Ideally, self confidence is something you develop early and maintain throughout life. For many of us, though, that just isn't the case - either the process of developing self confidence is stymied early on, or we lose confidence because of life events. Nowadays, it is relatively rare to meet someone who is entirely satisfied with his or her self confidence. Interestingly, this can also be true of people who might seem (to the casual observer) to exude confidence - in fact, they can even appear brash or over-confident. Sometimes, this is just a front for the lack of confidence that individual is hiding.

Developing self confidence is important, because a lack of confidence can really hold you back. First of all, it can manifest in a great variety of ways. Many people with poor self confidence stay in unsatisfying careers because they don't believe in themselves enough to think that they can do better. Of course, this leads to a self-perpetuating problem - if you aren't happy with what you're doing, you are unlikely to be working to your full capacity. Then, less than stellar results from your work efforts reinforce the idea that you are a mediocre or poor worker. Your self confidence naturally suffers as a result. All of us deserve to know what it's like to work at something we truly love.

Another frequent result of poor self confidence is addiction or other self-destructive behaviors, such as eating disorders. Most eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, result from a feeling that you are inadequate and that you need to be perfect in order to accept yourself. As a result, some young women (who are particularly susceptible to this type of problem) have literally starved themselves to death. Developing self confidence early on is probably the best defense against developing addictions or eating disorders later on.

Finally, if you have poor self confidence, you are unlikely to be enjoying fulfilling relationships with friends, partners or family. One thing that may happen is that you project your negative self-worth onto someone else, often a child. You might also be willing to put up with abusive behavior if your self confidence is poor. All in all, developing self confidence is a way to avoid a whole range of debilitating problems.