As a new gun owner I don’t have the confidence or skill yet to carry, but I like to go walking/jogging in the evenings so my significant other is encouraging me to work on it. Thoughts on how to know when you are ready to start carrying?
My advice, aside from taking a basic firearms course, is to carry at home. If it makes you feel more comfortable, begin carrying it at home unloaded. Get used to having it on your hip/waist. Then carry it around the house loaded (in the case of a semiauto, without one in the chamber). Work your way up. Do some unloaded drills like working on dry firing, unholstering, reholstering, etc. The biggest reason, IMHO, that one feels uneasy around something is unfamiliarity with that item. I started carrying a revolver. The heavy double action trigger pull made me feel comfortable. When I switched to a semi, the trigger pull was (relatively) super light, and that made me feel uneasy. So, I started carrying it with an unloaded mag in the house. Then, I worked up to a fully loaded mag, but without one chambered. After a little while, I was carrying it fully loaded with one in the pipe. Start slowly and work your way up.