Lizzie Velasquez, star of 'A Brave Heart,' gives her top tips for being confident.
Here’s what Velasquez said when asked to share her tips for walking through the world with confidence.
Be yourself.
As it turns out, the oldest advice in the book is also the most effective. “You have to be fully aware and confident that you are enough just being you,” Velasquez said. “That’s enough! You don’t have to live up to anyone else’s standards, you don’t have to look like anyone else, you don’t have to compare yourself to anyone else. You being you is enough, and you putting your positivity and good vibes out into the world, once you get to that point absolutely everything will fall into place. Whether it’s your personal life, your work life, your school life, your confidence, everything will fit once you believe in yourself.”
Roll with the punches.
“It’s been my style for so long to just roll with the punches and whenever something comes up you get, really, to just tackle it and enjoy it,” she said. “I actually made up my TED Talk as I was going. I had it planned for three weeks, and as I was walking up onstage I looked at [the TED organizers]. I was like, ‘listen, don’t freak out. I just need you to trust me, but I’m changing everything we planned.’ She looked at me with big eyes and took a deep breath and said, ‘I trust you.’ So I walked up and told myself to pretend you’re talking to your best friend.” Velasquez’s TED Talk has millions of views.
Love yourself.
“A few years ago I did this thing that I now call the Love Yourself List, where I wrote down everything that I love about myself, whether it’s physically or my personality,” she said. “I posted the list on my bathroom mirror to where I would see it every single day and I read it until I believed it instead of just looking at the words. And every time I would compare myself or doubt myself, I would think of the list and think, ‘these are the things I do love about myself. And over time, the list worked and I believed it.”
Fake it until you make it.
As a junior in high school, Velasquez’s principal asked her to speak to 400 9th graders about her experience. After she gave the talk, however, she caught the bug and wanted to become a motivational speaker.
“I went home and googled ‘how to be a motivational speaker’ and made a website and jailed people and said if you need a speaker, I’m your girl. I didn’t tell that that I’d only done one speech ever and didn’t know anything. I just wasn’t going to go wait around for it. I taught myself…I’m not going to wait until someone asks me to go, I’m going to go, ‘here I am!’”
It’s OK to have bad days. You SHOULD have bad days.
“I make it a point to let myself have bad days on a regular basis,” Velasquez said. “There were many times when I wouldn’t get it out of my system. I wouldn’t let myself cry and wouldn’t sit in a quiet room and just reflect or take my dog for a walk and leave my phone inside.
I wouldn’t do all of those things and over time you just build up and at a certain point it builds up and explodes, probably at the worst time possible. I make it a point to let myself be sad today and say ‘why me’ and cry and complain and leave my blinds closed, but tomorrow, it’s done. Tomorrow, I’m not going to feel sorry for myself, I’m opening my blinds, I’m getting out of bed, and I’m letting myself be happy. It’s worked! And now I can’t picture myself not doing those things because it’s what keeps me sane.”
And finally do not let others' misconceptions of your disability foreshadow what you want to become in life
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