Are you the type of person who feels self-conscious often? Perhaps you’re not fond of being under the spotlight, or maybe you aren’t comfortable with the idea that eyes are on you. Whatever it is, you can consider these ways to improve that.

When you stay self-conscious all the time, it could affect how you interact with others and how you see yourself. Sometimes, it also promotes negative thinking. Before it gets that far, you might want to change your perspective.

There’s a lot to touch on if you want to feel less self-conscious. If you aren’t sure where to start, here are five ways on how to be less self conscious. Keep reading!

1. Focus on Your Strengths

Experts suggest learning how to focus on your strengths. It means recognizing your talents, skills, and abilities without comparing yourself to others.

By focusing on your strengths, it prevents you from thinking you have low self worth and boosts how you feel about yourself. Moreover, it teaches you to pay closer attention to yourself rather than worry about others, which is often the root of self-consciousness.

Additionally, when you realize what hurdles and objectives you’ve overcome, it gives you an overview of your progress. This way, it can keep you reminded of what you’re capable of the next time you encounter a challenge.

Focusing on your strengths is also one way to enhance them. You learn to work towards getting better at the things you do well. And so, it teaches you how to face hurdles and accept them moving forward.

2. Understand How the Spotlight Effect Works

Researchers refer to excessive feelings of self-awareness as the spotlight effect. It defines the thoughts and emotions you experience when you think people are paying close attention to you or judging your flaws.

It causes people to misjudge the way others comment on behavior, appearance, manners, and the like. But in most cases, the people around you aren’t scrutinizing you as much as you feel.

If you understand that the spotlight effect can cause this, it prevents you from getting too overwhelmed. At the same time, it allows room to teach you to appreciate yourself better.

Getting a grasp of how the spotlight effect works can also change how you act toward others. You spend less time thinking too much about what they do, how they act, or what they look like. In a way, it allows you to develop your character just as much as it improves your thinking.

3. Practice Self-Acceptance and Love

Many say accepting and loving yourself is the key to feeling better overall. But one concern for many is that they don’t know where to start.

When you learn to appreciate yourself, you get to let go of your extremely self conscious tendencies. It allows you to focus on the things you enjoy and helps you feel more patient with your pace.

At the same time, it teaches you to develop other parts of your life, whether skills or personality. Learning to accept yourself can lower your chances of feeling self-doubt.

We most recommend taking time in your day to meditate and self-reflect. By practicing different ways to self-reflect, you get to improve your perception of yourself. As a result, you can recognize the things you’re good at and continue improving from there.

4. Work Towards Being Confident in Yourself

If you want to counter self-consciousness, confidence is the key. Although it’s not something everyone can get used to quickly, you can work your way towards it.

For example, if you start thinking, “I’m insecure about my looks,” you can change your hairstyle or look up Hollywood smile treatments. Another way is by adjusting your fashion style or trying something new.

You can also expand your comfort zone by learning a different skill or trying something you wouldn’t have before. These can help you build your sense of self-worth and make you feel comfortable in your own capabilities.

Some even find it helpful to get into counseling which helps them understand their capacities and teaches them to get the best out of them.

5. Think Outward

Experts suggest developing outward thinking to reduce feelings of anxiety and self-consciousness. A great way to do this is by shifting your focus to what’s around you rather than toward yourself.

The more you think about what surrounds you, the less you have room to worry about what others direct to you. And so, it can reduce time spent on internal conflict and the feelings that come with it.

Outward thinking also benefits the people around you since it teaches you to focus on how you affect others. When you work in a team, it refers to your contributions to achieve your group’s goals.

But on a personal level, it teaches you that other people have different focuses. So, if you worry about them scrutinizing you a lot, the reality is most likely the other way around.

Learning How to Be Less Self Conscious

It takes a while to learn how to be less self conscious, and maybe even longer to get used to it. But when you do, it allows you to build a better mindset towards yourself and others.

Many suggest starting with how you feel about yourself before moving on to how others feel. This way, you also learn to prioritize how your experiences affect you and how to control it so it doesn’t hurt you.

If you want to learn more, check out the rest of our blog!