True confidence comes from within and is quite the opposite of ‘fake it till you make it’. You’ll know a genuinely confident person when you meet them; they don’t need to shout about their abilities, they hold space for other people and they very capably get on and get stuff done.

Self confidence comes from being able to trust in your innate abilities and know that no matter the problem, you’re able to find a solution. From my experience, the best way to build self confidence is to go out and take action even if it’s imperfect or a bit scary.

Here are 5 self confidence boosting habits you can start today:

1. Prepare. ‘Winging it’, ‘flying by the seat of your pants’ and ‘hoping for the best’ are not strategies that confident people use, instead they research, practice and prepare.

2. Believe in your abilities. A task I often give my coaching clients who lack confidence is to list out ten successes. We’re often very quick to highlight what we can’t do and overlook how capable we really are. Acknowledging our zones of genius builds self confidence.

3. See ‘failure’ as a learning opportunity. When you reframe things that don’t work as an opportunity to try doing something a different way, you’re on the path to building self confidence.

4. Ask for help and get feedback. The only way we get better is by understanding where we have opportunities for growth. Asking other people for feedback can be scary, however you’ll likely find out where people think you’re doing well (great confidence builder) as well as where you have room for improvement.

5. Regulate your emotions. Being able to keep a cool head even when things aren’t going well means you’re more likely to be kept in communication loops both at work and at home. Knowing that people trust you is gold for self confidence.

I’ve also found that having a clear goal in mind is a great confidence booster, when I know why I’m taking scary action (showing up on a live video or saying yes to a TEDx talk for example) I’m better able to push through any self doubt that shows up.

What are you going to do today to start building your self confidence?

“With realisation of one’s own potential and self confidence in one’s abilities, one can build a better world.”

– Dalai Lama