I had the opportunity to speak to a group of high school students last week. Wow! It was incredible. Afterward, I felt like I could literally do that everyday. But if you knew me 3 years ago, you know that I probably would rather have been anywhere else, than presenting in front of a large group of people – no matter the audience. It’s amazing how things change – how we change.
The purpose of my presentation was to discuss my career, as it was, after all, Career Day. However, rather than mundanely discussing the responsibilities that I just adhere to on a daily basis (not that I find my job mundane, by any means), I found myself discussing a much better topic – the power of positivity. It is, unfortunately, an often overlooked topic, but one that can extremely affect attitude, and confidence.
As I spoke to these kids, I scanned the roomfor those that looked as though they could relate to my topic. I found a few in each class, who appeared to be lacking confidence – it’s no secret that many high school students do. I talked about how it was okay to be different, and that it’s a good thing to have opinions. I talked about not only striving to meet goals, but to set them high. I touched on subjects such as building confidence, and sharing accomplishments.
I didn’t get to where I am today by only building my self-esteem, but by also building the confidence of others; by being an optimist even when I didn’t want to be; by working hard, and striving for BIG goals; by telling everyone around me of these goals, as silly as they may have seemed.
By thinking and telling myself how amazing I was daily, and telling everyone that would listen about my “amazingness,” I am now surprised by how many tell me how amazing I am. Sounds like they are finally catching on!
By beginning to talk to our children at a young age about the power of positivity, we are setting them up to develop a high level of self-esteem, and confidence. One thing that toddlers love, is when you tell others about their accomplishments.
My son has been sleeping in my room every night since December. With big changes taking place in his life, such as moving to a new house, and experiencing potty training, he became scared of “cop cars.” So we waited. We let him settle into the changes, and become comfortable. Recently, we transitioned him back to his room, showed him that it was safe, and even gave him a little car that would make him feel protected all night.
The next day, when we took him to daycare, we had him tell everyone where he slept the night before. “Upstairs!” he said with confidence. We later called his grandparents and told them. They were so proud, which made Jack feel proud of his accomplishment all over again. Jack is now sleeping sound in his room both throughout the night, and during naptime.
This taught me that sometimes, no matter how old you are, you still need a confidence booster every now and then. And it is so important that we teach our children about the power of positivity, and let them experience it, by telling them how amazing they are.
However, because children learn more than we even realize by watching their parents, we must also work on building our own self-confidence, as well.