What is the best way to gain confidence?

1. For me, I had to realize that everyone else was just trying to get through life, too. They weren't all these mighty humans who had their shit together, for the most part, they were just like me. I wasn't the jester in their life, someone they were judging and laughing at when I wasn't around. At most, I was a bit player in their life and at best we might have some things in common and become friends. Once I realized that, it was a lot easier to get on with my life and enjoy it.
   — Merry_Pippins


2. Stop thinking that you have to be completely comfortable with doing something before you can go do it. The best way to gain confidence is to do something regardless of how anxious or uncomfortable you feel. After a while, you can just ignore those feelings altogether.
   — Jagonu


3. Excising, your self confidence will skyrocket through the roof. It wont be immediate, but even after the first 1 or 2 sessions you will immediately start feeling better about yourself. Once you notice it yourself it will increase. Don't tell anyone about it, thats a tip, and it won't be long before someone notices it and compliments you on it, your confidence will skyrocket then. Don't even have to go full hardcore either. Start eating a little less of the 'unhealthy' food and just do some sit-ups, pushups, crunches, and a couple of other easy exercises daily. You can increase at your own pace and it is a great booster.
   — Trogdom






4. Learning something new! A new apartment was very close to the local ice rink, so I made a habit of skating there a few times a week. Four years on, and after starting by just dragging myself around on the wall, I'm actually competent enough to play pick-up hockey. I just remember the first time I skated fast enough to feel wind on my face; man, I was on Cloud 9. Having a tangible measure of your own success like that is a big key to confidence!
   — Bobby_Schroedz


5. Apart from a lot of the obvious "fake it till you make it" type tips. One thing I've noticed that really helps maintain a level of confidence no matter where I go, is just being super nice to people. If you're all smiles and compliments all the time then everybody can't help but love you. But here's the kicker, you have to take that same positive attitude that you just directed outward, and turn it back on yourself. When you're nice to yourself and give compliments to yourself you're watering the seed that is your confidence. You'll find that a nice positive attitude towards everything you face will start to bleed into all aspects of your life. Tell yourself "I can do this" or my favorite "I can endure anything for 30 seconds." If you tell yourself this and truly believe it, then it really does become truth. A tip that helps with not saying something awkward or embarrassing in a conversation, try to make a habit of thinking about what you want to say before you say it. It's a weird habit that I started picking up, if you take 5-10 seconds to think of a response instead of just blurting out whatever comes to mind, you'll start to gain more control over those awkward situations. It's sounds weird to just sit there and say nothing for 10 seconds while someone's staring at you waiting for a response, but if you put on a thinking face people will wait for what you have to say (note that there is a fine line between a dramatic pause and an awkward pause that's). Learning new vocabulary words even out of high school is a good skill to supplement this. You can fake it till you make it and it will work, but if you can't just put on a confident mask and hide behind it. You have to be the actor on the stage.
   — TheKingTortoise


6. Someone already said it, but fake it until you make it. Soon enough, you actually accept your fake as real confidence.
   — anaslex247365






7. Go out and meet people, do activities and things you are not normally comfortable with. It will come with time. As a person who was bullied and had no confidence my parents forced me to do these things and now I am one of the most confident members of my friend group.
   — cheesy360


8. Confidence, in my opinion is just the ability to believe your own lies. And eventually those lies become the truth in your own mind. So start lying.
   — GorillaS0up


9. Experience Fake it till you make it OP
   — ZEROTHENUMBER






10. Age. Until then, fake it, it will come naturally after a while then eventually it will be real and you'll be amazed it was ever an issue. Source: 45 year old me wishing I could have told 16 year old me this.
    — shapeofthings


11. Definitely being good at something, anything. Accomplish small goals everyday :)
    — Eyyyyygringo


12. Travel solo.
    — phagyna