No matter who you are, what you do, or where you are, you have what it takes to gain control of your mindset and your life. When you realize how much you’re in control, you’re able to enact change and feel confident enough to encourage it in the lives of others, too. To start making an impact, let’s begin by boosting your confidence. After all, it’s common to feel that you aren’t special or significant enough to inspire others. Although it may be hard to believe … you’re more special and significant than you realize!

Build Yourself Up

Increasing your self-confidence is the key to recognizing your self-worth. We’ve compiled a bunch of actions that are sure to help you think, “Hey, I can do this!”

Notice your strengths and capitalize on them.

If you’re a proficient writer, offer to help someone write:

• Their next presentation.
• A professional e-mail.
• An application to a program.
• An academic paper.

Are you a math whiz? Consider helping your friend create a budget if they ask for financial advice. If you’re a great negotiator, offer to help your friend get a good deal on the car they want to buy.

By acknowledging your strengths and using them frequently, you’ll discover that you’re more effective at enacting positive change than you gave yourself credit for. (This does not mean we’re encouraging you to ignore your weaknesses, you should still work on those.)

Give yourself the kindness and forgiveness that you’d give to a friend.

When you make a mistake or are going through a difficult time, support yourself. Imagine your friend is experiencing the same situation and what kind of advice you’d give them. Now give that same advice to yourself.

Make relationships with people who reciprocate value and respect.

Surround yourself with folks who treat you as a valuable addition to their life. Don’t settle for relationships where respect isn’t mutual. You deserve to have friends, colleagues, and family who only want the best for you and expect the best of you.

Recognize Your Worth

Once you’re holding your head a little higher, and smiling a little brighter, it’s time to recognize your worth. Rule number one: You establish your worth! Change your perspective on value. Your value isn’t decided by others; it’s decided by you. The moment a negative thought about yourself or your performance arises is the moment you throw that thought away. Replace it with a positive reassurance that you’re doing everything to the best of your ability. Stop allowing negative thoughts to live freely in your head. Change your mindset to just let positive thoughts in. This is the only type of thinking that will benefit you and help you move forward.

In addition to adjusting your mindset, we encourage you to avoid situations that make you question your self-worth. This means staying away from people who put you down, make you uncomfortable, or just seem to drain you of your energy. It also means removing the influences in your life that give you negative thoughts. Often, the content we expose ourselves to causes us to think, “I wish I was that smart,” or “I could never be that influential.” If you can’t switch “I can’t” thinking to “I can,” then you might want to remove those influences from your life or dial back your exposure to them.

Remind yourself of these facts until they’re engrained into your brain: 

• I can achieve my dreams. 
• I’m worthy of love and respect. 
• My value is determined by me. 
• I will have a positive impact on others. 
• Everyone is capable of change, including me!

Start the Reaction

When you’ve boosted your self-confidence and self-worth and are feeling like taking on any and every challenge—do it! Get out there and start lifting people up. Help people realize their potential, just as you’re realizing yours. Show others that positive change doesn’t have to start with a big step; it just starts with one step. Once you get the ball rolling, you can make a difference. Check out these specific behaviors common amongst people who positively impact the world. You don’t have to be famous or rich to start behaving like a leader and changing people’s lives. You just have to be willing to take action, stick to it, and have a deep desire to inspire change.

Because inspiring change is hard work, it’s easy to lose energy and then lose momentum. Learn how to maintain your momentum, here.