Today’s post is a guest post by Katie Conroy from advicemine.com. If you are interested in guest posting on Leaf and Steel, head over here!

How to Be a More Self-Confident Mother and Enhance Your Life

Nobody said being a mom was easy. Motherhood is a big responsibility and comes with many expectations, both within and without. It can be daunting, and often overwhelming. How do you take care of someone else when looking after yourself is often a struggle? The answer is by being self-confident! 

When you’re self-confident, you’re powerful. When you’re powerful, you can move mountains – or at least take care of your family and just live life better. Finding some extra self-confidence will go a long way toward making your journey as a mom smoother and more enjoyable. Today, Leaf and Steel offers some tested-and-true advice on becoming a more self-confident person (and mother):      

Praise Yourself

When was the last time you said or admitted something good about yourself? Appreciating yourself for everything you do, big and small, is a necessary first step in feeling good about yourself. And when you feel good about yourself, you’re more confident in who you are – which in turn makes doing new things easier. See the self-perpetuating cycle here?

Practice praising yourself for how far you’ve come, how much you’ve achieved, and how well you take care of your loved ones. It’s how you’ll slowly and surely build up your self-confidence levels, says Mindvalley. It’s also a great way to improve the overall positivity of your household.

Be Okay with Being Judged

Being a mother opens you up to many judgments, as you’re doubtless aware. Everyone has an opinion on how you should raise your kids, and how well you’re doing. Not everyone will see your challenges and the sacrifices you make. The criticisms will flow, essentially, and praise may be non-existent – and that’s okay. Realize that the way people treat you says more about them than it does about you.

Learn to read people’s intentions instead of taking their words at face value. Be at peace with how you’re doing as a parent (and otherwise) – that’s what really matters. 

Change Up Your Friend Circle

Do the people around you push you down or pull you up? As Sigmund Freud put it, “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, make sure you are not just surrounded by idiots”. The people around you have a massive impact on your self-confidence, beliefs, and ways of being. If they’re supportive, caring, and kind, it’s easier to be comfortable in your own skin and be more self-confident. If they’re toxic or manipulative, they’re going to thrive on you being weak (not confident), and be invested in pulling you down. Set strong boundaries for existing relationships, and find better people, if necessary.

Go in a Different Career Direction

The work you do is an important part of your identity. Performing your job well and making a difference in other people’s lives, in whatever fashion, can help you gain self-respect. If you feel your career isn’t where it should be, or you’re concerned about balancing your current career with your family life, don’t hesitate to go back to school to enhance your prospects. For instance, an online degree in business could help you gain business acumen – whether your program of choice is business management, management and leadership, or marketing – and just become a more capable person overall.

Groom and Dress Well

Appearances matter. The way you look affects the way other people perceive you and treat you. More importantly, the way you look also affects how you perceive and treat yourself. By dressing well, visiting the spa, and taking care of your body and hair, you’re going to look and feel prettier. Don’t be afraid of indulging yourself every once in a while. If you make grooming a habit, you’ll quickly witness an increase in your self-confidence levels.

Take Care of Your Body

Your body, along with your mind and emotions, is one of the pillars of your existence. You must look after it well to keep it beautiful and healthy. When your body is in good shape, you have plenty of energy, feel more capable, and can do more. If you don’t look after your body enough, you are going to feel down, drained, and incapable. Start a fitness routine, eat healthier, and do your best to fulfill your body’s needs to be more self-confident.

Allow Failure to Teach You 

Success is at the end of the road riddled with failures. Don’t let your failures destroy your self-confidence. Society often conditions us to feel bad about our mistakes, with guilt and self-criticism becoming our constant companions. It’s important to understand that making mistakes is being human. No one is perfect, and you don’t learn to walk without falling down a few times. In fact, falling is intrinsic to understanding how to not fall. Mistakes teach you what not to do next time. They’re priming you for success if you let them. 

Trust Yourself

When you trust, you’re confident in something or someone. You trust the ground to be solid, water to be wet, and probably your parents to care about you – but do you trust yourself? Trust is intrinsic to confidence. Most people trust themselves in some ways, but not others. You probably trust yourself to get out of bed without assistance, for example, but do you trust yourself to return a million dollars you found lying on the ground?

The answer, for most people, is maybe! You should choose to trust yourself to return the money (or not. Hey, it’s a million dollars, we make no judgments here). The key part is choosing to trust yourself to do or be a certain way. If you aren’t there yet, trust that you’re still learning how, and you will get there in time. You have to crawl before you can walk. Trust the process, and do attempt.

Confidence takes time to build up. It’s tied to how you feel and think about yourself – and changing your mindset isn’t something that will happen overnight. Be persistent, set short-term and long-term goals, and learn how to be there for yourself while you make changes (big or small). You will, eventually, get there – and you will be able to teach your kids to be the same way. It helps everyone, so don’t hesitate to invest in yourself.

Katie Conroy enjoys writing and created advicemine.com where she shares advice from her experiences, education & research. She particularly enjoys writing about lifestyle topics and created the website to share advice she has learned through experience, education and research.

You can find Katie at advicemine.com, or shoot her an email at info@advicemine.com !

Thank you, Katie, for your article!

For more information on guest posting on Leaf and Steel, click here!

What do you do to build confidence as a parent?

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