Bullseye

At sixteen, Luke Littler sounds a lot like any other British teenager. His daily routine involves sleeping in and playing on his Xbox. Before competitions he favours a ham and cheese omelette and a pizza. He buys a late-night kebab after every win.

But unlike others his age, Littler is a global sensation who has become one of the most exciting figures in British sport. His most recent achievement? He is the youngest player to reach the World Darts Championship final, losing the world title narrowly to the UK's Luke Humphries on Wednesday.¹

Described as a performer with natural charismaA charm or attractiveness that can inspire others.  and confidence, Littler has brought some glamour into an untraditionalNot something that has happened for a long time as part of a routine. sport.

The Runcorn-born sportsman, who finished his GCSEsNational exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. just months ago, received a certificate naming him "most likely to become famous". But nobody could have predicted just how quickly he would become a household name.

One of the young star's key traits is self-assuranceEither confidence or a promise that all will be ok. . One fellow player described him as "fearless".

Is confidence really the key to everything? It has a long correlationA connection between two things in which one thing changes as the other does, but it is not necessarily the case that one thing has caused the other to change. with success. But are we confident because we are successful, or successful because we are confident?

Around 85% of people worldwide suffer from low self-esteem. It is linked with violent behaviour, high school dropout rates, mental health difficulties and poor academic achievement.²

Experts advise treating confidence as a skill, not a characteristic. You can build self-esteem, they say, by visualising your success. You should ask yourself what you want, why you want it, and what you need to do to achieve it.

Others question whether self-assurance should be our priority at all. Some experts believe that qualities such as compassionShowing feelings of sadness, sympathy and genuine care for other people's suffering. and self-awareness are better at breeding success in work, study and our interpersonal relationships.

Is self-belief all you need?

Yes: We can only maximise our potential when we have complete faith in our ability to achieve our goals. Self-belief is linked to success in sports, academics and relationships alike.

No: We all need a fair share of self-belief and self-doubt. Self-belief fuels our determination and resilience, but self-doubt helps us to learn our limits and not push ourselves.

Or... Success is never about confidence alone. We should prioritise hard work, cultivating our talents, and developing people skills.