A group was hiking through the mountains when they found themselves engulfed by smoke from a forest fire. The smoke obscured all landmarks. They were starting to panic when one of them said confidently, “Follow me.”

Linking hands to stay together, they followed the leader as she led them on a path through the smoke to safety.

One of the hikers asked her, “How did you know the way out?”

“I didn’t,” she said, “but I knew we were goners if we didn’t get out of there, so I set a course and stuck to it.”

The leader had no more knowledge and skill than any of the other hikers, but she had self-confidence.

Self-confidence is a fundamental component of success in various aspects of life, from personal relationships to professional endeavors. It is the belief in your own abilities and judgment that allows you to approach challenges with a positive mindset and tackle them effectively. Confidence isn’t about being infallible or knowing everything; it is about trusting that you can handle the situation and learn from it, regardless of the outcome.

“Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true,” Walt Disney opined. “This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence.”

It starts with believing in yourself, that you are capable. This belief acts as the foundation upon which you build your skills and tackle life’s challenges.

A confident person communicates with clarity and purpose, which in turn inspires trust and respect from others. Confidence is not just about feeling good; it is about being able to perform at your best. It is the difference between freezing under pressure and rising to the occasion.

Seeking guidance from mentors and being open to feedback can help you improve and build confidence in your abilities.

Years ago, I was mentoring a young salesperson. The individual was talented but extremely nervous and unsure of himself. He had all the technical knowledge needed to succeed, but lacked the belief in his own abilities to close deals.

The turning point happened eventually when I convinced him to have faith in his abilities. Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

We worked together on a strategy to build his confidence, which included preparation, role-playing, small wins and feedback. He started to prepare meticulously for every sales call, knowing his product inside and out. We role-played various sales scenarios, which helped him anticipate questions and objections. He focused on achieving small wins and celebrating them, which built his confidence over time. He actively sought feedback and used it constructively to improve his approach.

So, what are the best ways to build self-confidence?

Like any skill, confidence is developed through consistent practice. Put yourself in challenging situations and learn how to navigate them.

Preparation is key to self-confidence. You can’t expect to feel confident if you haven’t put in the work required to succeed. This means studying, practicing and preparing for the challenges you will face. When you are well prepared, confidence follows naturally, because you know you have done everything possible to ready yourself for the task at hand.

Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong. The more you believe in your own abilities and prepare accordingly, the more confidently you will navigate life’s challenges.

Remember the famous words of first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."

Developing resilience and the ability to bounce back from setbacks is crucial. Confidence is as much about handling failure as it is about celebrating success.

Confidence should be tempered with humility to avoid arrogance. It is important to stay grounded and recognize that there is always room for growth.

Confidence is silent; insecurities are loud. It is not just about the knowledge you have, but also the belief in your ability to use that knowledge effectively.

Mackay’s Moral: Inhale confidence. Exhale doubt.

A college basketball coach was reflecting on his team’s 115-57 loss during his postgame conference and said, “I think the whole game hinged on a single call.”

A sportswriter asked, “Which one was that?”

The coach said, “The one I made last year scheduling the game.”

The value of learning from mistakes cannot be overstated. In my experience, mistakes are indeed valuable learning opportunities. Dealing with the consequences of a mistake can improve your ability to navigate challenges and find creative solutions.

Mistakes are the natural byproduct of trying new things, pushing boundaries and innovating. It is important to remember that if you are not making mistakes, you might not be taking enough risks. And without risks, progress can be stifled. By making mistakes, you learn to evaluate risks more effectively, which can lead to better decision-making in the future. Plus, understanding where you went wrong helps you avoid similar pitfalls moving forward.

Mistakes are a form of feedback. They tell you what doesn’t work and provide a unique opportunity to tweak your approach. Mistakes often teach us more than success does. They highlight our weaknesses, allowing us to address them directly.

Taking responsibility for your mistakes is crucial because when you own up to your mistakes, you demonstrate integrity and gain respect from others. It builds character and shows you are willing to take accountability for your actions. Try to fix the mistake, not the blame.

Learning from mistakes requires reflection. After a mistake, it is important to take a step back, analyze what happened and plan how to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Learning to bounce back from mistakes strengthens your resilience, an invaluable trait in both life and business.

Mistakes can be a source of innovation because when things don’t go as planned, they can lead to a new idea or a better way of doing things. A mistake can reveal flaws in your processes, prompting necessary changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Sharing mistakes with your team can lead to collective learning and prevent others from making the same error. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself. You can’t make the same mistake twice -- the second time you make it, it’s no longer a mistake; it’s a choice.

Remember, it is not the mistake that defines you, rather how you handle the mistake. By being honest, taking responsibility and following up with corrective action, you turn a mistake into a steppingstone for success. And always learn from them. If you find yourself repeating the same mistake, it is time to pause and deeply understand why this is happening.

Mistakes are the tuition you pay for success. Embrace them, learn from them and use them as a catalyst to propel you to greater heights.

“You make mistakes. Mistakes don’t make you,” according to Maxwell Maltz, a cosmetic surgeon and author of one of my favorite books, “Psycho-Cybernetics.”

I think that sums it up in a nutshell. If you let your mistakes hound you, your likelihood of recovering from them will forever be limited. It’s been said that if you want to succeed big, you must fail big. It sounds counterintuitive, but it is so true. You learn that failure isn’t permanent, and even if success comes in small doses afterward, you have turned the corner and can be bold enough to try again.

Failure isn’t fatal. Mistakes have the power to turn you into something better than you were before.

Here's a final example to illustrate my point. An avid angler drove to northern Minnesota last winter to do a little ice fishing. While attempting to drill a hole in the ice, he heard a voice from above declare, “There aren’t any fish in there!”

The man moved his gear to another spot and began drilling. Again, a voice from above said, “There aren’t any fish in there.”

The man dropped his gear, looked to the heavens, and asked, “Is that God speaking?”

A voice replied, “No, I’m the ice rink manager."

Mackay’s Moral: Embrace your mistakes as opportunities to learn, grow and move forward with more wisdom.

During an open house at school, Jenny began talking to one of her classmates.

“Who is that little boy?” asked her mother.

“Tommy.”

“What is Tommy’s whole name?

The daughter responded, “The teacher calls him Tommy Sitdown.”

I’m celebrating kids today in honor of National Children’s Day, June 9, because kids teach us so many lessons that we forget as we become older.

For example, kids are more creative and are more imaginative. Children don’t know what is and isn’t possible. To them, everything is doable.

Kids also dream more and dream bigger. I remind my audiences to believe in yourself, even when no one else does. No one does this better than children. They believe they can do anything and everything.

Children are fearless. They don’t fear rejection or what people think of them. They don’t worry about the future.

Children start anew every day. They are not afraid to try new things. They are happy. They strive to do what makes them happy. And they laugh a lot.

Children forgive and forget. If they get upset, they are typically on to something else soon after, and they forget what was troubling them. They don’t hold grudges.

Children make friends easily. They understand that the best vitamin for developing friends is B1.

Children are incredibly perceptive. They can spot a phony with dizzying speed, and while tact isn’t always among their strongest attributes, their blunt honesty is hard to argue with.

Kids get excited about life in general. They see everything with fresh eyes, knowing they will find something new and different every time they look.

My friend the late Jim Rohn, a master speaker and motivator, encouraged folks to “practice being like a child.” Jim said there are four ways to be more like a child, no matter how old you are.

First, become curious. “Learn to be curious like a child. Kids can ask a million questions. You think they’re through. They’ve got another million ... Kids use their curiosity to learn.”

Next, “learn to get excited like a child ... so excited you hate to go to bed at night. Can’t wait to get up in the morning. So excited that you’re about to explode.” Then he takes it a step further: “If you’re too old to get excited, you’re too old.”

Faith is Jim’s third childlike quality. He said: “Adults too often have a tendency to be overly skeptical. Some adults even have a tendency to be cynical.” He added that adults need proof that something is good before they will believe it. Kids aren’t that way.

Finally, Jim cited trust as a childish virtue that many adults have forgotten. “Have you heard the term ‘sleep like a baby?’ That’s it. Childish trust. After you have gotten an A+ for the day, leave it in somebody else’s hands,” he said.

Herb Cohen, author of the New York Times bestseller “You Can Negotiate Anything,” thinks children are among the most successful negotiators. He told me, “Children are people without formal authority or power, yet they seem to get what they want.”

Herb listed four examples: No. 1, children aim high. They understand that if you ask for more you get more.

Two, “No” is an open bargaining position. A lot of people think “no” is final. Not children.

Three, kids form coalitions. If they get a no from their mother, they go to their father, then to their grandparents.

Lastly, kids tend to be tenacious and persistent. They wear you down. So be persistent, repeat your point over and over again. Wear the other side down.

Children are good negotiators because they are naive. They say things like, “I don’t know. I don’t understand. Help me.” So, think like an adult, but negotiate like a child.

Biologist Rachel Carson observed, “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.”

Mackay’s Moral: Listen to your inner child.