It may seem like common sense, or too simple to be taken seriously, but I will vouch for this one any day. Regardless of the skill, luck, or passion you have for what you do, nothing will contribute to the success of your actions more than confidence.

This doesn't mean you can just simply move up in life filled only with complete bullshit (although this isn't uncommon). Instead, you need to really stand out and make others feel confident about what you do and what you are doing for them.

Why Is Confidence So Important?

We all know of very skilled people in very specific areas of knowledge. We know of the "go to" people for specific kinds of jobs. Now, think about the person who has the skill, but also has the confidence. Who is that person? Chances are that person is a leader of some sort. Chances are that person is someone either yourself or others look up to, or look to for direction. This person has "followers" for lack of a better term. Why is the scenario so different for the person with confidence? Everyone around feels more comfortable and assured that the person with confidence will help them reach their goals and objectives.

Confidence changes who you are for the better, what you do for the better, and how you live your life for the better.

Personally, I know that I owe almost all of my success to confidence alone. This isn't to say I don't know what I'm talking about, or I don't know a thing about what I do. It just means I'm not afraid to tell others what I do and how I do it. It also means I'm not afraid to learn from others either. My confidence has helped me propel into positions and achievements I would have never seen myself ending up in.

Where Does Confidence Show Itself?

Confidence is most visible in conversation. You can tell right away when someone truly believes in what they are saying and what they are doing, whether it's the most accurate or not. Confidence shows in dire situations occurring just before a tight deadline, or under scrutiny. Confidence is most effective when it can be maintained under external doubt as well. You need to be able to sustain and tolerate all external obstacles (opinion, judgement, envy etc.,) to prove that you are the best at what you do, regardless.

How Can I Build My Confidence?

I know many people who are extremely talented and skilled at what they do but I remained shocked at how little confidence they have in their own potential and opportunity for success. I recognize that many others who do what I do (which isn't exactly clear right now) are better at it than I am. However, many people don't know it and their not as far along as I would have thought they would be or should be. Why? Because their lack of confidence prevents them from moving forward all the time. Instead, they are comfortable where they are, which is probably below their greatest capacity to achieve so much more.

If you don't believe you are good at what you do, nobody will. It's that simple.

Remove The Worry

To build confidence, you need to remove the worry and anxiety from what you are doing. Yes, easier said than done and my undergrad in Psychology just isn't enough to dive any further into that. You need to believe and understand that you are great at what you do, but there will be others who do it differently for better or worse. It doesn't matter. That's what you need to keep telling yourself. You need to understand that it doesn't matter what others are doing as long as you believe in what **you** are doing.

"It is completely natural for people to doubt what you are doing so don't make those opinions represent your work."

Love What You Do

The more you love what you do, the more comfortable and confident you will feel doing it. You need to take the approach that nobody has the same perspective as you do because your love for your work is different and unique in the most positive and productive way. Love can easily lead to confidence because when you love and believe in what you are doing, nothing else matters.

Confidence is about you understanding what you love to do, what you want to do, and having the drive to continual getting better at it because you want to. Confidence doesn't just change your work, it really does change every single aspect of your life.

Confidence alone will open new possibilities for you.

Confidence is invaluable and the one thing that will help you achieve what you want in life, above all else.

Originally published at www.yolevski.com on March 13, 2014.