You may recall from an earlier post that instead of making a long list of New Year’s Resolutions this year, I chose one word that symbolized a character trait I wanted to work on. My word for 2014 is Self-Confidence.
As a reminder, Self-confidence is defined, according to Merriam-Webster as:
a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something
And here was the reason I gave for wanting to have self-confidence:
I tend to second guess everything I say and do. I often ask for reassurances from friends and family that I am making the right decision. And while occasionally asking for confirmation of my own opinion is a good thing, too much of it is debilitating. It can keep me from making decisions in a timely fashion and miss out on opportunities. Now that I am learning to be courageous, I want to be self-confident as well.
What I Have Learned So Far
- Self-confidence is harder/easier depending on the day, my mood, hormones, events, etc. Some days I feel like I know just what to say and do. Other days I have to remind myself that I am an intelligent, semi-successful woman and my opinion IS valuable.
- I don’t need to point out my own
improvements. (Oops – I guess I am doing that right now for this blog. Oh well -chalk it up to self-reflection). As I get better at speaking up for myself and my opinions, I find myself saying to friends or family – “Did you see how I said that? I wouldn’t have been able to do that a year ago.” Of course, they know that. They don’t need me to tell them. And if I really want to hear congratulations, it would be better if it came naturally. I shouldn’t really need congratulations anyway. I should be happy enough KNOWING the improvements are happening. - Self-confidence is infectious (contagious?). If I surround myself with self-confident people, than I tend to be more self-confident. Also, if I speak up for myself, it might inspire someone else to speak up too.
One of the things I’ve discovered is that I’m worth it. I am a daughter of God, and
- I AM worth getting enough sleep.
- I AM worth eating healthy foods.
- I AM worth getting enough exercise.
- I AM worth finding time to relax.
- I AM worth having a peaceful home.
- I AM worth a good job and reasonable pay.
Did you pick your ONE WORD? How’s your year so far?
