Catherine Commale has long known what it is like to greet admiring crowds of kids, to have strangers beg for her autograph (亲笔签名), and to be featured in books and on TV shows. And yet most of her fellow Americans have never heard of the girl, who has helped to save millions of lives in African villages from malaria. The story began when she was only five.

On a spring night in 2006, Katherine’s mother, Lynda, watched Malaria: Fever Wars. The documentary described people who were fighting the mosquito-borne disease that has been blamed for millions of deaths in Africa and elsewhere. The next morning, she told her daughter about the program over breakfast. The little girl was particularly troubled to hear that every 30 seconds a child would end up dying of malaria. Lynda switched the conversation to things they could do to help, like donating mosquito nets (蚊帐).

At first, Katherine tried raising money by selling her old items in the flea market, but she was disappointed at how little she could gather in this way. Soon, she and her younger brother Joseph designed a program to explain to other children how a simple mosquito net, which typically only cost around $10 each, could protect a sleeping child. They took their show to Katherine’s Sunday school and then on to other churches. The idea took off. When that first effort ended, Katherine and her family donated $1,500 to the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign to buy mosquito nets.

Katherine’s efforts caught the attention of many international celebrities, such as David Beckham and Bill Gate. When she was six, she attended the first Malaria Awareness Day observance (纪念仪式) at the White House, and later a Clinton Global Initiative event where she met former U.S. President Bill Clinton. While Katherine’s pace slowed down as she entered middle school, she rose to fame around the world. She has even been featured in a board game beside the youngest Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. “I’m not Malala whatsoever,” she said. “It’s just an act of kindness.”

For Katherine, despite having raised about three million dollars for Nothing But Nets and seen the death rate from malaria decrease from every 30 seconds to every two minutes, the adventure that started at her kitchen table is one that she continues to pursue to this day.

Self-confidence refers to your belief in your skills, qualities, and ability to succeed. Having confidence in yourself is not only important to your health and well-being, it can also affect how you are perceived by others. However, not everyone feels confident in their abilities.    32    

Focus on Your Strengths

When you are in a situation where you want to appear confident, it can be helpful to focus on the skills and abilities you feel most confident about.    33    Then focus on highlighting or projecting that quality.

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Positive self-talk, on the other hand, has been shown to be strongly associated with success. If you tend to engage in negative self-talk, start working on re-framing your thoughts to be more positive and optimistic. For example, you might work on reminding yourself that there are positive sides to every situation. Talking to yourself positively is a great way to boost your sense of self-efficacy so that you feel better able to succeed and deal with whatever you are facing.

Look for Inspiration

Looking to confident people you admire reading inspirational statements or repeating a motivating mantra can also be a way to boost your confidence when you need it. The key is to choose realistic role models or statements that reflect achievable goals.

Avoid Making Comparisons

While finding sources of positive inspiration can help you show confidence, it is important to avoid comparing yourself to other people unfavorably. You may make such comparisons whether you are looking at their performance, appearance or other qualities.    35    

Take on New Challenges

    36    Doing so, however, can actually increase your anxiety and lessen your faith in your abilities. Research has found that practicing the things you fear can help reduce anxiety and improve self-confidence.