings of power. As we discussed in the first point above, power and confidence go hand in hand when it comes to self-perception.

Use your outfits to your advantage by dressing in well-tailored but comfortably fitting clothes. Add accessories that both coordinate with the rest of the look and also make you feel powerful. For women, wearing heels (especially to an important meeting or presentation) is worth considering.

Note that the key is “nicer than usual” versus formal wear for everyone. If you work from home and normally wear pajamas, putting on nice jeans and a sweater may feel more formal to you and enable you to reap the rewards of this shift.

4. Start a Meditation Practice.

There is a stack of research that proves the value of meditation — it’s been shown to reduce stress and boost the immune system, among many other benefits.

Meditation also helps nurture self-confidence, ironically, by loosening the grip on your sense of self. By meditating, you begin to dissociate your core from those negative thoughts that churn away in internal conversation loops. Instead of being trapped in the anxiety of a social encounter, you learn to step back and observe your thoughts and feelings in a clinical and unemotional way, see them for what they are, and let them pass. You remove negative energy and, in time, become a lot less concerned about what people think of you.

There are many meditation techniques — from simple breathing and mindfulness exercises to Transcendental Meditation — that can bring you to a quiet confidence. Whatever technique you follow, start each session with the intention of being forgiving and non-judgemental, of embracing yourself as you are. When entering meditation, consider reciting this statement of intention: “May I be freed from self-doubt, may I be happy, may all things go well for me.” And when your meditation is over, write in a journal any thoughts or insights that arose. You need to travel down a path of self-awareness before arriving at the state of self-confidence.

5. Visualize Success.

When high-performance athletes are at the starting line visualizing their eventual victory, they’re applying well-established principles on how to hack their brains to boost confidence.

Visualization affects cognitive processes such as motor control, perception, planning, and memory. It also affects the nervous system, increasing or decreasing our heart rate when we visualize exertion or calmness. Studies in mental imagery show that the brain does not distinguish between an imaginary picture and reality. Whether we visualize running a race or actually experiencing it, the same chemicals release into the brain and the same electrical activity flares up.

How can we best use visualization to create those neural patterns in our brain?

One technique is to create vivid mental images. Make whatever scene you visualize as real as possible by engaging the five senses. Close your eyes: what do you see, hear, and feel when your goal accomplished? What are you wearing and what’s going on around you? Think of a time when you acted with great confidence: what were the circumstances, how were peoples’ reactions? Keep a mental check of your posture, tone of voice, and overall body language.

Interested in diving deeper? Pick up a copy of my book today for as low as $2.99! Find it on Amazon here.

Did any of these techniques resonate with you? What do you find works wonders in boosting your confidence? Leave a comment and let us know!

P.S. Don’t forget to grab your FREE chapter of my book here!

And check out my post 10 Totally Doable Ways to Cheer Yourself Up for more tips.