Imagine going back in time to summer 2019 and trying to explain 2020 to yourself. Could you have imagined the lockdown, the furloughs, homeschooling, a deadly pandemic, not being able to see your friends and family, and not being able to go food shopping without queuing up outside and putting a face mask on? Even before you got to the toilet roll situation, the ‘2019 you’ wouldn’t have been able to believe it. It is all about boosting your confidence post-lockdown that will make a difference in your life.
We’ve lived through a time that we’d never have been able to imagine just a year ago. Most of our lives have been turned entirely upside down, and many of us have struggled to cope. You might have felt anxious, uncertain, and frightened. It has been tough, and it has affected us all in many different ways.
If your confidence has dipped, you aren’t alone. Lockdown has forced us to spend more time alone or with our household, without any distractions. We’ve been away from work, and exercise, and perhaps things that we are good at. We’ve had to tackle new challenges, maybe working from home, or teaching your children, perhaps just keeping everyone occupied and happy, which we might not be as good at.
There have undoubtedly been times when you’ve doubted yourself and your ability to cope. We all have. And if it’s taken its toll on your confidence, that is hardly a surprise. Learn tips on boosting your confidence post-lockdown.
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How Lockdown May Have Knocked Your Confidence
Lockdown has changed our lives completely, and this may have affected our confidence in many different ways. These include:
- Being away from things you are good at
- Being forced to take on new challenges without any training or preparation
- Spending time without people that make you feel good about yourself
- Not having the comfort of friends and family to lift you when you are down
- Being lonely and uncomfortable with your own company
- Letting standards slip when it comes to appearance and exercise
- Eating comfort food and drinking more alcohol, and feeling guilty about it
Why You Should Find Ways to Boost Your Confidence
But, why is confidence so important? Surely as life goes back to normal, your confidence will come with it?
Unfortunately, it’s not usually that simple. Confidence is easy to lose, but much harder to get back. Without taking the time to build it back up, you might find that the doubts and uncertainty you have felt in lockdown are still with you. You might start to worry that you can’t do the job that you used to be so good at or doubt who you are. This can make it hard to enjoy the life you’ve been looking forward to for the last six months.
So, let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to boost your confidence in the post-lockdown world.
Make Plans with Friends
When we spend time with people that love us, we feel better about ourselves. When we’re low, we call our friends to pick us up and give us a boost. When something bad happens, they are the people that seem to make it better. Even making plans to see your friends can provide you with something to look forward to. So, do it!
Make a list of people you would like to take with you to the beach for a weekend getaway, and then contact them and see if they’re free. Spending time in nature with our closest people can be incredibly healing and motivating.
Moreover, now you have a good reason to buy that cute tankini top you’ve been eyeing for a while now. Perhaps you can even get matching pieces with your best friends for fun.
At the moment, rules and restrictions are frequently changing, so make sure you keep an eye on any changes and take the appropriate precautions. Plans should be tentative and easy to cancel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make them.
Take Control of Your Health and Fitness
If you’ve spent every evening lying on the sofa binge-watching your favorite shows, indulging in a glass of wine, and picking at comforting snacks, you’re not alone. Most of us are coming out of lockdown with a few extra pounds.
This is fine. We needed comfort, and we took it where we could. But the bad habits that you’ve developed might be hurting not only your confidence but also your health and fitness.
Now is the time to take control. Get back into healthy habits, find ways to balance your diet with some healthy swaps, and get back into an exercise routine that you can stick to, even if it’s a very gradual start.
Consider Your Appearance
Appearance is a major part of holding onto confidence. While yes, it sounds very superficial, there’s just something so nice about getting a new haircut, an outfit, or even having a recovery from mommy makeover. Besides, doing these appearance changes can be for the better. If you’re changing your hair, maybe your hair needed a cut in the first place. It may be needed for your health if you’re working towards weight loss. In general, never feel guilty for trying to improve yourself, even if it’s just the physical aspects of yourself.
While it has no doubt been nice to let go, making an effort with your appearance again, whether it’s putting makeup on, dying your hair, taking hair loss tablets, or ironing your clothes, can make you feel better about yourself.
More than this, taking control of the particulars of your appearance that cause you to worry and be upset can be a big boost. Hair loss is a common problem, and certainly, one that can damage your confidence. Many people desperately search for a cure for hair loss and struggle to feel good about their hairline.
If this is you, hair loss treatment from a place like Manual can offer you a confidence boost as you step back out into the real world. Manual gives you the chance to grow your hair with hair loss tablets, boosting your confidence in the process.
Think About When You’ve Felt Confident
If your confidence is very low, and you are finding it hard to see any positives in yourself or your life, reverse engineering is a great option. Think back to a time when you have felt confident, self-assured, and happy. A time when you have been 100% sure you knew what you were doing and happy with yourself.
Ask yourself what made you feel that way. Was it doing something you knew you were good at? Or that you loved? Was it being with people that made you happy? Try to assess why you felt good and recreate it as much as you can. Boosting your confidence will make you feel positive about yourself and your life.
Practice Self-Care
This is the perfect time to take care of yourself. You need self-care more than ever when you are struggling with self-love. Give yourself time. Buy yourself a treat, spend some time doing things you enjoy, take a long bath, go for a walk, and get an early night. Listen to your body and your mind, and give them what they need.
Remember, six months is a long time. We’ve been living a completely different life for a long time. Our lives went from normal to completely out of the realms of our imagination withing days. Quite suddenly, we couldn’t do what we loved, go to work, or even go shopping for food without thinking about it and making plans.
We had to make fast changes, we had to adjust, and we had to find ways to cope. But we shouldn’t expect just to be able to snap back as quickly now that life is changing again. Take your time, take it slow, and if you feel a little lost and uncertain, it’s fine. It’s to be expected. Take your time, be prepared for a few wobbles, and try to enjoy life as much as you can. Your confidence will come back as you settle into another new way of life, but it won’t happen overnight. Boosting your confidence post-lockdown will make a difference and bring happiness in your life.
