It is hard to say exactly what confidence is, basically it's whether you feel like you can achieve what you want to or not. It is how we view our own value and abilities. If we are confident, we feel like we are valuable and can do almost anything. If we don’t have confidence well…it is the opposite.
Being confident can be hard, especially if you have people in your life who make you feel worthless. (Hint: cut those people out of your life).
We tend to think people are born confident, but it is more a practice than anything else. That’s right, it is a skill that can be practiced by anyone.
The skill is building yourself up. Watch your thoughts. Start listening to how you speak to yourself. Are you breaking yourself down? Telling yourself you’re rubbish? Trust me, I have been there.
Start slowly changing the conversations you have with yourself. Start ignoring the constant negative chatter, and slowly but surely, start replacing it with thoughts that build you up – that make you feel good about who you are. Just scrounge for any positive thing that you could possibly think about yourself.
Don’t know where to start? Start by pretending. Pretend that you are talking to someone you love. What would you say about who they are, or what they can do? Well, even if it feels silly, start speaking to yourself as if you were talking to that loved one. Start small, then make it a habit.
It always feels good to receive support or complements – confidence happens when these comments are directed towards us, by us.
Be patient. You are not going to become Donald Trump in a day. This will take time. Just work at it slowly and in your own time.
Change your perspective and uncover a way forward for you!
Here are some things that can help you with that.
YouTube
Great
reads
Brave by Svetlana Chmakova
Overweight junior high student Jensen struggles with friendship and bullies. When two kids from the school newspaper entice him with social-experiment projects, he’s called upon to find true courage .
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
Kids struggle with parental and peer expectations and with being ridiculed as they come to terms with their particular challenges and find comfort and joy in friendship with each other .
Frazzled by Booki Vivat
Abbie Wu struggles with fear and anxiety as the middle child between perfect siblings. Abbie organizes an underground lunch exchange and finds both self-confidence and a passion for effecting social change
Great
Films
Eighth Grade
Kayla Day, an eighth grader, is introverted but also posts videos about self-confidence on the Internet. Later, she realises she is not the person she is pretending to be and overcomes her fears.
Brave
Merida disobeys an ancient custom which unleashes a dark force. After meeting an elderly witch, as she journeys to reverse the curse, she discovers the real meaning of bravery.
Dumplin'
Willowdean, an overweight teenager of a yesteryear beauty queen, decides to participate in her mother's Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant to prove a point.
Spotify
This playlist will make you feel like you can conquer the world.
Places to find more resources
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