Rock Girls write for us
SELF-CONFIDENCE is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many young women and girls struggle to find it.
In my experience, girls tend to lose their confidence at an early age due to their vulnerability, a lack of self-awareness and cases of abuse against young women around them.
We tend to feel like we are never going to find happiness and don’t deserve to be treated well.
Two main things contribute to self-confidence: self-efficacy and self-esteem.
We gain a sense of self-efficacy when we see ourselves mastering skills and achieving goals that matter.
We’ve been fortunate enough to be part of ROCK GIRLS, where the road trips and campaigns boosted our confidence to raise our voices for our fellow sisters.
One of the things we all lack is empowering each other as women, and not competing against your fellow woman but being strong for her.
Confidence comes with knowing your worth and valuing yourself, which clearly means you won’t need anyone’s approval or acceptance for your own contentment.
And when you know what you are worth, it is hard for you to compromise yourself for someone else’s approval.
Being mean and arrogant to others doesn’t make you cool at all, especially when you know how difficult it is to be a woman... Waking up and embracing your imperfections, your cellulite and thick thighs, your short crusty hair – you learn to embrace that and learn to accept yourself.
Sometimes, as women and girls, we are told we have to be polite. But being polite and kind doesn’t mean that we can’t be BRAVE, too.
Being kind, being respectful – that is part of being a decent human being and friend.
But sometimes as girls we think we have to make other people happy before ourselves and just put a smile on our face when we actually don’t agree with what is happening.
Have you ever done that? I know that I have. We sometimes think we can’t say no.
These are some questions you can ask yourself daily: who do I surround myself with?
Do I refuse to hang out with someone I am afraid might outshine me?
Do I worry about competing with other girls who are “better” than me? Well, don’t.
It is important to support other girls and women.
It is one of the reasons Rock Girls work: We support each other and speak up for other women and girls.
When you meet a woman who is intimidatingly witty, stylish, beautiful and professionally accomplished – befriend her.
Surrounding yourself with strong, passionate women will not make you look less in comparison, it will only make you look better.
Would you like to try this out and feel more brave?
Here are a couple of tips to help you along: Voice your own opinion Take on criticism, when it's helpful Stand out from the crowd Say NO! Be direct