“Hey there awesome person! You look great today!”

Confidence brings positivity, and vice versa. If you have the confidence to pay someone a compliment, whether a friend or a stranger, you radiate positivity. We all have that friend who is super positive most of the time and is overall generous in his or her praise. If you read that and didn’t relate it to yourself, do so. You can be that friend to others just as that person is to you. That person is generally likeable, and people feed off on that. It is an upward spiral of positivity, and I suggest you take steps toward it.

Some people are naturally confident, others have to work on it and perhaps learn it from others. No biggie, that’s just the way people are built. I had to work on it a lot as well, and both my peers and myself now consider me a confident person. Couple of years ago I never thought I could be as confident as I am today, yet here I am. It can be a long road, but it is oh so worth it.

Now, there are many ways to improve your confidence, on whatever level you might be, and I’ll share some that I consider to be great confidence boosts. Permanently.

1) Exercise. You have to take care of your body, period. Yet exercise yields so much more in levels of confidence, your body becomes more active and in turn, so do you. Looking fab in your bathing suit is one thing, feeling amazing because you know your body looks good is even better. You don’t have to be super buffed or extremely thin, as long as you’re fit and you feel your body is great. I’ll never be a bodybuilder, nor do I aspire to be one, but I exercise a couple times a week and it makes me feel great.

2) Tell yourself you’re awesome. This is an odd suggestion for some people, but plenty more have tried it and will tell you it works. It should always be sincere, and the level of cockiness is up to you, as long as you appreciate who you are and what you look like every now and again. I’ve advised a friend to do this a couple years back and he still uses it. Whenever you look in the mirror and you like what you see, say so. Out loud, a whisper or scream it for all I care, as long as the real you hears it, and takes it in.

3) Smile. Everyone likes someone who smiles (sincerely). It makes people feel happy, welcome and at ease. You see someone walking down the street with a smile on his or her face, that person is confident in your eyes. In addition, being comfortable smiling in public generally requires a bit of confidence.

4) Pay compliments. Paying people compliments helps everyone, it’ll make you feel more at ease saying it and if done right the recipient feels better. It can set the tone in a lot of situations, as it makes people feel appreciated. It can also be used in a flirtatious way of course, which in itself is worth practicing paying compliments. In the end, what you give is what you get. If people know you give compliments, they know you’ll appreciate one as well. Which in turn, helps you build confidence.

*Note, make sure that you do not give ’empty compliments’. Keep it sincere, do it in moderation and don’t overdo it. The latter meaning that people have to be able to relate to the compliment. “You look like a gorgeous Queen.” generally has little merit, “That suit looks really good on you.” awards full points. As an extra tip: add specifics. “You look good.” loses its magic if constantly used, specifics keep it fresh. Above all, compliment with a smile.

5) Don’t let your flaws hold you back. If you can’t feel good about yourself in spite of your flaws, neither can others. Nobody’s perfect, and people do not expect you to be. In fact, what you consider to be a flaw doesn’t necessarily have to be seen that way by others. Recognize and admit your flaws, and deal with them. A friend of mine once mentioned he could speak fluent German when drunk, and he had a blast with a German guy he met in a bar. Of course, his German wasn’t nearly as good as he said it was, but at that point he let go of that fact and made the best of it. (You don’t have to be drunk for this!) Accept the reality that you are who you are, and that you can’t change everything about yourself. If you let go of these flaws and accept them, you’ll feel more comfortable with yourself, others will notice it and eventually you’ll come out on top.

All in all you have to decide for yourself what makes you feel more confident. I’m just telling you that it worth investing in. A great level of confidence will make you feel so much better, much more positive and achieve so much more than you could otherwise realise.