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How much do you believe in yourself? For most of the answer is: not enough. Instead of looking proudly at our accomplishments, we focus on the things we haven't yet done, and on the mistakes we've made. No wonder we find it hard to pitch big clients and investors, sell ourselves as the best, or demand the pay we deserve.

The problem is that many of us take an unrealistically negative view of ourselves and our work, says executive coach and bestselling author Wendy Capland. "We teeter between thinking 'I'm not enough,' and 'I'm not even ready to be enough,'" she says. 

But we don't have to stay there. There are simple things we all can do to get a more clear-eyed--and positive--view of ourselves and our accomplishments. And then, Capland says, "We can step into who we already are."

Here are some simple techniques that work well for Capland's clients, and for Capland herself. Try them next time you need to increase your own confidence:

Finish this sentence: “Before I launch a new product, send my resume to a potential employer, or finalize a speech to deliver in front of the whole company, I want to make sure it’s ____.”

Maybe you said “engaging” or “spell-checked” or “approved by my boss.”

But my guess is that the majority of you finished that sentence with the same word: “perfect.”

As humans, the need to strive for perfection is ingrained in us. You can see it in the way we look up to successful people: We expect the people we hold in high regard—like managers, CEOs, or political candidates—to be perfect, without a single flubbed answer or ill-conceived business decision.

So it’s no wonder that when you’re striving to be successful, you’re simultaneously striving for perfection.

Which is a big, fat waste of time.

LinkedIn can make or break your chances of getting an interview — you probably already know this. But just like with your resume, what you leave off your profile is just as important as what you keep on it.

When it comes to the latter, we've given you plenty of tips regarding what should be there — from brilliant summaries to killer headlines that attract recruiters. But today we're talking about the former — all the items you need to leave off. Or, in most cases, remove before you make one more more hiring manager cringe and X out.

I know, that sounds bleak. However, there is a silver lining, and it's that removing these items won't take you more than five minutes.

In hard times, you need to make tough decisions for the sake of your business. Most importantly, you need the right people by your side. But how do you identify the people who will turn your business around? What are the characteristics of these "A players" that make them so critical?

I learned the hard way when the bubble burst in 2001 and LivePerson, like all other tech companies, was losing clients fast. We were forced to reduce our staff by more than half--from 180 down to 80.

There are a ton of qualities that can help you succeed, and the more carefully a quality has been studied, the more you know it's worth your time and energy.

Angela Lee Duckworth was teaching seventh grade when she noticed that the material wasn't too advanced for any of her students. They all had the ability to grasp the material if they put in the time and effort. Her highest-performing students weren't those who had the most natural talent; they were the students who had that extra something that motivated them to work harder than everyone else.

Angela grew fascinated by this "extra something" in her students and, since she had a fair amount of it herself, she quit her teaching job so that she could study the concept while obtaining a graduate degree in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her study, which is ongoing, has already yielded some interesting findings. She's analyzed a bevy of people to whom success is important: students, military personnel, salespeople, and spelling bee contestants, to name a few. Over time, she has come to the conclusion that the majority of successful people all share one critical thing--grit.

Grit is that "extra something" that separates the most successful people from the rest. It's the passion, perseverance, and stamina that we must channel to stick with our dreams until they become a reality.

Think about the people you know who are successful in their personal and professional lives. Were they born destined for success? How do they make reaching goals that most would consider completely unfeasible seem so easy?

It's not fate. Instead, they all have one thing in common: resilience. The good news is we all have it in us. All we have to do is learn to develop and utilize it.

There are very few stories of success that don't start with at least a few failures along the way. But certainly not everyone who fails succeeds. Failure can easily turn into an insurmountable hurdle that can stop you in your tracks.

So what's the difference between those who let failure stop them from reaching their goals and those who turn failure into a giant success? It has to do with the way they respond to adversity. Here are five ways to turn failure into a giant success:

When you want to move up in the workplace, your first instinct might be to ask yourself, “What can I add to my plate to impress people and really prove my worth around here?”

That may seem like a smart question to ponder, but in my opinion, it’s not always the right question to start off with.

Instead, here’s a good place to start: “What can I subtract from my current workload so that I can clear away some muck, free up my time and energy, and start contributing at the highest possible level?”

In other words: “What should I be doing less of around here?”

After working as a psychologist and life coach for over 28 years--mentoring super-achievers across all kinds of industries--what I have observed, time and time again, is that the secret to success isn’t doing more. It’s doing less.

Here is a simple auditing exercise to help you critically examine your work week and decide which tasks to keep--and which you ought to delete.

If you're not happy with your life, either personally or professionally, take a quick look in the mirror. The problem may not be lack of opportunity, or education, or capital, or connections--the culprit could be you.

The difficulty could lie in what you believe--and what you do.

What do successful people believe and do differently?