1. Change Your Outfit Change Your Outlook

By dressing in what makes you feel more confident, studies show your self-assurance will increase.

2. Pay Yourself

Keep a jar in a handy place and pay yourself to pay attention to your words. When you hear yourself say the words, “I can’t”, “I’m fat”, “I’m a loser” or anything negative put in a quarter. You will break the habit of “negative self speak”.

3. Play Date

Giving yourself time to enjoy what tickles you and only you boosts your confidence. Needlepoint, making Jell-O molds, playing an electric organ…do what pleases you.

4. Pleaser versus Teaser

Take one meal and go get yourself the food that makes your tongue tingle. Guilt free. Any time you give yourself having the please what you love you become more familiar with the joy of what deeply pleases you.

5. Backwards Day

Get up on the opposite side of the bed. Brush your teeth with the other hand. Take a new way to work. By reversing the way you do things you become more aware. It is the first step to interrupt a pattern of self sabotage.

6. Shake What Your Mamma Gave You

Turn up the volume and dance, dance, dance. Research is showing that dance is as effective as Prozac in diminishing depression.

7. Beauty Rest

Lack of confidence can be related to not getting enough rest. Set your alarm clock a half an hour early…to go to bed earlier.

8. Wedding Gown Therapy

Don’t laugh. It’s tough to feel lousy wearing 11 pounds of satin and lace. Go to a thrift store and buy yourself a ‘funk buster’ outfit. If you are feeling blue, put it on.

9. Get Up to Get Up

The moment you start to feel shaky, sad or fearful- stand up. Moving will help you to disconnect from your negative thinking.

10. Crappy to Happy

Give yourself 2 minutes to vent what you feel crappy about. Exaggerate it. Get it out. The more dramatic the better. Then stand up and spend 2 minutes about what makes you happy.

11. Laugh-ercize

Giggling is good for you. One of my favorites is to wear a boa or Dr. Bukk’s Teef (these are heinously bad looking false teeth) for a minute or two. You can’t feel lousy and laugh at the same time.

12. Rear View Mirror

How far would you get driving 75 mph looking in your rear view mirror? When you find yourself in self defeating thinking or feeling say “stop”. Change your focus to something positive in your environment.

13. H.A.P.P.Y.

When in a funk say the word “happy” 25 times. You will feel better fast. This is a NLP (neuro linguistic programming) pattern interrupt.

14. What Would Oprah Do?

Pick your hero and act with the same level of confidence. By acting like you have more confidence, studies show that you will actually have more confidence.

15. Use An Underused Four Letter Word

P-L-A-Y. in my work, I find that it is one of the most effective self esteem boosters. Instead of working on a problem, dilemma or bad mood p-l-a-y with it.

16. Helper’ High

Studies show that a phenomenon of the endorphin release of running occurs when you help someone in need. Call an elderly neighbor, offer to pick up groceries, mentor a child and call me if you don’t see a huge boost in your self esteem.

17. Theme Song

You probably already have a motto or affirmations; find a song that lifts you. “Isn’t She Lovely” is my current favorite. Blast it when your spirits are sagging.

18. When the Going Gets Tough…

The tough get horizontal. Thomas Edison and Winston Churchill used the positive power of napping to help themselves discover answers to problems.

19. Flower Power

Buying a yellow freesia changed my life. Giving yourself the gift of some blooms will help you blossom.

20. Fan Mail

Get a few cards and write yourself the things you would love to hear about yourself. Pop them in the mail every other week.