There is something even the best parents fail to teach their kids. Despite everything that colleges and universities do to prepare students for bright futures, they regularly miss the mark on instilling the most essential asset. It is the greatest tool. It is elusive. And there is no guarantee you will ever learn it.

It is confidence. And it will change your life.

Yes, I said it – confidence is the most essential asset. Think about it, you leave college and head out into the world, armed only with your hopes, dreams and a piece of paper that says you learned something over the last four-or-so years that qualifies you to do some type of job – we’ll call it a degree.

While all of these things are pretty important in attaining that dream job of yours, if you attempt a interview without confidence in yourself and your abilities, don’t bother waiting by the phone. You didn’t get the job.

Get serious; if you wouldn’t hire yourself, why would someone else consider hiring you?

Let’s move onto a less professional but equally pertinent scenario: dating. I will not harp on silly irrelevant things like sense of humor, looks or personality. Let’s instead get to the only thing that matters (besides money, of course): confidence. If you carry yourself like you are a hot commodity, regardless of whether or not you actually are, people will believe it.

Don’t believe me? Try it out. Date with someone with insecure tendencies. Or you could save yourself a torturous ride through reassurance hell and trust me; it’s infinitely better to date someone who’s self-assured.

Let’s be candid, if you wouldn’t date yourself, why would someone else want to?

Finally, we come to the classic situation that every timid person dreads. Two words strike fear into the heart of the shy: customer service. If you ever needed confidence, it is in this moment.

You are on the phone, most likely thousands of miles away from the person being paid to assist you, yet there is still plaguing unease. It feels as though you shouldn’t be calling; you are the inconvenience in this person’s day. Is the issue even that big of a deal anyway? The only way to deal with this situation is with the utmost confidence, or you could just not call and be complacent in the fact you have not gotten what you paid for. But confident people never face such a dilemma.

No one’s buying it, if you can’t deliver a tongue-lashing that will leave permanent scars, who would cringe the next time you call?

There is no such thing as Confidence 101; it is not something someone can teach you. Like all the best things in life it requires effort, practice and self-knowledge. The reason confidence is such a standout quality is because so few people have it. But anyone can take it, be confident.