Whether you're going through a break-up or loss, you deserve to feel confident again. Learn how to feel good about yourself with these clever life hacks.

Building up your self-confidence is an important part of your healing process. Having that self-confidence can even improve your career prospects.

It's also not an easy thing to do. If you've suffered a loss, or gone through a break-up, it's natural that your self-confidence might fall.

Thankfully, it doesn't need to stay low. It's within your grasp to feel good about yourself. You just need to know the tricks that will get you there.

Wondering how to feel good about yourself? Read on to learn more.

Speak Kindly to Yourself

How often do you find yourself berating yourself throughout the day? This is particularly common if you make a simple mistake.

Phrases like "I'm so stupid", "I can't believe I did that", or "It's no wonder he left, I'm such a loser" might drift through your mind.

Would you say these things to your best friend if they got something wrong? Or a child?

No. You'd say something comforting and remind them that it's not just natural to make mistakes. It's what makes us human.

So next time you make a mistake, don't throw insults at yourself. Learn whatever you need to from it, be grateful for the lesson, and treat yourself kindly.

Create Positive Affirmations

Use affirmations to re-program your mind to find good things about yourself. These can be as simple as you need them to be.

Choose 5-6 things about yourself that you like. You can add more later, but keep it manageable while you're starting out.

Turn these into simple statements you can repeat to yourself. Examples could include:

• I always remember my friends' birthdays and buy thoughtful gifts
• I am always calm in a crisis
• I cheer people up with my friendly demeanor
• I am a loving and nurturing person

Are you struggling to think of anything positive? Ask a few trusted friends what they value about you. Use what they say to form your affirmations.

Make sure you pick phrases you resonate with. If you try to tell yourself something you don't believe, it won't have the same impact.

PRACTICE RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

Stress can take a toll on both our mental and physical health. That's why it's important to have some relaxation techniques at your disposal.

Some people find meditation or deep breathing helps them unwind. Others prefer yoga, tai chi, or going for a walk in nature. You may also include sound healing training in your routine, This form of therapy uses sound vibrations to promote deep relaxation and healing.

Whatever you choose, make sure it allows you to let go of stress and tension from your body and mind. This will help you feel more balanced and centered, allowing you to approach life with more confidence.

Adopt a New Look

Re-invention is always a fun way to make yourself feel better about yourself. It's also a healthy form of creative expression. Look at Madonna and Lady Gaga!

Consider changing your hairstyle or have a whole new color. Go through your wardrobe and take out anything you haven't worn in 18 months.

Donate it to a thrift store, have a yard sale, or sell it on eBay. Buy new clothes that flatter your figure and tell the world what you want them to know about you.

The whole point of adopting a new look is to play with style. Make getting dressed into a game. Why not get that piercing or tattoo you always wanted?

It sounds shallow, but you can genuinely feel better about yourself when how you look outside reflects who you are inside.

Try a New Form of Exercise

We're not suggesting you need to jump on a treadmill so you can lose 20 lbs. What we are suggesting is using the natural mood-enhancers of exercise to boost your self-confidence.

Exercise doesn't need to mean going to the gym. It could mean dance classes or hiking. Maybe you've always wanted to try yoga.

Exercise also helps to improve your coordination, so you'll feel better just moving through the world.

Pick a new sport you'd like to learn. It'll give you something new to focus on and you'll get to meet new people.

The mind decides what emotions you're feeling based on what the body is doing. So if you're enjoying a spinning class and grinning all the while, your mind will decide it must be happy.

It's an easy and quick way to feel better about yourself. The other benefits of exercise also make it well worth a try. 

Rebuild Yourself

If you've overcome serious illness, you need to put how you feel at the forefront of what you do. That's especially true of surviving something like cancer.

You don't have to let the disease define you. Take back control and redefine yourself.

Reconstructive surgery can help you rebuild how you see yourself. A trusted clinic like www.charlotteplasticsurgery.com has the reconstruction expertise you need to get back to your old self.

Make a Love Jar

If you like getting crafty, then you might love this one. Pick up a mason jar and decorate it however you like. The only caveat is that it makes you feel good just looking at it.

Every evening, write yourself a short note about something nice that happened that day. It might be a compliment someone paid you. Or maybe a stranger did you a good turn while you were out.

It might even just be a thing you like about yourself. You can see how this strategy works well with affirmations.

If you have a lot of visitors, ask them to write something they like about you or a treasured memory. This can really boost your self-confidence if it comes from others.

At the end of every month, hold a self-love ritual. Light some candles and make yourself your favorite dish for dinner. Empty out the jar and re-read all the notes.

You can add them to a bigger stash to re-read at the end of the year. Or turn them into a lovely collage.

That's How to Feel Good About Yourself

The building, or re-building, your self-confidence won't happen overnight. It can be a slow process while you retrain your brain to think positive thoughts.

We've given you some suggestions about how to feel good about yourself. Pick one and try it for a week or so. See how you feel at the end of it.

If one of them doesn't work for you, try the next one. Turning this into a game makes it an enjoyable experiment. Even just trying out new strategies can help boost your self-esteem.

Whichever of these suggestions you try, we wish you all the best of luck in getting back to the most important person in the world - you!

Why not check out our other lifestyle articles for more ideas to boost your confidence?