Do you ever feel like you have zero self-confidence? It happens to the best of us.

Everyone has that one critic trying to squash our goals and instilling doubts in us - the kicker, it's you. We are our own harshest critics. Your inner critic can be damaging to your self-confidence as a lack of confidence will always hold you back from going after what you want. So, what can you do to build your self-confidence?

Read on for our tips on how to silence your inner critic and boost your self-confidence.

Use positive affirmation

Positive affirmations are uplifting statements that you say to remind yourself of how amazing you are. Take things you do well and bring out your strengths by reminding yourself of those. It helps in handling negative feelings about yourself and in building your self-confidence.

"Affirmations are a powerful tool to deliberately install desired beliefs about yourself."
- Nikki Carnevale

When you repeat a positive affirmation continuously, it slowly seeps into your mind and reaffirms your internal thinking, which works to chase away any negativity. Using positive affirmations such as, "I'm good at coming up with ideas", "I'm great at communicating with people" or "I have a knack for solving difficult problems" is a fantastic way of reprogramming your mind to see yourself in a better light.

Visualise where you see yourself

The mind is a powerful thing and picturing where you want to be is a great way to see how you'll achieve the success you crave.

"What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve."
- Napoleon Hill

When you struggle with low self-confidence, you have a poor perception of yourself - visualising yourself as a confident and fantastic person plays a part in boosting your self-confidence. By envisioning how you'll reach your goals, you'll soon find yourself being more confident as you take steps in pursuing your dreams.

Leverage your strengths

If you're always thinking about how you're not good at one thing or another, your self-confidence will slowly plummet. Instead of focussing on your weaknesses, reflect on your strengths. By embracing your strengths, you'll boost your self-confidence.

"Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses."
- Roy T. Bennett

Your confidence is dependent on how much you believe you're successful. We often forget to appreciate how far we've come in our journey and what we've already achieved. By concentrating on your strengths, you'll realise how talented you are and believe in yourself.

Upskill yourself

Not many people realise that learning new things instils confidence in oneself. Think about it. If you're unprepared in a situation and have no idea what's going on your self-confidence drops.

"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."
- Arthur Ashe

Having an awareness of the world around you is a boost to your self-confidence. If you're unsure of something, brush up on your skills or learn new things. By upskilling yourself, you'll become a more confident and well-rounded person.

At the end of the day, confidence is something that you have to build up. Itâ's important to remember that self-confidence doesn't develop overnight and it's something that happens over time. By working on your self-confidence, you'll soon have the power to go for what you want in life and accomplish your goals.