What is confidence?  This is a great question to ask because confidence is a precursor to getting results. When one of my mentees asked me how to improve their confidence, I realized I needed to get a better handle on what exactly it is.  It’s one thing to have it,  another to know how to help others cultivate it. 
In my experience, confidence comes from having a belief that you’ll figure it out or find a way. The pitfall is to base your confidence only on your competence.  The problem is …

Where does real and durable self-confidence come from?  Lasting confidence doesn’t come from your track record.  It doesn’t come from outside factors.  Real and durable confidence comes from the inside out.  In Overachievement: The New Science of Working Less to Accomplish More, John Eliot, Ph.D. writes about real confidence.
First Comes Confidence Then Comes Success
Eliot writes:
You make a big sale, close a deal, or hit one out of the park, and you feel great.  But that delight is not to be confused with real and durable confidence.  But that delight is …

 
Does fear of failure hold you back?  Don’t be the person in your life that holds you back.  Be the first person that picks you up when you fall down. 
Perfectionism can get in the way of your best results.  Don’t let it push your off your path.  Mistakes are a part of life.  You can either embrace them and find the lessons, or you can try to avoid them and become a shadow of your potential self. 
In Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Revised and Updated, David Burns …

If you don’t have high self-esteem by default, you can build it by design.  You can treat self-esteem as a skill and develop it by using specific techniques.
In Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Revised and Updated, David Burns writes about three techniques for improving self esteem.
3 Techniques to Boost Self-EsteemBurns identifies 3 techniques for boosting self-esteem:

Technique 1. Talk back to that internal critic.
Technique 2. Use Mental biofeedback.
Technique 3. Cope don’t mope.

Technique 1 – Talk Back to That Internal CriticAccording to Burns, technique #1 is talking back to your …