The world of recruiting is rife with competition, and sometimes, it can be downright disheartening. If you’re feeling discouraged, unmotivated, or stuck in a rut, it can leave you with serious doubts about your career choice. Thankfully, a little self-confidence can go a long way.

Not to be mistaken with over-confidence or arrogance, self-confidence is simply the belief in yourself and your abilities. It’s knowing that you can complete any task that’s thrown your way. And when you’re not worrying about whether or not you’ll succeed, you free up more time to concentrate on other important matters, like your clients and candidates. But here’s the best part: self-confidence is a skill, and just like any other skill, it can be mastered with a little practice.

How to Pretend You’re a Bada$$ (Until You Actually Are One)

You’ve probably heard that building self-confidence is as easy as faking it ‘til you make it. Well, according to an article by Mental Floss, there’s scientific proof that faking it actually works. If you pretend to be self-confident long enough, all that practice will convince your brain that you actually are self-confident. A few takeaways:

• Flash a smile, even if you aren’t feelin’ it. While a genuine smile is always best, just the act of smiling alone is enough to boost your mood, lower your heart-rate, and combat stress.

• Stand like a champion. Striking a powerful pose has been shown to decrease cortisone levels and increase testosterone levels, which lowers stress and promotes a go-get-em attitude.

• Get amped up with some of your favorite happy music. A study referenced in the article found that students who listened to happy music with the intention of boosting their mood showed a significant increase in positive mood levels.

• Visualize your ambitions, then write them down. Another study from the article found that students who wrote about their ambitions in a group setting were perceived as more assertive and proactive than those who wrote only about their job duties.

Feigning self-confidence and acting as a confident person would trains your brain to operate in a confident manner. In other words, changing your behavior leads to changing your emotions and thoughts. So while it isn’t an instant cure, it’s a stepping stone to building an unshakable foundation of confidence.

But it’s important to note that faking it can only get you so far. In the meantime, you’ll need to actively work on things that you see as holding you back or inhibiting your self-confidence. Make sure you’re doing it for yourself, too, and not for anyone else. If you're building self-confidence solely for external validation, you won’t ever truly gain believe in yourself, and others will pick up on that.

Why Is Self-Confidence So Important?

Being confident plays a major role in all of your successes. As Samuel Johnson once said, “Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.” Self-confidence leads to success because you naturally focus on the end goal instead of the what ifs. You are more likely to take risks and start new things since you aren’t frozen by doubts and inaction, and it becomes easier for you to face and overcome your fears. Confidence boosts your morale. As long as you actually have the skills to complete the tasks, you will eventually succeed.

All of this confidence shows in your body language and tone. It’s how you see yourself, and thus how you project yourself -- and it becomes evident in all of your actions. Don’t be surprised if your peers start looking up to you. People love leaders who are not afraid to stand up for themselves, but are also willing to admit their faults. And since you trust in yourself, others will be much more likely to trust in you, too. You'll probably find that networking effectively is a heck of a lot easier as well.

Confidence is a key part of success, and should be nurtured until you feel assured in all of your actions. Remember, even if you don’t feel confident now, practicing will bring real confidence in the long run, which is the goal here. So keep plugging away and don’t be afraid to pretend for a little while - you’ll get there before you know it.