5 small hacks to boost your self-confidence

You may think of confidence as something you either have or don't have, but several participants in a recent Quora thread think you can hack your self-esteem.

The thread was started by a self-described teenager who struggles with confidence. "What are some confidence hacks?" they asked the Internet.

Here are five responses that can help people of all ages feel better about themselves:

This one may sound peculiar, but Jason T Widjaja swears by it.

"When you are walking down the street, imagine you are a big gorilla. Imagine yourself taking up space, and swing your long, powerful arms around," they wrote.

"The brain is a wonderful thing. By merely thinking about this, our body starts straightening up, we slow down and take bigger steps, and take up more space."

Though there don't appear to be any studies on the gorilla walk, research confirms the general theory. A 2008 study found that people rated themselves as more qualified for jobs when they sat up straight and held their chests out.

You can also try the "power pose" advocated by Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy, which involves standing with your legs apart and hands on your hips. As Cuddy says in her TED Talk, "Fake it 'til you become it."

According to Gianni Cara, the trick to staying cool, calm, and collected in any situation is not letting external circumstances determine your behavior.

"You know that guy who keeps his cool even when the world is about to fall down? He looks pretty confident, doesn't he?" they wrote.

"That's because he's not a reactive person. Instead, he has an active approach to most of the situations he [gets] involved [in]."

Cara suggests recalling when you've reacted emotionally in the past and assessing how you'd like to react in the future. That way, you have a plan for next time the situation comes up.

Unfortunately, said Theo J Ellis, there's no antidote to awkwardness, so you'd better just get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Since the original Quora user mentioned a crush they were scared to approach, Ellis recommended talking to him as often as possible so it won't be so scary anymore.

"Throw yourself into the deep end, adjust along the way, practice, and more importantly, practice being more of your true self," they said.

Matt Hearnden tried all sorts of tricks to improve their confidence—until they realized they really needed to grant themselves permission to be confident.

"There aren't really any hacks. Or techniques. Or tricks. There are only questions," they wrote. "Questions like: What's stopping you from being confident?"

Their answer was that they didn't feel worthy of confidence. "Now I know that I'm a person who is worthy of being confident. What will it take for you to realize you're allowed to be confident?"

David Hayden made peace with potentially looking like a fool when they realized everyone else is one, too.

"You are an idiot. A complete and total fool," they wrote. "Everyone else is an idiot too! Complete blabbering numbskulls."

If you've done something right this week, they said, you're already ahead of everyone else.

Your discomfort and self-doubt don't have to last forever, and these tips could help you become more confident than you ever thought you deserved to be.