Are you a confident person?

While my ego has fallen from its galaxy-sized height of back in HS, I'm still quite a confident person. I've always been a high achiever academically and a perfectionist in things I do. I started doing solo musical performances in any number of groups (church ensembles, school, community groups, whatever), which helped a lot too.

The notable exception to my confidence extended through my Freshman year of college with the opposite sex until the day where it finally sunk in to me that it didn't matter what random other people thought of me. Once you're not afraid of looking like an idiot once in a while life gets easier in every regard. No risk, no gain.

Oh, and another tip for those looking to boost your self-confidence: if you can convince yourself that everyone else's opinion is worth less than your own (with a few exceptions always, of course), then ignoring them and not caring about embarrassing yourself becomes a lot easier. I don't recommend that attitude at your job, however.

Jam it back in, in the dark.