We all know how hard it is to be a teenager, and we all know how hard it is to be human. But here are some tips to lift you up when you are feeling down, and boost your confidence level.
Don’t judge
The more you judge other people, the more likely you are to judge yourself. And the more critical you are of people, the more critical you will be of yourself. So make sure you try your best to accept others, just the way they are, because that will make it easier for you to accept yourself.
Know your flaws and strengthsÂ
If you want to feel good about yourself, then you have to know that you do have strengths. No matter how hard it is to believe sometimes, you have something to offer to the world. And if you want to be happy, you have to acknowledge that you have some really great qualities.
Another part of being confident is knowing that you aren’t perfect. You may be bad at sports, but that’s okay! As long as you aren’t negative about your lack of skill, people won’t care. Just be positive and fun doing whatever you aren’t good at. Knowing you aren’t good at something and enjoying yourself is part of making yourself happier.
Do what you want
Dress the way you want to. If you wear makeup, wear as much or as little as you like, or don’t wear any at all – whatever makes you feel good about yourself. If you feel pretty when you straighten your hair, then straighten it. If you feel at your best while wearing sweat pants, wear your sweat pants with pride. It doesn’t matter if other people think you dress weird, or that they think you wear too much makeup, if you feel good, it will show. And if people see that you’re happy with the way you look,then they won’t say anything about you except for how confident you are.
Fake it til you make it
A lot of us aren’t confident, and that’s fine, but people don’t have to know that you don’t have the highest self esteem. If you walk with a straight back, make eye contact with people, and speak with confidence, doing all these things will become natural and you won’t even think twice about it. Acting with this sort of confidence will eventually lead to you having this sort of confidence.
You’re not alone
Everyone deals with insecurities, adults and teens alike. Truth is, people are often too busy fussing their own appearance to judge you. So relax a little. People often only judge themselves, and hardly others. In fact, people are generally more accepting of others than themselves.
Write it down
Acknowledge your insecurities, and write them down on a piece of paper. Now tear that paper up. Rip and turn it into confetti and throw it in the garbage. After this, on little pieces of paper, write down everything that you like about yourself, and them hang up in your room or locker, face down. So whenever you are feeling down, you can turn it over and read a positive message for yourself.
Wear it on your sleeve
Don’t try to chip away at your insecurities, wear them down. The more you openly admit to being bad at something, or acknowledging your imperfections, the less you feel bad about them. The more you admit that you aren’t perfect, the less it will bother you.
Count your blessings
There are things you should be grateful for: your family, friends, music, tumblr, books. Sometimes it takes remembering that things could be worse to make things a little better. When you are feeling a bit down on yourself, remember the things you are lucky to have!
It could be worse
Remember that a lot of people have worse problems than awful hair. So when you feel self conscience about your looks, try to remember that some people have it worse than you. And yeah, you may not have a “perfect body,” but it could be worse.
You can’t change yourself
You are you, and that is a fact. You can’t change that, so you should just accept yourself. It’s not easy, but it can be done. Your happiness is up to you. So, learn to be comfortable in your own skin.
