I’ve been worried about giving a speech in front of the school since Year 9.

Worried about stuffing up in front of everyone. But luckily, I'm hoping I got that out the way already last week with my reading from the book. Confidence. Feeling or showing confidence in one's abilities or qualities.

Personally, I think confidence is one of the most important assets in a man. Being confident in everything you do will make life a lot easier. Being confident for me is put into one simple quote “Fake it till you make it.” Smile and act like you want to be there and you want to do your best. Whether it’s a sport, sitting a test, doing a job interview or simply introducing yourself to someone, walk tall. Be proud of who you are. Others typically view a confident person as dependable and admirable.

However, as is often true, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. Overconfidence is a weakness and most would agree that arrogance is undesirable. There are significant differences between confidence and arrogance, and usually, it's hard to see in yourself, but it doesn't take long for others to see the difference in you. Arrogant people feel good about themselves only if they're superior to others. Confident people feel great about themselves without comparing themselves with others.

The other day I was scrolling down Facebook, as you do, and landed on a video about confidence and it said, “Constructive criticism as a confident man, we embrace it, we take it, we analyze it and we apply it because we are constantly trying to improve ourselves. Be the best version of ourselves. On the flip side, someone who is arrogant is constantly convincing the world of there social worth and their status. They do this by gloating because for them it's all about putting people down to make them feel better.”

So choose which type you want to be. Be confident. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Don't let anyone steal your joy. You are amazing. You just need to know it and believe it for yourself.