Brianna Gomez

We try to make ourselves small.

And it's such a weird human tendency.

It almost reminds me of like a prey instinct, like a prey animal, which is so weird because like, okay,

we're not prey but maybe social situations are so unbearable for some that we do enter a fight or flight mode but i need you to walk in and be like okay i'm here there's nothing i can change about the fact that i have to be in this place whether it's a wedding a party school any social interaction a restaurant whatever it may be you can't change the fact that you have shown up to this place yeah you could leave that will not help your confidence anymore you are here are you going to make the most of it

Or are you going to sit the entire time in misery, worrying about whether someone's going to talk to you, worrying about if you're saying the right thing?

Do not second guess yourself.

So my challenge for you is the next time you walk into a room, walk in with your head held high.

Do not try to hide.

Do not shrink yourself down to make someone else feel better, to make you feel better, okay?

And be unapologetically yourself.

you have to walk in and you have to know that like yes people are going to look at me yes people are going to perceive me that's what social situations essentially are and you have to know that whatever their perception is of you does not change who you are and so stop trying to say things to make people agree with you or to make people like you better because that reads more awkward than confident if you're walking in a room a lot of people think that if they say just the right thing maybe people will like them or think they're cool or think they're popular

whatever it may be for you.

That is so untrue.

I feel like people can actually pick up on the energy and tell if you're saying something that you don't mean.

And there's people in this world who have said things that I do not agree with, but I can respect the fact that they are unapologetically themselves and you know for a fact that they aren't saying things just to say things.

They're saying things because it's what they believe, it's who they are, it's what they stand for.

When they are not saying it to take away from someone else, to put someone else down,

But if they're just saying it because of what they believe, it's like I respect that so much more than when I'm looking at someone in a conversation and I can tell they're just agreeing to agree.

They're just like saying things to be interesting or saying things to get along with someone.

It's like I would so much rather someone be unapologetically, shamelessly themselves than try to morph into a carbon copy of someone else.