Have you ever done something that you thought would be difficult and then you got through it and it wasnt as hard as you thought it would be?

I remember learning how to ride a motorcycle. I had a friend who had a 250cc dirt bike motorcycle. I was in high school at the time and seeing my friend ride his dirt bike the way he did made me a little nervous to try it out myself. With the desire to learn, I got on the bike and tried to get the motorcycle going. If you have ever learned how to ride a motorcycle, you know just getting the motorcycle to go can be difficult. After a few more attempts, I was off and running.

There is really no magic pill you can take to build confidence. However, the more and more you are willing to get out and try new things the more confidence you will build.

How about meeting new people? Are you comfortable around new people? Are you comfortable introducing yourself and getting to know someone? Knowing how to introduce yourself and being able to make conversation with someone is a skill worth learning. Having this skill will not only help you in business, but in all aspects of your life. This skill will come handy when going through an interview, meeting other parents from your childs school, networking, sales, and meeting your neighbor. However, the only way to get good at this is to get out there and do it.

The way to build confidence is to do the thing you fear. I remember my first public talk I gave. I was speaking to a church youth group and I remember my mentor at the time in the back of the room shaking his head and smiling. I was sweating bullets. I was stuttering my words and all I could do from falling over was to hold on to the podium.

From the look of my mentor I was doing fine, but I sure was not feeling good. However, I got through it. And the more I spoke in front of people the better I got, and the more comfortable I became. I started to look people in the eyes and smile, and my personality began to come out.

Building confidence is a lot like learning to ride a bike. At first you need a lot of encouragement. My mentor was there to encourage me along the way. You need to trust in the person holding you upright. I trusted in my mentor who was there teaching me how to speak in front of a group. In addition, after learning how to ride you continue to have close calls. However, youre moving forward, and before you know it your going off jumps and having a good time.

Sometimes you may be the one who needs to say encouraging words to yourself. There is nothing wrong with this. There will be many times when you will have to give yourself a little pep talk, or say some inspiring words to help yourself get through a nervous situation.

To build confidence you need to get out there and try new things. When I was learning how to snow ski I had a very hard time. I cant believe I never broke a bone. It was a crazy experience, but I had a lot of fun and I really wanted to learn.

This summer I learn to water ski. I picked it up right away. Next summer I am going to try wake boarding. Right now, I am learning to snow board. I am having a great time doing all these new things, but if I was never willing to step out of my comfort zone I never would have built the confidence to try new things.

I make it a point to get out and try new things, meet new people, and build upon each new success I have. With each new success, I build enough confidence to tackle my next challenge and you can do the same.