mdolla: 7 Easy Ways To Boost Your Confidence and Health

Feeling down? Lost the confidence to take on the world? Hey, it happens. You spend a few nights on the couch binging Netflix, and soon you’re feeling stuck in a rut and ready to make a change. The catch? Making big changes right away can feel overwhelming. Instead, smaller changes might be just what you need to boost your confidence and health so you can tackle your biggest goals. Here are seven easy ways to get started!

1. Start Each Morning with Music and Water

If you wake up dreading the day ahead, it may be time for a new routine. Don’t underestimate the power of hydration. Overnight, your body gains no new fluids, and by the time you wake up, it’s hurting for some warm water. Why warm? Physicians note that warm water with lemon has many health benefits, including clearing toxins from the body, regulating the digestive system, and even helping with weight loss.

Music is also a great way to start your day—pick something that puts you in a calm and confident state of mind while you sip your lemon water. Soon, you’ll be ready to take on the day!

2. Join a Book Club or Hobby Group

What’s better than friends? Friends who GET you. Joining a hobby group is a great way to meet like-minded people to connect with. Studies show that joining a group boost confidence and self-esteem even more than having a large group of friends. While connecting with strangers may seem intimidating at first, you’ll soon have a new circle of friends who share your interests and boost your confidence.

3. Join a Health and Wellness Program

Calling in sick all the time? It’s time you took a hard look at your health habits. Most people have trouble sticking to a new routine without someone to hold them accountable, so consider joining a health and wellness program to keep you on track. Participation in these programs can improve your overall health, reduce sick leave by 25%, and cut your monthly healthcare costs by $30. Many offices are beginning to offer these programs, so don’t miss out on the benefits!

4. Try Something New

Do you have the same old routines week after week? Mix it up a little! You don’t have to take up an intensive hobby to try something new—even little changes can make a big difference in your overall health and confidence. Start small and work up: attend a tasting or paint night, the move on to taking a class or attending a networking event. Once you start gaining momentum, you’ll gain the confidence you need to make big changes that can have a major impact on your life.

5. Learn to Play an Instrument

Never picked up an instrument? Tone deaf? Gave up the piano in elementary school? It may be time to give jam sessions another chance. Studies in children have shown that learning to play an instrument can have massive cognitive benefits. Students who learned to play an instrument had improved neural processing and did better academically than their peers. Listening to music is great, but to reap true benefit, you’ll need to start making some yourself.

6. Make a Pact with a Friend to Train for a Marathon

Okay, so maybe you don’t need to go full on marathon, but taking on a new challenge with friends is a great way to build up your health and confidence levels. Got couch potato friends? Sign up for a 5k first, then work your way up. Each time you succeed, you’ll gain more confidence to push you both to new heights.

7. Spend Time in Nature

You may not think of yourself as outdoorsy, but the benefits of spending some time with Mother Nature are undeniable. Scientists have found that spending time outdoors can improve concentration and creativity, boost short term memory, and relieve stress. If you’re a ball of anxiety and stress at work, take a walk. This weekend, take a trip to your local park, or better yet, head out of the city for a day hike. Your mental and physical health will both get a boost when you take the time to reset and restore with the beauty of nature.

Getting Started

Improving your health and confidence is a process full of little steps and little successes. Remember that it can take some time to reap the benefits of your actions, but consistency can go a long way toward a healthier and more fulfilling life. Work on building healthy habits, and don’t be surprised if you end up waking up every day ready to do great things.

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