The holidays are coming, and a lot of family gatherings are being planned, too. You might be reading this because you always shy away from awkward encounters with relatives. But since there are times family events can’t be avoided, you have to somehow work on your confidence.
The American Psychological Association cited research about shyness where a number of participants were surveyed. The survey reported that 40% of participants in the USA were experiencing shyness. This means that what you’re feeling can be common.
Still, it doesn’t hurt to pump yourself up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Check out these tips on overcoming shyness and building self-confidence.
Be Honest
If you want to dodge uncomfortable questions, be straightforward. We all know that unwanted inquiries can be annoying, but you have to handle them like a pro. Practice speaking in front of the mirror. Your aim here is to prevent people from asking the same question every time they see you. Are you tired of responding to the question, “Why aren’t you married yet?” every single year? If you are, tell them that you’re going to answer that question for the last time. Let them know that they don’t have to be impatient because they will be the first ones to know if you’re already seeing someone. In the meantime, tell them politely that you don’t want to be asked that question. Explain to them that you are not missing out on anything by being single, contrary to what they perceive. You can get serious or comedic when answering questions you’re tired of hearing. Your response will depend upon the person who is asking you. What matters most here is answering them gracefully. When you know what to tell people, you’ll surely master answering the question without being shy.
Be proactive
Be the first one to introduce yourself to your cousins. You can also be the first one to leave a conversation without being awkward. Being proactive can help you break the ice for your own sake. This can also somehow make you forget that you are shy. Another advantage of this is that you can have a chance to control a conversation. It’ll give you a way to discuss a topic you have knowledge about. Talking about something you know can give you an edge. You will have your moment to speak about your take on the topic. From there, you can build your confidence and hone your conversational skills.
Work on your fitness
There are relatives you just can’t stand because of their comments about how you look. People like them will always have something to say about your appearance. It’s good if you have enough confidence to embody your plus-size beauty. However, you can work on your fitness if you want to achieve that “revenge body” and gain more confidence. Hire a coach for weight loss to help you with motivation and proper training. Eat healthily and get enough sleep. Once you set a target weight goal, let your workout routine and diet do the work. Seeing results can give you confidence. Remember that exercising can contribute a lot to your well-being, but you have to do all this work to satisfy yourself, not to please others. That way, you’ll not get sidetracked in your fitness journey. Ultimately, you can shock your relatives with your new figure the next time you attend a family reunion.
Highlight your strengths
You’ll shine when you put emphasis on the things you are good at. Before meeting your relatives, make yourself feel better. You can do this by telling yourself that you are good enough. Enumerate your strengths and keep thinking about them. Keep these in your mind until you convince yourself that you’re a great person. It’ll be like your mantra. Telling yourself that you’re excellent in your expertise can make you believe more in your capabilities. By the time you face your relatives at your family reunion, your self-esteem will have already been established.
Learn from the experience
Since it’s a big step for you to put yourself out there at family reunions, you should also take notes. List all the things you learned from this new experience. Check if you attained your goals. You can use everything that you learned for future encounters. If the approach helped reduce your discomfort of being around relatives, then it definitely worked. The good thing here is that this isn’t only applicable to family reunions. You can apply some things you learned to any appropriate social setting. Replicate the ones that worked and modify the things that didn’t.
With your high self-esteem, handling uncomfortable questions should be easy. All you have now is a new and improved personality. With such a personality, you can handle family reunions with grace and poise and exude beauty through confidence even when under pressure.
