The advice "just be confident" is useless because it has the sequence backwards.
Everyone waits to feel confident before they act — speak up in the meeting, start the conversation, post the thing. But the feeling isn't the cause of confident action. It's the result of it.
Every time you do the uncomfortable thing and survive, your brain files a receipt: "we did that, and we're fine." Enough receipts and the feeling shows up on its own. No receipts, no feeling — no matter how many affirmations you stack on top.
That's why "fake it till you make it" is half right. The useful half is acting before you feel ready. The broken half is "faking" — you don't need to pretend anything. You just need to act while nervous, which is not fake. It's the realest thing there is.
Pick something small that scares you a little (not a lot), and do it while nervous, on purpose, this week. You're not trying to perform well. You're collecting the receipt.
Confidence is built, not born. Evidence, not affirmations.