Over the last few years, I realised that I have become a much more confident person and I believe that my greatest lessons have been learning from my own experiences. Today, I wish to share some things that worked for me and how I developed and continue to build my own self-confidence.
Growing up, I was known as the nice, ‘shy’ girl. Fast forward, years later, taking part in singing competitions, moving, starting a new life, work experiences, doing things that require talking on-stage, mentoring students, working as a student radiographer.
So, what changed?
- Become comfortable in appearing foolish – No one actually cares. I learnt to embrace myself wholly, my quirks, differences and projecting it in a better way.
- Overcome self-destructive comparisons – Sometimes an indication of lack of self-confidence could be insecurity and jealousy from other people’s progress. Always always remember that you bring your own qualities to the table.
- Confidence does NOT always require certainty – It is knowing, accepting and trusting yourself to handle whatever comes your way. The quickest way to build trust in yourself is doing the things that you promised yourself to do. From what I’ve noticed, a lot of other people’s confidence solely relies on certainty and everything going too smoothly however confidence wavers and then suffers when things do not go the way you want them to.
- Do things that scare you – This always worked for me. Don’t get me wrong, I made mistakes in the process and learnt from it but it nearly always built more confidence in myself. So, go and grab those opportunities!!
- If nothing works, I realised that people cannot tell the difference between fake and actual confidence – fake it till you make may help people more than we give it credit to.
* There is a fine line between arrogance and confidence though – some notice the difference and catch themselves immediately if they think they are crossing the line. The key thing is knowing the difference.
Hope you have a great weekend! Stay blessed ♡
Alifia 
Love this!! I was very shy growing up too and found it so difficult to get words out of my head and by the time I felt I could I’d already convinced myself it was too late. Lots has happened since then to give me the strength I didn’t have before/or maybe just didn’t know how to tune into. Even though that will forever be a part of me I accept the leftover pieces now as who I am but am hopeful that it won’t overpower me ever again (especially what with everything going on rn as is so easy to fear that with coming out of various lockdowns that anxiety will return in social situations!).
I’d never thought about what you said about confidence and certainty before so it really hit me and your words were powerful (I will for sure keep that in mind as a source of motivation – to trust myself/instincts). And also that point about faking it till you make it is one I stand by when having to go into something I’m nervous about because I’ll most likely never see those people again and ontop of that other people are in their own heads (thoughts make us think they’re watching and what are they thinking but in reality they may glance over but they’ve got their own stuff to deal with). Saving this post to read again in the future. Sorry for the rant! 🤣 This was an amazing post and it truly resonated with me! ✨💗
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This is so beautiful Elsie!!! Thank you for taking the time to write this comment, it is SO empowering🙏 Actually made my day😊 Also, trusting myself in handling whatever comes and figuring it out along the way was a big one for me and being an over-thinker myself, maybe I will share how I learnt to overcome those thoughts in the future😁 Just to add, I am still in the process but I am so glad this resonates💗 No, feel free to rant anytime🤣 xx
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ahh thanks and no problem! I’m happy to hear it made your day 😄. Would love to read that if you decide to share it! ✨ The parts of your journey mentioned in the second paragraph are super inspiring and of course, it’s easy for people to think that when good things happen we have surpassed that point in our lives but it’s a part of who we are and not something that just disappears completely. I believe in you and your strength in sharing a side of your story! 💫 Haha thanks, you’ll regret allowing it 🤣💕
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You’re too kind, thanks😁 and no, I assure you, I won’t🤣💕
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