Self-confidence is the belief in your own abilities and judgment. When you have self-confidence, you trust that you can handle challenges, learn new things, and make reasonable decisions. It's what lets you raise your hand in class even when you're not completely sure of the answer, or try out for the basketball team knowing you might not make it but believing you can give it a good shot.

Self-confidence isn't the same as thinking you're perfect or better than everyone else. A self-confident person knows they'll make mistakes and have weaknesses, but they trust themselves to keep trying and figure things out. The quiet student who calmly presents their science project, the new kid who introduces themselves at lunch, the young musician who performs despite feeling nervous: these all show self-confidence in action.

Self-confidence grows through experience. Every time you work through a difficult math problem, learn to ride a bike after falling off, or handle a disagreement with a friend, you build evidence that you can cope with hard things. This evidence accumulates like money in a savings account. People with strong self-confidence have deposited many experiences that proved they were capable.

The opposite is self-doubt, which is when you question your abilities so much that you hesitate to try new things or speak up. Everyone experiences both self-confidence and self-doubt at different times and in different situations.