Here's the thing, man. I had pretty bad social anxiety that popped out all of a sudden. I had no confidence in my walk. I was penguining around, severely squared shoulders and hunched back. People used to laugh at me and point out, hey look how this retard walks.

I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden all of that nervousness and shakiness disappeared and in came a new, macho guy with fucking bravado (if I do say so myself). I had hit puberty and goddamn, had it hit me hard. Before, I looked like a scrawny weasel with bad hair and pouty lips. Within 6 months, I changed dramatically. My shoulders had broadened, my back straightened. That "bad" coarse hair, now looked like a cool, thick bedhead style. My goatee and mustache started coming out and gave me a swarthy Chicano type image. Those lips now looked full and sensous, and the facial hair accentuated that.

Before you think I'm jerking my own horn, these are not my own words but the words of others who noticed the changes. I was still in the nervous wreck mindset, and I thought looked as ugly as ever. The point I will try to make is this. What I did was I practiced my walk at home. I developed a steady walk, and then I took it outside when I used to walk near my house until I was comfortable enough to walk in malls and such. If I didn't know what to do with my hands, I would stuff em in my pocket. My voice had deepened a bit, which I had noticed, and it sounded more confident when I talked. I still couldn't maintain eye contact, so I would try to aim for a very animated style of talking with constant eye movements. I still felt unsure about myself till one day I woke up and it just fucking clicked in my brain that I was the fucking man. After that, most of my anxiety had gone, no one could have told me shit to phase me. I still was hyperconcious about my walk, but that too slowly faded.

Cut to me now, 4 years later, and it's like all that anxiety never happened. I'm self-confident, can talk with ease to people, don't stress over my walk anymore, lock eyes like a fucking beast.

A few methods I learned to calm myself: * Imagine your outer body is connected with ropes to an inner core. Close your eyes and let those ropes go slack. Deep breathe in, deep breathe out. Put your hands on your head and pull down on your temples, forehead, and jaw to unclench them, this is very important. Deep breaths. Rub your hand over your face lightly. * If your feeling uncomfortable about your walk, slow down for a second like you are checking your pocket, and then walk at a slow rhythm with your hands in your pocket to the sound of four to the floor drums in your head. * Feeling unsure of saying something? Say it in your head twice slowly. Then whatever you're about to say, start it off with a slow yeah, and continue talking. Build up your pace as you feel more comfortable.

Hope this helps.