You might have noticed you aren’t as confident as you once were: You aren’t alone. As you get older it is natural to struggle with confidence where you don’t look or feel the same as you once did. You’re older and you may not have the same strength or energy as you once did but that doesn’t mean you need to feel less capable or less assured. The problem is you are discounting your experiences, success and wisdom, which you didn’t have when you were younger. This has a huge impact on feeling confident again after 50.
The fact is, it is possible and even common, to improve your health and vitality and once again feel strong and capable. Doing so comes down to developing consistent habits that can change your appearance and your mindset. This article provides practical steps or habits you can develop that will make you feel strong mentally and physically, making you feel more confident than ever before.
The Link Between Hormones and Confidence
Hormones play a large role in aging as well as in your confidence level. Testosterone naturally declines as you get older. This negatively impacts your energy levels, motivation, mood, and strength. However, you don’t have to accept a loss of testosterone without a fight.
There are a few things you can do to stabilize and even increase testosterone levels:
- Do strength training regularly to increase testosterone levels and energy.
- Put a high priority on getting quality sleep which supports hormone balance and improves energy levels..
- Engage in effective stress management exercises, such as meditation, to stabilize your mood and energy.
- Eat foods that are nutrient-rich, such as healthy fats and lean proteins, to maintain hormonal health.
- Supplement with Ashwagandha, which reduces cortisol and increases testosterone levels, and D-Aspartic Acid (DAA) which has also been shown to increase testosterone levels
You can regain your confidence as well as improve your energy levels, and attitude towards life. Adopting a few habits that manage your hormone levels will set you on a path to feeling better and more self assured.
Inflammation: The Hidden Confidence Killer
You probably don’t think of chronic inflammation as something that can affect your confidence but it can drain your energy and enthusiasm for life. Inflammation is your body’s response to injury, infection and irritation. It is caused by stress, bad diet, inactivity, infections and toxins. Even low levels of inflammation leave you feeling tired, foggy, and less capable [1].
To improve your confidence you need to address inflammation directly by adopting these tips:
- Make sure you add anti-inflammatory foods such as leafy greens, berries, nuts, and fatty fish to your meals..
- Include exercises like walking or biking as a regular part of your routine to help reduce inflammation levels.
- Practice meditation regularly, which decreases cortisol, adrenaline and, in turn, inflammatory cytokine production
Your energy level and general health has much to do with confidence. Without correcting inflammation you aren’t able to effectively improve your confidence.
Revisit Confidence in Midlife
When you were younger you may have felt that if you had more experience you would feel more confident. As you age, you’ve gained experience, wisdom and personal fulfillment but forget these primary drivers of confidence. Your perspective seems to have changed as you focus more on your looks and vitality – you need to change it back. Your ability to understand the world, borrowing from your past experiences, to engage with the present provides the greatest amount of confidence. This knowledge and life experience makes you more capable in most situations.
Instead of worrying about your appearance and energy levels, you need to revisit the meaning of confidence in midlife by:
- Recognizing your past successes and how your experiences make you more capable.
- Change your state of mind to focus on skills and wisdom you’ve earned over time more than external validation
- Value continuous learning and personal growth to improve your competence and self worth.
Stop focusing on things that are on the outside and focus on what is inside – your life-time of learning, experiences and successes. Adopt habits that reinforce this mindset and you will build a solid foundation of confidence as you age.
Better Posture, Better Confidence
The way you look and present yourself impacts how you feel and how others feel about you. Look weak with slumping shoulders and poor posture and you will feel weak. This erodes your self esteem and confidence over time but is mostly within your control. By standing up tall with your head high and chest out, sends a signal of strength and confidence not only to your brain but also to the outside world.
Adopt these tips to improve your posture and confidence:
- Stretch daily to keep your muscles flexible and your joints less stiff.
- Start resistance training to strengthen your back and core muscles, which will help properly align your posture.
- Try mindfulness exercises: practice being more aware of your posture making adjustments throughout the day.
It is easy to fall into bad habits over time that affect your posture. With a gradual decrease in strength, bad posture becomes the norm. By focusing on good posture through awareness and stretching and strength training you not only improve your appearance but also your confidence.
Build Mental Strength with Discomfort
One of the best things you can do to improve your self esteem and confidence is challenge yourself by doing new things that are beyond your comfort zone. Perhaps this is why men feel good about changing their lives and lifestyle upon entering a mid-life crisis. While I don’t advocate a mid-life crisis, facing discomfort on purpose helps build resilience and mental toughness, important traits for remaining confident as you age.
Try these practical tips to build discomfort into your daily routine:
- Take cold showers or plunges to build tolerance and spike your energy.
- Try intermittent fasting to improve discipline and for other health benefits.
- Join your local Toastmasters group to improve your public speaking skills or try something else that causes you fear i.e. meeting new people or asking for help.
Take a leap and try something new, something that causes you discomfort. Starting small is ok – take small steps that are slightly uncomfortable to eventually master large challenges. Embracing discomfort regularly will build resilience and mental toughness, improving your confidence to take on life’s challenges.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
There is almost always going to be someone better than you in everything. Even if you are the best in the world, it does you no good to focus on the progress of others. It causes anxiety and greatly undermines your confidence, especially as you get older. It is so easy to compare yourself to others on social media, but not as easy to compare your own progress. In addition, comparison of other’s success never really tells the full story (what they had to do to get where they are) and only serves to sap your energy.
Stop comparing yourself using these simple strategies:
- Stop spending so much time on social media and when you do be aware of how it makes you feel.
- Focus only on your own goals and keep track of your progress with a journal or using apps,
- Communicate to yourself how grateful you are for your strengths and accomplishments, shifting your attention away from others
By not comparing yourself to others you end up building a healthier self-image, allowing you to improve your confidence and enjoy yourself as you progress.
Competence Builds Confidence
While the skills and experience you’ve built up over the years count a great deal towards boosting one’s confidence, staying current and building new skills reinforces your confidence level. When you master something new, you feel more capable, providing continual reinforcement. It can be something small like learning to prepare a new recipe, or a bigger challenge like learning to fight or mastering a new technology.
You can build your competence by:
- Learning to fight – take up Jiu-jitsu so you can take care of yourself if conflict presents itself. A very specific skill but one that will boost the confidence of most men
- Identifying new skills or interests that you want to learn and then diving in.
- Setting SMART goals to reach new milestones in knowledge or skills
- Celebrating achievements, even if they seem small, as you progress with learning something new.
By continually learning and growing, even if it means updating your current knowledge and skills, will help boost your self-esteem and keep you positively engaged while improving your confidence.
Conclusion: Confident Again After 50
With the right attitude and small habits you can adopt over time, you can increase your confidence, in spite of your age. Yes, you will need to address your hormone health, inflammation, mindset and step outside of your comfort zone but with the suggestions included in this article, this is within your control. Feel confident again after 50 by taking steps today.
Check out How Exuding Confidence for Men Is Surprisingly Easy.
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The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the support and guidance of your physician when you are unsure about any health issues.
