A loser does not become a loser in one decision. He becomes one by protecting the emotional rewards of losing. Sympathy, excuses, lowered expectations, avoidance of pressure, moral superiority over people who try harder. Failure becomes comfortable when it starts paying you in psychological benefits.
If you want confidence, stop aiming to avoid failure. Aim to recover fast. Take the hit, learn the lesson, adjust, repeat. The man who can bounce back becomes fearless over time, because he trusts his ability to rebuild even when things go wrong.
Your reputation is built twice. First by what you do. Then by how consistently you do it when attention disappears. People trust patterns, not performances. One disciplined month says more than a year of declarations. Reliability is how private character becomes public power.