Attila

I agree with those who say that confidence equals lack of fear. You need to lose your fear to become confident.

It has nothing to do with knowledge. I've seen people dumb as a bowling ball and very confident. They were fearless. And I've met brilliant minds who could barely open their mouth out of shyness and insecurity.

To become confident, one needs to be humiliated a number of times, until humiliation loses its significance. Fear of humiliation is one of the greatest obstacle towards confidence.

I grew up in a place where streetfights were commonplace. And I was terrified to be beaten up, so I was a coward. To overcome that, I joined a boxing club and became a boxer. I was beaten up and humiliated almost every day, until I didn't even notice it. It became my job description. Before I realized it, things turned around and I started beating up others. I wasn't afraid of losing anymore.