Dear anyone,
Hello everyone! In this edition of “An Open Letter to Anyone and Everyone,” I’m going to be talking about confidence and what it means. So first up, the definition that comes up whenever you search confidence is, “a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities.” What does this even mean? It basically amounts to you thinking about what you are good at and thinking, “Oh yes, I am good at this and know it.”
Having confidence is so important because when a person has it, they become powerful and can do whatever they put their mind to. And this seems like its a simple idea, but in reality it can be difficult to do. One way to build up this confidence is to question that voice in your head that is telling you that you can’t do something, or aren’t good at something. For example, whenever you have studied and prepared for a test and then your inner critic tells you “this is not going to go well, you will fail this,” you need to tell it that it is wrong. If you studied and prepared, then you need to tell that little voice that you are going to ace that test. Another way to build up confidence is to get outside your shell a little bit every day. Doing something that scares you doesn’t mean you have to a huge event, but it can be as simple as showing your friends a picture you drew. This will make sure that you aren’t getting in a pattern where you don’t try new things, because that just isn’t good for you! One of the hardest, but sometimes the most helpful, is finding a trusted friend that can act as your confidence meteor. This just means that you have a conversation about what you want this confidence mentor to do. For some people it might mean a check in on how things are going, for others it may be a person to help remind you how amazing you are whenever you need a boost. Having a person to do this for you can really help to make sure you are on track to continue to improve your confidence. The last tip I have to keep building your confidence is to celebrate your wins. We often get so focussed on what we could have done better that we forget to celebrate what we did well. If you had a day that you questioned the negative things the voice in your head was telling you, or you thought “I look pretty good day,” then celebrate that by treating yourself to a relaxing evening or a day with your friends. The bigger the accomplishment, the more you can celebrate! Remember that building up your confidence is not something that can be done overnight, but can take months and years to accomplish. One last thing, everyone is a person and because of that they deserve to know how much they matter and that they add to a person’s life.
With love,
Kelsey Sheaffer