Confidence is a skill; like any skill, it needs to be practiced, revised, and improved. Confidence-building exercises can help women develop confidence to overcome challenges, take risks, and reach their unique goals. We were all born with confidence – now it’s time to reclaim it. By using pragmatic confidence-building exercises, ranging from proven techniques to former US presidents’ tactics, we can pave the way for a growth-fuelled and successful journey.
Why is Confidence Important?
Confidence is important for several reasons. It can help us be audacious, think big, and chase our biggest dreams, essential characteristics for female entrepreneurs who want to succeed. Confidence can also help businesswomen communicate, be acknowledged in the workplace, and improve their happiness by improving satisfaction. Beyond that, confidence can help us be exceptional leaders who are authentic, brave, and willing to ask bold questions.
Ultimately, confidence is the cornerstone of success.
A lack of confidence is a challenge for many female entrepreneurs. When we aren’t confident, the effects are fatal. A lack of confidence can make us procrastinate, revert to fear, and, most worryingly, fail to take action.
Luckily, with confidence-building techniques, we can mitigate these risks and actively improve confidence.
The 15 Best Confidence-building Exercises for Women
These confidence-building exercises, which include movement and goal-setting, are easy for busy female entrepreneurs and businesswomen to implement.
1. Set Goals
You can never feel successful if you don’t know your goal or what you are striving for. Reaching goals can also make us feel competent and dramatically improve our confidence and morale. So setting a goal is crucial for your work, business, and confidence.
How to set motivating goals: Make them realistic and root them in your broader mission or vision. Many great goal-setting frameworks exist, like OKRs.
2. Try Power Poses for Women
Body-language expert Amy Cuddy popularized power poses. Unsurprisingly, they can make you feel more powerful. A slight switch in your posture can be one of the easiest confidence-building exercises to implement and trick you into feeling and acting confident.
Power Poses to Try: There are a few different power poses that you can try. President Lyndon B. Johnson inspired the Loomer, a powerful pose he used regularly. You stand near a desk or table and touch this item while leaning slightly forward. Another underrated pose is to smile. This simple movement can elevate your mood and foster positivity while encouraging others. Plus, it can be used in remote and hybrid environments.
3. Prepare to Feel More Confident
When in doubt, prepare. In high-pressure situations, like an interview or presenting to a boss, we can feel anxious and helpless – the antithesis of confidence. Preparation is one of the simplest and most effective ways to feel at ease, overcome doubt, and confidently navigate defining moments in your career.
How to effectively prepare: Consider the language you want to use, cover potential questions, consider worst-case scenarios, and find resources or statistics to support your claims and arguments.
4. Use Powerful Affirmations
Affirmations are simply positive statements that boost self-esteem and help us overcome obstacles. They can rewire our brains and influence our behaviors, so they are a great confidence-building exercise to add to your toolkit.
How to use positive affirmations: Make sure they are realistic and connected to your goals and that you practice them regularly.
Here are a few that you could try:
I am prepared to fail if it leads to growth because that is the ultimate goal
I am a creative person who is always open to new idea
Sometimes, I need to accept that my work is good enough and put it out into the world
To discover more self-confidence-building affirmations, here are 20 Powerful Affirmations for Female Entrepreneurs.
5. Practice Communicating and Rehearse Business Scenarios
Communication is the foundation of business. You must communicate clearly and confidently to close a deal, work better with people, and develop ideas. If you lack confidence, communicating with clarity can be an ongoing challenge, so you should practice it and refine your points for real-life events, presentations, or scenarios.
How to practice communicating: Try a role-playing exercise with a friend or trusted colleague to improve your communication skills. Map out what message you want to communicate, and after presenting it, ask them about their key takeaways and compare them to what you originally mapped out.
6. Focus on Self-improvement and Discovery
Self-improvement covers many areas. It could mean redefining your focus, finding your passion, broadening your skillset, or shifting your mindset. There are many tools and resources that help women improve and find purpose, which drives confidence.
How to focus on self-improvement: Self-improvement could be learning a new skill, enrolling in a course, listening to podcasts, or reading helpful books.
Recommended Reading: The 10 Best Business Books for Women in 2024
7. Dress for Success
It seems outdated, but dressing well can actually make you more successful. Dressing well can affect how others perceive you and, more importantly, how you perceive yourself. Plus, people who dress well are more likely to engage in abstract and big-picture thinking.
How to dress for success: Tap into your personal tastes and amplify your style for success, even when working remotely. Make a list of outfits that make you feel powerful and wear them on repeat.
8. Celebrate your Wins
Celebrating your wins is not just about the moment; it is a powerful tool for morale and motivation and a great confidence-building exercise, especially for women.
How to celebrate your wins: Organize an event with people who have helped you, share a post on social media, or treat yourself to something on your wishlist. Create a culture of recognition that proves your competence and boosts your confidence.
9. Journalling
As confidence is a skill, we should constantly evaluate it. Journaling can be an excellent tool for reflection, amplifying learning, and expressing gratitude. Sometimes, just writing things down can ease anxiety and increase our confidence.
How to journal for confidence: Use confidence-boosting prompts or track note-worthy compliments. It is important to set up a journaling routine for consistency.
Here are some examples:
Write what confidence means to you in a business setting.
When did you exemplify confidence today?
What big or small moment did you feel most proud of today?
What challenges did you face today, and how did you feel about them?
10. Find Female Mentors
A support system can be pivotal for your success and your ultimate cheerleaders. Especially a group of determined, ambitious, and supportive women.
How to find female mentors: Look in your inner circle, and if you still can’t find any, join a network for businesswomen or female entrepreneurs.
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11. Create a Positive and Abundant Mindset
Jealousy can make us nasty, and even worse, it can stifle our confidence and create insecurity. We encourage women to have an abundant mindset. If they see someone with a desirable trait, leadership position, or business, instead of feeling jealous and resentful, they turn toward excitement and think, “I want that too.”
How to create a positive mindset: Get rid of a scarcity mindset and use other women’s success to inspire you rather than disable you.
12. Listen to Music
Music can help you create good energy and eliminate negative energy. It can also be an effective confidence-building exercise for women looking for a pick-me-up moment before a meeting or a presentation.
How to use music to boost confidence and focus: Find or create multiple playlists, calming playlists that help you focus, and confidence-boosting ones. Do you need some inspiration? Here are 21 Confidence-Boosting Songs to Make You Feel Invincible.
13. Learn a New Skill
Learn relevant skills aligned with your business, work, or goals. By developing a new skill, you can build your competence, and increase your confidence, making it one of the most effective confidence-building exercises.
How to successfully learn a new skill: Dig deep and think about what skill you want to master. Be brave enough to try, smart enough to know you might fail at first, and determined enough to be consistent. Consistency is at the heart of successfully learning new skills.
14. Share your Journey
Sharing your journey will force you to reflect on what you have learned and what you have achieved – these will act as motivators for you and others.
How to share your journey: Talk about your journey with budding businesswomen, turn your journey into a tweet, or use a platform like BusinessWomen to inspire others.
Share your story now and instill confidence in others.
15. Move and Move Often
It is no secret that movement does wonders for our mood. It can be the ultimate confidence-building exercise when you feel low on confidence, motivation, or inspiration.
How to build confidence with movement: Some exercises, like yoga, have built-in power poses like the salutation. Move in a way that feels empowering to you.
Conclusion: Building Confidence Takes Time
These confidence-building exercises are simple yet effective. When venturing on your journey to building confidence, remember it takes time. Just as it takes time to develop any skill, it will take effort and persistence to develop confidence sustainably. But imagine what could happen if you stick to these confidence-building exercises and build unbreakable confidence.
The compounding effects of confidence are endless and can pave the way for a successful; journey – one that is filled with growth, learning, and opportunity.