cess guru Brian Tracy. Andsuccessful coach Vince Lombardi says, "Confidence is contagious;so is lack of confidence."Some people seem to radiate self confidence. They can easilytalk in front of a crowd of people, sell themselves at jobinterviews or to start an interesting conversation with peoplethey've never met before. Regardless of the situation--whetherbusiness or personal--they appear comfortable and in control. If you lack self confidence on a professional or personal level,there's good news. You can resolve to start building yourself-esteem today. Here are seven tips to help you: 1. Think Positively. When you catch yourself thinking somethingnegative, replace it with a positive, realistic statement.Substitute "I'll never get that job" with "I might not get thejob, but I'll do my best at the interview." Or replace "I'llprobably make a fool of myself" with "I'll d...

...o the best I can."2. Take Small Steps Forward. Self confidence takes time tobuild, but you can start with small steps. From there, you canuse your successful experiences to lead to other positiveexperiences that can move you along the road to recovery. 3. Emphasize Strengths. Give yourself credit for everything youtry. By focusing on what you can do, you applaud yourself forefforts rather than emphasizing negative outcomes. Starting froma base of what you can do, instead of what you should do, helpsyou live within the bounds of your inevitable limitations. 4. Do Something You're Good At. Indulge in swimming, running,dancing, cooking, gardening, climbing, painting,writing--anything you do well. If possible, do something thatholds your attention and requires enough focus to get you into astate where you forget about everything else. You'll feel morecompetent afterwards, which will prepare you to face biggerchallenges. 5. Stop Thinking About Yourself. Low self-esteem is oftenaccompanied by too much focus on yourself. Doing something thatabsorbs you and holds your attention can quickly make you feelbetter. 6. Take Risks. Approach new experiences as opportunities tolearn rather than occasions to win or lose. Doing so opens youup to new possibilities and can increase your sense ofself-acceptance. Not doing so turns every possibility into anopportunity for failure and inhibits personal growth. 7. Realize That It's OK To Fail. Dare to fail. You don't learnby doing what you already know. You have to make a step furtherand try new things to get better. Think of failure as alesson-building tool. You can build on your experience to dobetter next time.Remember that you are who you think you are. You can accomplishwhat you think you can - no more, no less. So start working onboosting your self confidence today so you can perform at yourfullest potential....