Have you ever met someone who is so self-assured that you think to yourself, "Dang, how are they so confident?" Becoming sure of yourself and confident in who you are may seem impossible, but it really isn’t at all.

A short while ago, I struggled waking up and facing myself in the mirror every day. I was an absolute mess when it came to being confident and self-assured in regards to who I am as a person. I still struggle with it from time to time, but on my journey to self-improvement, I have noticed certain character traits that I have developed and that confident people possess.

Confident people don’t…

They don't care about what others think.

Confident people don’t get tangled up with worrying about how they appear to others, self-appearance or not. What matters is how you view and perceive yourself. Your opinion of yourself is the only opinion that matters. If you tune out everyone else and strictly focus on positive voices that help build you up instead of tear you down, your confidence will soon start to grow from the positivity you choose to have in your life.

They don't worry about being wrong.

Confident people know that most of us are embarking on an uphill battle, and sometimes, you fall down. They know to get back up and dust off their boots only to be set on their way again. Regardless of what others think, confident people would rather try than admit defeat to someone else’s opinion. They do what they feel is the right thing.

And they don’t pretend to be something they're not.

This, in all honesty, is something I struggled with for a very long time. I was so devastated inside that I didn’t know who I truly was or what my purpose was. I chose to live in a fantasy world, always trying to be what other people wanted me to be. It served no purpose, and it only destroyed the image that I was meant to uphold by pretending to be something I'm not. I learned it's better to be accepted for your true self rather than have false admirers for being someone that you truly aren’t. Confident people have the same mindset as well.

They don’t let things get in their way.

Confident people may still face barriers or obstacles that tear them down, but they know better than to stop their progress to self-assurance for a bump in the road. We all have obstacles that seem to block any positivity from entering our lives, which is hard to see past. If you can learn that failure is a part of life, and we can all learn things from it, then you will be able to view these barriers as pathways to a better understanding instead.

They don’t make up excuses.

Confident people know better than to come up short of accomplishing something with an excuse. They know very well that they are in complete control of their lives and accept full responsibility for their actions. When wrong, they will admit defeat and try again rather than add an excuse. They don’t blame other people for any mistakes that they may encounter on their journey.

Confident people do...

They receive their happiness from within.

As I mentioned before, confident people receive most of their happiness from within. They don’t need someone else's opinion on who they are. They don’t seek out affirmation that they are what other people desire. Confident people simply glow from within with the inner love that they have gained from the experiences learned along the way.

They feel secure in their views and opinions.

Confident people are very set in their opinions but they still have the ability to keep an open mind. They know that at the end of the day, everyone has opinions, but they are strong-minded enough to have faith in what they believe without straying too far from it. No one else is able to deter them or steer them away from how they truly feel about something.

They focus on what they want.

In the back of their mind, confident people always have a goal they are striving towards. They know that it takes time, but they hone in and set out to do whatever it takes to accomplish what they want. Instead of getting upset by what they don’t have, they focus on how they can improve or do something better in order to achieve what they do want in the end. If you expect good things to happen, they often do – just from having a positive mindset.

They try to step out of their comfort zone.

Confident people know that sometimes, in order to fully achieve what you want in life, you have to go outside your comfort zone to get it. If you are always limiting yourself to something that makes you feel comfortable, you will never learn how to push yourself to the limits. Confident people don’t wait for the “right time” to do something just because they are nervous. They do things right away and get them done regardless of what others think about them.

And they focus on the positives in life.

Instead of always thinking or speaking negatively about events that happen in their lives, confident people would rather speak about the positives. Confident people know that if you speak positively and help encourage others, one day it may help others build their own self-esteem. They would rather focus on what helps them instead of focusing on what cuts them down.

My journey to confidence hasn’t been an easy one, but it has been worth something embarking on.

What are a few things that you could incorporate into your everyday life to become a little more confident?