Fake It 'Til You Make It

When you’re in need of a confidence boost, there are ways to channel your inner warrior. Sharon Walker shares the secrets to success

- Sharon Walker

It’s that magic ingredient that gets most human endeavours off the ground. With it you can shoot for the stars. Without it, opportunities can fizzle out faster than damp fireworks. It’s frustrating then that confidence is often such an elusive quality, especially for women.

“We tend to doubt ourselves more and underestimate our own abilities,” believes leadership expert Margie Warrell, who says that confidence breeds more confidence. “It’s a snowball effect: if you’re confident enough to walk into a room and introduce yourself, for instance, you’ll learn things from it and get feedback that affirms you. Then you can try something bigger next time.”

It doesn’t help that we’re wired differently from men. One study suggests that women have 30% more neurons firing in some parts of the brain at any given moment, which is useful for multitasking but also means we’re prone to overthink. Men also have the advantage of more testosterone to boost natural confidence.

Thankfully, confidence is a life tool that can be learnt. Read on to find out how you can build, radiate and genuinely feel more confident…

How to BUILD confidence

There’s a host of things we can do to build confidence. Firstly, we have to learn to “doubt the doubt”, as Warrell puts it. And – crucially – not let it dictate our decisions. “No one is immune to fear of failure,” says Warrell. “It’s part and parcel of being human. It’s what we do next that matters.”