Confidence is key. Being confident in yourself can open up so many doors by helping you meet new people, become successful by believing you're capable of achieving your goals, and teaching you how to accept criticism in a more positive way instead of automatically letting it upset you.

But what happens if you're not a very confident person? Does this mean that you won't go on to live a happy life and achieve your goals? Of course not! Life just becomes easier when you're confident and believe in yourself.

I never used to be confident, but one day I decided that I would probably be a lot happier if I was, so I set out to change that.

You may be wondering, but how? How do you suddenly become more confident in yourself? I've come to find that there are quite a few things that can help!

1. Fake it til you make it.

To be honest, this is actually how I started becoming more confident in myself. Even if you don't think you're all that great, you can still pretend you do. Why constantly doubt yourself and bring yourself down when you can change everything by changing your tone. All you really have to do is, even if jokingly at first, just start saying nice things about yourself, the more you say it the more you'll start believing it. Take all of the things failure has made you scared to do and challenge yourself to prove yourself wrong. I know it sounds silly, but eventually you'll stop doing these things ironically and you'll actually start believing in yourself.

2. Find something you love

I know it may be hard to do, but it's really helpful to put yourself out there. Go work on perfecting a hobby, or get out there and find a new one to love. The better you get at something or the more that you do something you enjoy doing, the happier you'll be. Once I started getting really involved in writing, enjoying it, and seeing other people enjoy it, it definitely helped boost my confidence and helped me further pursue my goals.

3. Surround yourself with positive people

The people you surround yourself with can make all the difference. If you're surrounded by negative people, you're probably not going to be a very positive person. Surrounding yourself with positive, caring people can do wonders on your mindset. Their positivity is bound to rub off on you, and knowing you have people that care about you is a great way to boost your self-esteem and confidence.

4. Dress your best.

Look good, feel good: some people may think that this is a cliche, but for me it's true. I always feel a thousand times better on days that I dress nice than I do on days that I just throw a t-shirt on. I'm not saying wearing t-shirts is wrong, I just don't think I look as good in them. It's all about whatever makes you feel good about yourself.

These are just a few of the things that have worked for me. Hopefully these, or something else you discover will help you. You just have to believe in yourself, pick something, and own it. Don't let anyone get you down; you got this.