80 Jan/Feb 2018 oxygenmag.com.au
New Year
new attitude
How to build confidence
and achieve your goals
T
he new year is a perfect time to
make changes, start something new,
and perhaps have a look at why you
may have failed at making changes
in the past.
Our confidence and the belief we have in
ourselves (in our own abilities and judgement)
can carry into our moods, the way we interact
with others, our ability to feel comfortable in
social situations, and ultimately the ability
to follow a health and fitness program. Self-
perception is vital when it comes to making
lasting, healthy changes, and it is often who we
see ourselves as (or, worse, who we think we’re
not!) that can derail even the best efforts to
stick to a health and fitness lifestyle.
A positive mental attitude will help you to
overcome many obstacles by enabling you to
do things with the power of your mind. The
mind and body need to work together for any
great achievement.
In contrast, a negative attitude will create
negative actions, feelings, results, and low
confidence levels.1
Remove negativity from
your life
They say that you are the sum of the
five people you spend most of your
time with. If you are surrounded by a
close circle of friends and family who support
you, then stick with these people, but if you
have negative people who are feeding your
insecurities, then you may need to take even a
temporary break from them.2
Change your body
language
Body language is very powerful,
and often we make a statement
with our eye contact and smile
before we even speak. If you are nervous
in social situations, practise smiling and
walking into a room and imagine that you
know everyone. This will reflect in your
body language, as you will soon feel more
comfortable to keep eye contact with people,
and before you know it this skill will feel
natural.3
Avoid accepting failure
Setbacks happen to everyone; it’s
important to acknowledge that
failure is only temporary and a
great opportunity to learn from
our mistakes. Don’t let failure hold you back:
simply acknowledge it and move on. This will
also build resilience, which is the ability to
move past obstacles and another important
life skill.Five
tips to
building
confidence
BY AMELIA RICCI