I hate it when people say be confident. You're right but that's like someone asking me how to squat 500 lbs and I say be strong.
This.
This guy gets it.
The trick isn't about "being confident". The trick is, as the analogy of "being strong", to "practice pretending to be confident." Confidence is about successful practice...but if you don't have much confidence, you're not likely to put yourself in situations where successful practice will help.
Here's better advice and this kinda works in regard to confidence:
-If you're having trouble with confidence, which could be as small as just talking to women or something--just practice talking to people in general more. Start slow--next time you're at the gas station or at Gamestop or at school, start a conversation with a stranger preferrably a woman or a girl that you don't find attractive and then work your way up.
-At the same time, and hear me out because this works: Take 5 minutes out of your day every day and start imagining yourself as being confident
successfully. Practice in your mind being in a variety of high anxiety situations where you are confident and in control so that your mind gets more used to the idea of being in that state. The more you think about being confident, the more your mind will think that it is. It's a lot more effective than trying to
pretend to be confident
at that moment.
It's the same as when people say, "picture yourself winning the game" or "picture them all naked" or "imagine what you'll look like if you keep working out".
If you trick your mind enough, your mind will turn your thoughts into actions and those actions will become habits.