Here’s a fascinating paradox: we all want to be confident, yet the only way to do that is to make yourself vulnerable.

The only way to build confidence is through doing hard, scary, and uncomfortable things. As Eleanor Roosevelt so memorably described it, “You must do the thing that you think you cannot do.” While it’s terrifying, there’s also a big reward waiting for you: a deeper, stronger sense of confidence in yourself and what is possible in the future.

Stop saying, “I’m not confident enough to try that.” Start saying, “I’m scared to try that, but I’m going to anyways, because I know it will make me confident.”