I want to become more confident in myself.

Don’t trust yourself too much. Try thinking of yourself as the person you can trust the least. What you need isn’t confidence, but a sense of urgency. You should feel more anxious and push yourself harder. “I want to build my confidence” is a kind of escape, isn’t it? It means you want to run away from reality. Instead, face things with the mindset that “Something terrible will happen if I keep going like this.” Especially when you’re young. As you get older, it’s the other way around—you can cultivate confidence by learning to appreciate what you have. In life, it’s pretty important to recognize when to make that shift.

For something that works quickly, start by complimenting yourself in the mirror. You can look it up, but apparently Aoyama Thelma and Lady Gaga do it too. I couldn’t find the original source, but it’s a technique proposed by a psychologist that became popular for a while. Basically, even though you’re the one praising yourself, your brain sees another person in the mirror and hears a voice, so it gets the illusion that someone else is complimenting you. I’ve tried it myself in some tough situations and really felt the effect, so definitely give it a shot. When you need a confidence boost at a crucial moment, go into a bathroom stall and throw your fists in the air. Apparently, making the kind of physical movement you’d make after succeeding tricks your brain again and fills you with energy. I learned about it from a TED presentation around 2018, and when I tried it, it genuinely worked. Since I was there anyway, I revealed the trick on the spot, saying something like, “I was feeling nervous and anxious, so I just went to the bathroom and did a victory pose. The reason is…” Everyone got a kick out of it, which made things even better（笑） If you want to change the momentum, make good use of illusions. It’s fine for confidence to be overconfidence. If you project something and make the other person fall for the illusion too, the next level of gears will start turning. That’s standard equipment for people in the startup world. They’re the kind of thick-skinned, shameless people who have nerves of steel. That vitality is exactly what allows them to create new businesses from scratch. If you can develop even a tenth of that ability yourself, you’ll never again have to worry about lacking confidence in everyday life. You’ve got this(^^)/ Taro

I think it probably comes down to your innate personality. Some people feel fine even if they haven’t achieved anything, while others live happily and confidently despite not being particularly beautiful or striking in appearance. On the other hand, some people have looks or profiles that others would envy, yet they’re constantly worried about something and can’t feel confident. I don’t know which is better. The former probably makes for a more enjoyable life, but the latter may be more likely to keep working hard and striving. Marika If you’re looking for an immediate effect, maybe pheromone perfume? I’ve heard that it doesn’t actually attract the opposite sex, but rather makes the person wearing it appear more attractive because they feel full of confidence. I don’t know whether that’s really true, though.

Thank you for your question. I’ll share my thoughts as well. > I’d like to know something that works immediately. I feel that, generally speaking, there are no shortcuts in anything, so daily effort is probably necessary. But if you’re looking for something with immediate results, I think self-suggestion might help. Taking it a step further, perhaps self-hypnosis or hypnotherapy? Those might at least help you gain confidence. That said, someone who has confidence without the ability to back it up—that is, someone who’s overconfident—may actually be avoided. Of course, if you’re genuinely attractive but simply lack confidence, then having your confidence match your strengths could produce positive results.

I believe confidence is built through accumulating successful experiences. So, I think it’s best to start with something manageable that you feel you can enjoy and succeed at.