The Year of Living Confidently

Hello

Happy New Year – I hope 2015 brings you everything you wish for 🙂

I was in my early 30s when I finally realised I could achieve anything I put my mind to. I’d been reading self-help books and attending personal development seminars since I was 15 years old, but it took almost two decades for me to really believe I was capable of achieving my goals!

I’ll never forget the moment the penny finally dropped…

I was walking along a beach in Cambodia thinking about the New Year that had just begun when it dawned on me…

“I can do anything.”

They weren’t just empty words. There was a solid sense of self-confidence and I knew to the core of my soul that

was capable of turning my dreams into my daily reality. It was such an empowering feeling, and one I’d like to help you experience too.

Do you want more self-confidence?

If you answered ‘yes’, then you’re in the majority of students your age.

The problem is that whilst most teenagers say they want more self-confidence, many are uncertain about what self-confidence actually is, let alone knowing how to get more of it.

Approximately 20,000 students attend my Unstoppable Teen seminars every year. After each seminar I hang around, chat to students and answer their questions. Do you want to know which question students ask me more than any other? “What car do you drive?”
Seriously! That’s it!!
They could have asked me anything about how to improve their grades in school, how to boost their motivation when they’re feeling low, how to decide which careers to pursue in the future, how to build better relationships, or how to enhance their self-confidence… but no! They ask me, “What car do you drive?”
Now that’s a stupid question because knowing what car I drive cannot and will never improve the quality of your life.

“What do you think is the key to success and happiness?”

Now that’s a good question!

And my answer would be…

“What can I do to get more self-confidence?”

I am declaring 2015 the Year of Self-Confidence. Over the next 12 months I’m going to be providing loads of great advice to help you build your self-confidence.

So what exactly does it mean to be ‘self-confident’. I like to draw students’ attention to the ‘confide’ part of the word because what self-confidence really means is to confide in oneself; to trust one’s own abilities to deal with the situations you face.

Other terms for self-confidence include:

Self-belief
Self-esteem
Self-trust

You’ve already got some self-confidence inside of you. Perhaps it’s when you pick up a musical instrument or play sports; it might be making your friends laugh or performing on stage. You believe in your own ability in that situation, you trust that you’ll be able to handle what is thrown at you, you feel assured and confident.

But it might not be something so obvious and extroverted – you might have a quieter self-confidence for something that’s less noticeable to others. Perhaps it’s when you’re studying your strongest subject in school, cooking dinner for your family or playing your favourite game.

	The fact is everyone has something they feel capable of doing, and that’s the thing I want you to focus on now. If you can be self-confident doing that one thing; if you can trust in your own judgment and believe in your own ability when you’re scoring goals or playing drums, then that confidence can be transferred to other areas of your life too.

To experience self-confidence does NOT mean you have to be the best at everything. It’s about trusting that you will try your hardest and do your best. It’s about stepping up to challenging situations and exciting opportunities even when might think, “There’s no way I could ever do that!”

Some teens, and you might be one of them, feel a temporary fake sense of ‘self-confidence’ when they drink alcohol or take drugs. I want you to remember that this is NOT true self-confidence. This is fear, momentarily blocked out by a damaging substance; fear that will undoubtedly return to it’s raging worst when the substance wears off.

You’re far better facing your fears head-on, building your real sense of self-confidence in the process, and showing others how Unstoppable Teens get things done.