Self-confidence lies at the heart of many of the behaviours that we find attractive and impressive in others and affects our own ability to be successful and happy in our personal and working lives. Is this an over-statement? No. Is it easy to be confident if you are not? No. Should you still aim to increase your confidence? Absolutely.

In an article on lifehacker.com, Eric Ravenscraft provides some positive examples of action you can take to achieve a “healthy confidence” and also points to some of the scientific evidence that indicates why such action is effective. He writes, “In the purest sense, confidence is knowing what you’re good at, the value you provide, and acting in a way that conveys that to others. Contrast this with arrogance which typically involves believing you are better in a particular area than you are, or low self-esteem which involves believing you’re less valuable than you think. The closer your self-assessment is to that reality in the middle, and the more you behave accordingly, the closer you are to displaying healthy confidence. Read more…

If you’d like to measure how confident you are at this moment, take the Mindtools test, calculate your score and get some great action tips. Maybe your journey to greater self-confidence begins here. Aim to appear more confident and eventually it will simply be who you are…