Every day, we have our moments of insecurity. Giving a presentation to the board, asking a relative for a big favor, expressing your concern towards a friend or admitting a mistake… These are just a few examples of the – literally – thousands of reasons we can feel insecure. If you need an instant, quick fix for this problem, this post might be of help.

To a certain extend, insecurity is one of life’s valuable self-protection mechanisms. However, in most cases, insecurity is nothing but a burden that limits you in achieving your highest potential. Luckily, there are many ways to grow your confidence and (partly) get rid of insecurity. There are countless books written about self-confidence, thousands of coaches making a living out of dealing with other people’s insecurity and if the lack of confidence really has an overwhelming impact on your life, a psychologist might be able to help out.

However, I’d like to share with you a more instant and easy-to-adopt way to grow your confidence. I used this method myself in the past and shared it with several people around me who all feel more confident following this strategy:

1. First of all, make obvious to yourself what you are insecure about. For this occasion, let’s say you are about to leave home for a job interview and you would really, really, really like to get that job
2. Clearly describe the desired result for yourself in your mind. In this example, that would be: “I am going to get that job!”
3. Say it out loud: “I am going to get that job!”
4. Now, move to a mirror, preferably one that shows your entire body, but the top half of your body is enough to make this work. Look at yourself. Look yourself in the eyes
5. Create a fist with both of your hands. Then, put your thumbs on your pointing fingers, as if you are handing someone a bank note or use a remote control. Symmetrically point at yourself in the mirror with both hands, look yourself in the eyes and say, as if it was the only option possible and as many times as you like: “I am going to get that job!” Concentrate!

Then, while you are at your job interview, again create a fist with both of your hands and put your thumbs on your pointing fingers, just like you did before (watch out, don’t start saying “I am going to get that job” during a job interview, but think it). Most likely, you will feel that same confidence as when you said it over and over again in front of the mirror.

This process is called anchoring and changes the wiring of your brain as you do it more often. After using this gesture over a period of time, you will discover that you can pull out that ‘confidence card’ at any time, at any place and under any circumstance.

Do you have any experiences with this way of growing your confidence? Please leave a response below!

photo by nickolatte