As intelligent beings, we have the ability to think, to create, to ponder. We do not simply function automatically.

But unfortunately, that's exactly the problem for many people. There are people who make complete fools of themselves and don't even realise it because they are among the less well-off among us. The smarter we are, the more we think too carefully about our actions and how we are seen by other people.

Some people have brilliant ideas and big plans, but their thinking gets in the way of them realising their plans. They are afraid of failing, they don't trust their own decisions, they don't have enough self-confidence.

It is important that these people learn how to trust themselves. This article is about strengthening this self-confidence and showing them a way to use their thinking for themselves and not against them.

The lack of self-confidence often has its origins in childhood. Children who were never allowed to do anything themselves because "they would only ruin everything" and whose parents took everything into their own hands learn that they cannot trust themselves and need others.

If they have a great idea, they immediately discard it, telling themselves that it won't work anyway. They rely almost exclusively on the advice and decisions of other people.

This leads them into a vicious circle, as they weaken themselves more and more internally. They lose their personal strength. To make matters worse, we live in a merciless society. Anyone who shows weakness is run down. This behaviour further diminishes the self-esteem of people with little self-confidence.

Other people sense their insecurity and don't trust them.

People with a lack of self-confidence often try to make their lives easier by refusing to take any responsibility or make any decisions. After all, it is much easier to leave the decision to others. If the decision turns out to be the wrong one, you can then easily point the finger at others and wash your hands of it. In the long run, however, they make life all the more difficult for themselves, because every time they back down, they become convinced that they can't do anything and at some point they are no longer able to make the easiest decisions for themselves.

However, if the decision turns out to be the right one, they feel even more powerless because they didn't trust themselves enough. They could take the credit now, but they were too scared.

Most people would rather not make a decision because if they do and the decision is wrong, they feel the shame, the pain, the disappointment and they vow never to take on such a responsibility again. They retreat into their safe cocoon.

This is exactly what they must learn to avoid.

There is a way to minimise the pain of shame that people feel when they have trusted their own judgement and missed the mark. You can gather as much information as possible about the subject in question, through books, videos or asking other people.

Taking all this information into account, they can make the decision they think is best. However, if it turns out to be wrong, they don't need to feel guilty because they did their best. And bad luck can happen to anyone.

The most important thing is that they learn to make their own decisions and to trust them. Then they can later reap the rewards of their decisions (good or bad) and gain experience from them.

You can't let others make decisions for your life.

Furthermore, if you constantly rely on the guidance of others, you can too easily be taken advantage of and manipulated.

Realise that if you learn to trust yourself, the only thing that will happen is that you will get a result. That is all. Just a result. Not good or bad, just a result. You can make of it what you will.

If you find it difficult to make important decisions yourself, start small. Next time you're in a restaurant, choose something completely different from what you've ever chosen. But let it be your decision alone. Have a completely new experience by trying new food, drink, etc. If you don't like what you ordered, it doesn't matter. Now you know what you won't be ordering next time. You are one experience richer, and every experience is valuable. You now know a little more about yourself and your tastes.

Let your curiosity blossom. Just see what happens. Try new activities, a new sport. Get your hands dirty. All this will make you richer in experience and will lead you to trust your judgement more and more.

If your decisions turn out to be good, this is a huge step forward for your self-confidence. However, this can only grow if you take the risk of making a not-so-good decision.

If they turn out to be not so good and you feel shame, then you have learnt not to do such things in future.

Your experience will grow and the shock of shame for every wrong decision will become smaller and smaller.

The more experience you gain, the better your decision-making skills will become. You will make more and more of the right decisions and achieve better results. At some point, you will ask yourself why you didn't trust yourself before.