13 Habits For Building Confidence & Creating The Life You Really Want

“A lot of times, we base our self-confidence on things we actually have no control over—what other people think, the outcome of a project, others’ reactions, etc,” Cruz explains. “To build self-confidence, we need to release our attachment to the things we can’t control and start basing our self-confidence on what we do have control over.”

Take for example when you’re working on a presentation, she says. You might invest a lot of energy into other people’s opinions, the outcome of your project, or your peers’ reactions to your work. To build self-confidence against things you don’t have control over, Cruz advises to focus on the things you can control—for example, how prepared you are, your passion for the presentation topic, and how much work you’ve put into it. 

“Remind yourself of these things consistently and repeatedly until they become your new beliefs,” she adds. 

Grounding yourself in things you can control, even just one aspect of your goal, will provide you with more stability to move forward. And remember: Building confidence builds more confidence. By starting in the places you have control over, you can ensure that you build confidence from a place of inner strength.