Confidence Is Contagious: 5 Steps to Create & Maintain the Life You Want

“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” Research has shown that a broad smile communicates confidence, health, and trustworthiness. It also suggests that folks with happy smiles in team and yearbook photos had a longer lifespan and more married years. A smile is a great indicator of confidence, so where does that come from and how do we get it to stay?

1. Pay attention: Know who you are & don’t judge.

Sit down and write a list of what you love and what matters most. Rule No. 1: As you make your list, do not think about how to make it happen. Just put it down.

• As you imagine your ideal future, don’t include the opinions of others. This will matter at times, but in the beginning, just get a clear vision you can access to energize your efforts.
• When you identify your goal, draw or print out a picture of what it will look like. Post it in a private place and look at it every morning and just before you drift off to sleep.
• Next – make an honest list of your strengths and weaknesses. Do not put yourself down or up. Just tell the truth. This is about what you love, not what makes you feel important. Honesty is everything here.
• Enjoy the feeling of confidence that comes from tuning in to your truth. Honesty, trust, and kindness are the building blocks of confidence and they begin at home.

With confidence, you have won before you have started.

– Marcus Garvey

2. ACT: Accept reality. Choose what you want. Take action.

A simple plan developed 30 years ago by cognitive therapists Gary Emery and James Campbell, the ACT formula defines the foundation of confidence and creates a tool to use over and over again. Confused? Dragging yourself to an unwanted job every morning? Admit it. Boldly admit what you’d rather do. Doctor? Lawyer? Broadway star? Choose it. Need more education or expertise than you currently have? Take charge. The power is in your hands, and the necessary degree is probably online.

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…we must do that which we think we cannot.

– Eleanor Roosevelt

3. Be kind to yourself, be patient, and expect success.

Trust that no matter what has to be done, you have the strength, capability, and work ethic to keep going. Don’t listen to the naysayer inside your own mind.

• Get to know your thoughts. Meditation is a good tool to notice what comes up and then to let it go. Just 15 minutes every day will teach you to hear what you are thinking and change negative habits. Let them go, be glad you saw them and decide to choose the positive path instead. Self-awareness can change the patterns of a lifetime.
• Keep moving forward. You are learning from every experience. Use the knowledge to change direction and repeat what works. Learn from the mistakes. They are a gift.
• Optimism beats pessimism every time. If you can’t picture what success will look like and see yourself front and center, you are predicting failure. Nothing wrong with seeing yourself as the valedictorian or winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. People do.

If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything.

– Katy Perry

4. Take a chance. Remember stuff happens, and it always gets better.

You’re afraid? Good. Do it anyway. Love the unknown. It gives you new skills and belief in yourself that becomes a habit.

• If you feel shaky, pretend and play the part. At a job interview, shake hands as though you’ve done the job for years. Confidence is contagious. Meet & greet singles event? Decide to give a smile as a gift. See the good in the person across the table. You’ll put them at ease and they’ll want to get to know you better. Soon the shyness disappears and comfort sets in. You’ve become your best self.
• Accept the ups and downs. On tougher days, think about the universal truth: with time and perseverance, things really do get better. Everyone goes through challenges and makes it out the other end of the tunnel. Quitting keeps you in place. Confidence and success come from staying the course.

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

– Norman Vincent Peale

5. Find confidence in your smile.

Your smile says it all. While you practice and make confidence your closest companion, take charge and plan a straighter smile to get your message across. With SmileDirectClub invisible aligners you can straighten your smile without the hassle of in-office visits, at 60% less than the cost of braces and other aligners. Take the free smile assessment online and in 4 – 14 months at a cost of just $1850 (with oversight from a licensed dental professional), your beautiful smile says health and success before you even shake hands. Plan your straighter, brighter smile – take your free smile assessment online today.

Take the Smile Assessment