Bullseye

At 16, 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 and has won the endearingMaking someone like you. nickname 'Luke the Nuke.'

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.

Described as a performer with natural charismaA charm or attractiveness that can inspire others.  and confidence, Littler has brought some glamour into a traditionally dusty sport, which many associate with dark and smoky nights at the pub. He plays precociouslyShowing adult abilities at an unusually early age. , but refuses to take himself too seriously and shares moments of humour with his audiences.

The Runcorn-born sportsman, who finished his GCSEs 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.

He has been in the game for a long time. "I first picked up a magnetic dart when I was 18 months old and, to be honest, everything has been darts, darts, darts since," said Littler.

One of the young star's key traits is self-assurance. One fellow player described him as "fearless." Commentators say he never loses his stride, even when things do not go to plan.

Is confidence really the key to everything? It has an age-old anecdotalBased on personal accounts rather than facts or evidence. correlation with success, but the causationThe principle that nothing can happen without a cause. is unclear. Are we confident because we are successful, or successful because we are confident?

Around 85% of people worldwide suffer from low self-esteem. Linked with violent behaviour, high school dropout rates, mental health difficulties and poor academic achievement, low self-worth is highly correlatedLinked with, connected with. with lower overall life satisfaction.

And confidence does not come equally to everyone. Some experts believe that the "confidence gap" between men and women is one of the major remaining barriers to women's professional success. Self-esteem is also strongly correlated with high socioeconomicA way of describing people based on their education, income and type of job. privilege.

Some think that Brits are experiencing a "confidence crisis" after a poll of 2000 adults found that 46% struggle with self-esteem, whilst more than a third say their self-belief is at an all time low.

Experts advise treating confidence as a skill, not a characteristic. You can build self-esteem, they say, by visualising your success. Ask yourself what you want, why you want it, and what you need to do to achieve it. We are 42% more likely to achieve our goals and dreams when we do something as simple as writing them down.

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.

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.