Confidence – Key Ingredient of Happiness

The older I get in life (I sound like an old lady, but I’m actually turning 27 in two weeks) the more I realise the importance of confidence. It is not something we are born with, but luckily, it is something that we can work on. When I was a teenager it seemed to me that confidence was something that only a few of the lucky people had. I didn’t realise that you can develop it and water it like a plant. Thankfully, the older I got, I started feeling more confident and I understood what it actually meant to have real confidence in yourself.

confidence

Going through life and being fortunate to live in various countries, I got the chance to meet people from all over the world. Watching them struggle with different areas of their lives, I realised all of them had something in common. They were all struggling with their confidence. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that lack of confidence is a source of all problems. It causes many problems but not ALL of them. However, any problem you might have, if you face it armed with confidence you will have much better chances of beating it. For me it’s like having an armour that defends you from a lot of negativity. Someone said something bad about you? It will just bounce off of your confidence armour. It will help you filter all the doubt and self-doubt that might be surrounding you and that we all face from time to time. Whatever it is that you want in life confidence will help you get it. If you don’t feel confident you most likely won’t even try, and that equals failure right there. We need confidence (and self-esteem, they should go hand in hand) to give us that extra push to go in the direction of our dreams. We also need it in case that we fail, because we must know it happens to everyone and with confidence we’ll gather our strength and try again.

So, I can truly say that confidence is one of the key ingredients for a happy life. Still, I must mention that I talk about true confidence, the one that is a reflection of healthy self-esteem, and not the over the top fake confidence that makes you an arrogant bastard. First one comes from being sure in yourself, and the other one is just a messy way of covering one’s insecurities. Instead of trying to cover them up, be brave and face your fears. Work on getting to know yourself, both the flaws and the virtues. Appreciate the good side and work on improving the bad one. Don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t be a perfectionist. We can never achieve perfection as we are only human after all. But, we can accept our little flaws and turn them into these quirky characteristics that make us unique.

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Ivona Josipovic is a co-founder of The Smoke Detector, writer, fashion stylist, social media manager, curious creature, chocolate lover.

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27 comments

    1. Hey Seyra. Yes, would’t it be lovely if we could share confidence? Luckily, at least we can help each other develop it 😉
      Sure, let’s do that. We will follow you on IG as soon as my phone charges (never enough battery) and I’m following your blog right now 🙂 xoxo

      Reply

  3. This is so true, a healthy self-esteem is crucial to leading a happy life. I suffered from severe lack of self-esteem in my younger years and doubt everything that I do. I needed constant approval and in return I made many lousy decisions on my life. I actually went for therapy to work on my issues and it was the best decision that I made, completely changed my life for the better.

    Shireen | Reflection of Sanity

    Reply

    1. Shireen, thanks for sharing that. Lack of self-esteem can lead us into many bad choices.Seeking someone to help us out is always a good idea. Glad to hear it had such great impact on you 🙂

      Reply

  4. LOVING this so so so much. I have finally come to terms with who I am and I’m quite confident when it comes to my own talents. I love that quote a whole lot because, no matter how sad it sounds, at the end of the day, you’re alone. And if you like yourself, you’re good to go!

    Reply

    1. I agree with you, Naomi. We need to be our own heroes and in order to do that we need confidence as a super power 🙂

      Reply

  8. Nice post, Ivona 🙂 You mention a lot of important things! I agree with the phrase that the true confidence is when we feel ok even when someone does not like us. There is another quote I’ve heard once and liked “I’m not a DOLLAR to be liked by everyone!” 🙂

    Cult shampoos // http://www.keenonbeauty.com

    Reply

  9. Great post! Confidence is definitely essential in order to succeed and live a happy life! We can only achieve our goals if we truly believe we can! I agree with everything you wrote 🙂
    Have a great week!

    xo, Esther

    http://bubblesther.com

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Esther. Glad you agreed with me, confidence is essential in order for us to achieve our dreams and be happy and fulfilled. Wish you a great week too! 🙂
      xoxo, Ivona

      Reply

    1. I couldn’t agree more, Whitney! Confident people don’t hate. Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion. 🙂

      Reply

  17. Really great post, dear. I do agree with you that confidence is key to happy life, but sometimes it’s okay not to be confident. We can’t always be that happy bubble and be confident about every aspect of our appearance or outlook. And we just need to accept the fact that someday we are not going to be confident about ourselves and that’s okay 🙂

    -Leta | The Nerdy Me

    Reply

    1. You are right, we can’t always feel confident, we are human after all. But, a lack of confidence that lasts long can lead to many poor choices, so it’s important not to let that happen. Thanks for expressing your opinion, it’s always nice to share and learn something from the others. 🙂
      Love, Ivona.

      Reply
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