Confidence In Just 5 Mins A Day!

Confidence is one thing that everyone wants more of. The funny
thing about confidence is that we all have it in certain
situations. But for most people, the area they feel lacking in
confidence involves other people, so these exercises are designed
for this purpose. Each exercise takes only 5 minutes a day if you
do it all at once, or longer if you spread it out. There are 3
steps to this exercise, each one designed to build a little more
confidence each time.

Step One - Eye Contact

Do step one for 10 days. Each day, go out in public whether it's
shopping, on a lunch break at work or just for a walk around your
neighborhood.

Your job is to make pleasant eye contact with another person. You
don't need to stare, but you also can't just steal a quick glance
and then look away either. Short, but definite eye contact is what
we're after here with a pleasant, casual feel.

On Day 1, you will make eye contact with one person. On Day 2, bump
it up to 2 people. Day 3, three people and so on until by Day 10
you are making eye contact with 10 people. Don't stick to one
gender (only females) or one kind of person (the elderly or
children).

It's important that you don't take other people's reactions
personally when you're doing this. Many people will look down or
away but that's just how we're all programmed to react. Don't worry
about it. Besides, if the eye contact is short and non-threatening
people won't react much anyway.

Step Two - Say Hello

Step Two is a bit harder but is huge for your confidence. Start
back at Day One and make eye contact with one person, but with one
addition. You are going to greet them in a friendly clear voice.

You can say 'Good Morning', or 'Hello' or whatever feels natural to
you. Don't take too much time picking the 'right person', just do
it with someone you're passing on the street that is looking up.

Follow the same pattern as Step One: increase the amount of people
you say 'Hi' to every day until you're greeting 10 people on Day
10. Again, forget about any reactions this exercise may cause in
other people and remember to stay pleasant no matter what.

Step Three - Random Conversations

Step Three is again a big step away from the first two steps, but
is also easier in some ways because you're only interacting with
one stranger a day.

Here's the plan:

You are going to engage in a short conversation with a random
stranger. Again, don't pick a certain type of person and don't
worry about what their reaction will be. You're simply going to ask
them 2 questions, thank them and move on.

Some suggestions:

At a bus stop, ask someone if the so-and-so bus already came.
Then ask them what time it is. Then say 'Thanks'.

At the grocery store, ask someone (not a store employee) if a
product they're looking at would be good in the soup (or whatever)
you're making. Then ask them another question related to the
product. Then say 'Thanks'.

(FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS) At work, ask that attractive co-worker
that you're scared to talk to how their weekend was. Then ask them
if they had fun. Bonus points if you can do it with friendly eye
contact and a smile. Then say 'Good to talk to you'.

After a few days of random conversations with people, it gets a lot
easier to talk to anyone in a confident way. After a month or two
of doing these exercises, you'll feel much more confident in any
social situation