How many of us have ever suffered some sort of public humiliation? It might be in front of a school class in college when you flubbed a presentation, in an assembly back in high school, at work when you forgot to show up for that all-important conference call, in front of all of your in-laws, and so on.

The answer is: all of us. But public humiliation and embarrassment are some of the most difficult things for us to overcome because automatically we only see our own failure and everyone else's composure and perfect performance.

If this happens to you, which it will, laugh it off. Make a joke about it, and then move on. This happens to everyone. Nobody else will dwell on it, and if you can shrug it off, then the memory of it will quickly fade for you, too.

2. Comparison with others.

Comparison is the name of the game in today's society. We are always being compared to other people, when it comes to things like college admissions and job applications. But even more than other people comparing us, we compare ourselves to others.

Comparison is one of the biggest traps for destroying your confidence. No matter what reality might be, other people always seem to be better off, more successful, more competent, and more capable than we are. And we never see our own strengths, but rather only dwell on our weaknesses. You see what a vicious cycle this becomes.

Stop looking over the fence at the Joneses. Everybody struggles with particular things, but many of those struggles and problems are hidden from others. Instead of evaluating your ability and your weakness based on other people, just think about yourself and how you are working on overcoming the problems in your own life. The Joneses don't matter-what matters is how you feel about yourself.

3. Comments by others.

Cruel or negative comments made by others often cut us down and erode our self confidence for months, even years afterwards. Many times others are just making these comments for a joke, but they cut us pretty cruelly, especially if our self confidence is already low.

If someone makes a comment about you, whether it's your mother asking why you aren't married yet, or your co-worker making a snide comment about your powerpoint presentation that morning, shrug it off. People usually make comments like that because they do not feel good about themselves, anyway. And who cares what they say? They don't know anything about you, anyway. Just laugh and give them a noncommittal reply. You might not be able to stop their comments, but you don't have to accept them as truth.

4. Self-defeatism

Many of us have an attitude of defeatism. It's impossible for us to accept success or ability. We simply don't see it in ourselves.

This attitude is difficult to overcome. Start little by little. Sit down and make a list of the things that you know that you do well. Next time that you start to think something negative about yourself, stop yourself mid-thought. Instead, think about something else. Don't hold yourself to a standard of perfection. Remember that you are human, as is everyone else. Set more realistic goals. And if you don't meet those goals, rewrite them and make them more manageable. And if you fall, don't stay down-instead, get up, see why you fell, and move on.

5. Inability to control a situation.

A lot of the time, we get down because of situations that we can't control. Instead of letting what we see as our failure erode our self-confidence, instead realistically assess the situation. You can't change it, so you might as well accept how it is, and then work inside the parameters supplies by others, or decreed by fate.