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 1st to 6th
grade and it was the right decision. I loved my internship in 6th
grade and it showed me that that’s the age group I wanna teach and hear I am,
teaching 5th and 6th 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!
