What has happened to our self-confidence? Are we experiencing a meltdown of this critical trait that is needed for happiness and survival? The answer is maybe and if so, how can we fix this problem?

Many of the answers to the issue at hand exist in the areas of life concerned with health and wellness. Fitness (physical, mental, psychological, intellectual, etc.), yoga, and food are three essential sub-categories to focus on in order to build your self-confidence.

Before I give you twelve tips that can help your journey to a state of higher self-esteem, let’s look at what we read, see, and hear in popular culture every day, which affects each and every one of our relationships to our inner self-reliance. I read an article yesterday on Yahoo! about this photograph of three un-airbrushed models including Alessandra Ambrosio, Crystal Renn, and Brooklyn Decker. 

This picture blatantly displays the imperfections of the three women, ripples, roles, cellulite and all. We see such displays frequently in tabloid magazines such as People and US that show similar candid pictures of celebrities in the “just like us” pages. Free of stylists, make-up artists, hairdressers, and airbrushing masters, it is clear that models and actors are indeed humans with unique flaws, yes, just like the rest of us. Nonetheless, in my third eye center, I admit I can see Brad Pitt’s abs and wind-blown hair beside Angelina Jolie’s porcelain skin and luscious lips as recalled from W Magazine’s many famous spreads of the duo.

How can we cope with these images of hotter than hot Photoshopped bodies that become imprinted in our minds? Start by forgetting about photographs and then try to see your Self. As you realize your weaknesses, build in some basic tenets of how to achieve your own self-confidence from the inside out.

1. Exercise. Any form of cardio activity increases metabolism and releases endorphins, cortisol, and many other brain chemicals and hormones, all of which will make you feel good and powerful.

2. Study the philosophy of yoga, which incorporates Self-Study (Svadyaya) and many other self-enhancing principles that help to shed the identifications and definitions that life has imposed upon you. The physical yoga practice is an amazing way to keep you in shape, but the philosophy of yoga must be studied as well.

3. Eat healthy and habitually staying away from extreme habits such as the constant cleanse, diet or binge. If your body is not balanced, it will neither feel good nor look the way YOU want it to. With that to worry about, it is unlikely that you will feel confident.

4. Do things you enjoy on your free time like reading a great book, watching a movie, talking to friends, hanging out with your children, listening to music, going to a museum, or having sex.

5. Avoid seeking or caring about the approval of others.

6. Take smart risks and enjoy their outcomes regardless of what they are. You can always start again with a leg-up having learned from your mistakes.

7. Learn to deal with uncertainty.

8. Surround yourself with people who you love and who love you, who make you laugh, and are non-judgmental.

9. Give to your friends, partners and others. Giving is a wonderful way to breed self-assurance because the focus is not you.

10. Seek out mentors you admire and who can help to guide you in life.

11. Meditate.

12. Sleep.