Low self confidence can stand in your way just when you need it most; where you cannot be at your best, where you start to stumble or stutter, where you start looking down at your shoes, where you fidget or turn away and walk back into your limited comfort zone.

Well, I have great news for you!

Feeling and becoming confident quickly, almost instantaneously, is possible, and you can do it. With repetition and continued practise within a short period of time you will have all the confidence that you ever wanted; you can have supreme, unlimited self confidence.

Here are two powerful ways to get you started. They will help you gain self confidence and make you feel better about yourself quickly:

1.Do something you are good at

When you do something that you are competent and proficient at, you will quickly feel the surge of self confidence that comes with the feeling behind your skill and talent.

What are you great at? Painting, writing, cooking, jogging, holding parties and conferences, perhaps gardening. What is your strongest talent or skill? Once you have indentified what you feel awesome at, think deep how that strength makes you feel. Allow that self confidence to flow through your entire body.

Keep focused on those feelings. And when you feel that you are ready think about the situation or event you do not feel comfortable about and transfer the confident feelings into that situation.

Feel yourself being more competent, courageous and confident as you tackle that situation. At your peak of confidence say three times, Yes, thats me! and notice how much more confident you have become.

Do that technique daily or as often as you can so as to strengthen it.

2.Remember all the things you have accomplished

This technique is an extension of the one above. Get yourself a note pad and jot down as many accomplishments that you can remember; particularly write the ones that you thought were going to be hard, but ended up being rather easy, or easier than you had anticipated.

Here are a few examples: any exams that you passed despite thinking that you wouldnt; or an important meeting that you chaired with greater ease and confidence than you expected; hosted a party for your child that you never thought you could pull off. Think of as many scenarios as you can remember.

The idea here is to use these successful memories as points of reference. You thought you would never achieve them and yet you did. What does that tell you? It tells you that you have more self confidence that you think you have.

Combine the two strategies together and you have the ingredients to be a confident winner. Reinforce them with repetition and in due course nothing can stop you doing whatever you want or desire.

If you're used to thinking of gift baskets as cheap woven containers of semi-fresh fruit, you may be interested to discover just how creative gift baskets have become. There's something for everyone, and it's not even limited to food items.

FOR GOLFING FANATICS:

Got a client who loves to golf? Get him or her a golf-themed gift basket. Most include some gourmet treats, perfect for snacking on the green. But many of them also include great accessories, such as a putting cup, club cleaner, tee, ball marker, towel or golf club brush. The food may be gone by the end of the day, but the accessories will stick around, and remind your business associate of you.

FOR GARDENERS:

Most gardener gift baskets have a bit of a feminine theme, but many are neutral. Some include food, and most include accessories and tools like gardening gloves, seed packets, gardening tools, hand and nail cream.

FOR SPA AND AROMATHERAPY ENTHUSIASTS:

You'll find a terrific variety of spa, beauty and aromatherapy gift baskets available. Go with a scent theme, or choose one that includes soothing teas. Accessories can include such items as: wooden massager, back scrubber or soft hand towel.

FOR EVERYBODY:

You can never go wrong with groumet food and drink gift baskets - not with so many to choose from! If an elaborate, expensive champagne and caviar basket is outside your budget, go for simple with Shari's Berries, or a single bottle of Dom Perignon with some chocolate dipped apricot. These combinations are far more affordable, but speak just as eloquently to your good taste, which people will want to associate themselves with.