Boost your confidence with top tips and you will shine with self-assurance.

If you believe you are ok, other people will believe it too. Tell your inner voice to shut up when it is saying negative things. If it is always telling you, you look fat; you are going to feel fat. So ignore the bad stuff and don’t give yourself negative message. Instead, boost your self-confidence by telling yourself how great you are looking. And if you feel stupid thinking,’ I’m great I am’, listen to your favorite uplifting tune before you go out. Sing it in your head before you walk into a room and you will feel like a million dollars.

If you are stuck in a rut with your shyness, join a club or society where you can be a ‘new’ person. Chuck off all the years you’ve been known as shy teen, and start again as someone confident and outgoing. Don’t wait for a particular time to do new things. Just because your mum and dad have never been into amateur dramatics or whatever, it doesn’t mean you can’t. Learn a new skill, conquer a challenge and meet new people. Your confidence will soar and you will feel much happier.

When you meet new people, the first 30 seconds are crucial as that is when we make our most important judgments about others. What you look like or what you wear does not matter. It is the way you walk in and meet people that count. If you are shy, pretend to be someone else. Fake it until it comes naturally by imagining yourself as a confident celebrity. Stand up straight and walk in. Hold your head high, smile and make eye contact. You are gorgeous.

Meeting people for the first time can be an odd moment, but it does not have to. If you are meeting new people and no one is really talking to each other, the best thing you can do is take the lead. You will get over the embarrassment far quicker if you make friends rather than dragging out an awkward moment. Take a deep breath, smile and say ‘hi, I’m xx, what is your name?’ And that is it! If you still have time to chat, ask questions like where they are from, what school they go to and what music they like, and before you know it you will be chatting like old friends. By making the first move, you’ll seem self assured and be the person who impresses rather than the one who is forgotten.

If you are shy, family gatherings can be one of the most awkward times of the year. Your friends are not there to back you up, and instead you are surrounded by so many relatives some of whom you don’t know well, who either is treating you like a child or teasing you because you don’t have a boyfriend right now! If you go to a cousin’s wedding, the best thing to do is join in. If you are just going to stand around in a mood then you will have to rubbish time. But if you join in, hand around a coffee or something or go for a quick dance, you will amaze yourself by having fun.

Within families and sometimes even with friends you can known as ‘the shy one’. But just because you have been pigeon holed doesn’t mean you have to live up to your name. There is a tendency to live up to the labels someone else puts on us. But shake them off and try another one. Think of what you are good at and use that skill to help build up your confidence. This self-assurance will shine through and replace the negative labels.