Confidence - Believe in Yourself!!!

Believe in yourself!!! – Haven’t you heard that sentence a lot?!

To believe in yourself you need a lot of confidence and power. You need to know about your strengths and weaknesses and you need to use your strengths and work on your weaknesses to get to where you want to be. Of course nobody is saying you have to change, because it’s still important to stay true to yourself. Everyone just has to figure out a way to make the best of everything.

Self-confidence has always been an important topic throughout my life. As a child I was really shy. I wouldn’t talk o everyone and always hid behind my parents. A lot of people complained about that to my parents or they overheard people talking about me. Of course I opened up more and more, but when meeting someone new I always needed time and when I got to know him or her a bit, I let him or her in.

On top of that I also struggled with being honest at school. When people were talking behind my back, I asked them about it and one time all that ended up in all the girls of my class bullying me. That has been really hard on me and didn’t help my shyness.

I think most of you have seen a picture or more of me, so you know that I’m skinny. That’s the way I’ve always been, I can eat whatever I want and I don’t gain weight. It runs in the family and I never had problems with it. It was the people around me, the people who didn’t really know me who turned me down. Things like “Look at her, she’s so skinny, I bet she never eats”, were daily comments. That was hard to deal with and didn’t build up my confidence at all. I had my mum talking to me a lot and I learned not to listen. Finally in high school, people were actually able to see how much I really eat and that whole situation changed. I still have people telling me “You have to eat”, but I’ve learned how to take it.

The older I got the more confident and open I became. I still struggled in certain situations at high school. On stage in a musical you could see that I was insecure and one thing that was really difficult to deal with was the result of my thesis at high school. I compared two musical composers and the teacher overlooking it didn’t like it at all. At one point she said something including “Don’t take it personally” and that blew me away. I hate that sentence now, even though I know how to take critique.

After high school I took a year off, did an internship at a school and then I lived in Vancouver, Canada, for 5 months, to do my English diploma. That experience changed me a lot, I became more independent and started to believe in myself. Afterwards I started uni and started all kind of other things – choir, theatre group and these are all things that were an important step in becoming more confident. At uni I started with teaching kindergarden and after three semesters I reached my low point, where I wasn’t sure whether I was doing the right thing. I talked to a lot of people and they all helped me and it taught me to fight for what I really want. I changed to teaching 1^st to 6^th grade and it was the right decision. I loved my internship in 6^th grade and it showed me that that’s the age group I wanna teach and hear I am, teaching 5^th and 6^th grade primary at an international school – still very happy!!!

The process of finding the right job for me was hard and long and accompanied by a lot of tears. It was hard at the time, because everyone seemed to like my application and most job interviews went really well, but it was never enough. I had to be strong and fight and the never giving up paid off in the end, because I found the perfect spot for me. It’s probably the one that has been waiting for me: perfect age range, the international touch, the location, the team – perfect.

Disappointments are part of our journey, you just have to learn how to take them. At the end they are a chance to learn and improve things. It’s important that you never give up! Fight for your dream and don’t be shy to go after it!!! Another significant point is to stay true to yourself. Every person is unique and that’s what makes you special, you still have to feel comfortable and follow your instincts. You will never please everyone and you don’t have to! You’re good at what you’re doing, so show it!

There are easy ways to boost your confidence, start with a smile for example. Learn something new, get inspired or do something good every day. Staying healthy and exercise can also help your self-esteem. Worry less, follow your passion and don’t be afraid!!!

It’s a learning process and you go step by step. Get up again after a disappointment and fight! And last but not least, stay positive and be happy!!!

This is probably the most personal post I’ve ever posted and I’d like to know what you guys think, so let me know in the comments bellow!