When I was 15, I learned a lesson from my mom that I'll never forget:

Preparation leads to confidence.

Here's what happened:

I was getting ready to deliver a speech for our high school speech contest.

For two weeks leading up to this event, my mom woke up with me every morning at 5:30 AM to practice. At first, I resisted and pushed back. But after a few days, I started to notice my progress and eventually bought in.

By the time showtime arrived, I had rehearsed the speech over 50 times and wasn't nervous at all.

I ended up beating out 200 other freshmen to win.

This experience changed how I viewed preparation. Learning this lesson was tough at the time, but in hindsight, I am so grateful to my mom. I attribute a lot of who I am today to that one moment.

If you're struggling with confidence, whether in presenting or other areas, it might come down to how prepared you are.