From a very young age we learn to put ourselves down and not to appear too confident in our own abilities. If we are bright at school we try to play it down so that it doesn’t create any unnecessary attention. If we have a particular skill we often try to hide it particularly if it is something that is not seen to be ‘cool’ with friends. It is the British way to put ourselves down and not to want to accept praise for what we do.
But I am not sure this is a healthy position for us, especially when young people find it curtails their life chances. If we don’t have a level of confidence and self-belief then why should we feel we are able to achieve our dreams? This might sound a bit like me wanting everyone to be running around telling the world how good they are. But this is not going to happen. Human nature means we don’t want to stand out from the crowd as it is an uncomfortable place.
What I want to see is young people being given the support and boost so that they believe in themselves. I want to know that young or old they believe they are good enough to achieve whatever they want to. The only thing that is holding us back is ourselves. After all, if we don’t think we are worthy then why should we feel we can grab those things we want to?
A positive outlook on life means we need self-belief and to feel a level of control over our lives. Without it we are drifting along or being pulled in directions that we might not want to take. There is a lot of negativity and darkness in the world and we have seen it a lot recently. We can be the light that makes the world a better place if we believe we can and are willing to do something.
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