What does confident mean to you?

I am getting super excited about The Confident Mother virtual conference that I am planning. It seems that every day somebody introduces me to a a fabulous potential speaker. Honestly if I could, I’d run this virtual conference for weeks and weeks, however I am limited in time (12 to 30 January) because I have some sensational workshops planned for February and March. Workshops don’t plan themselves!

As I was designing the layout for the sign-up page, so that you can register for the event, it got me to thinking, what does “confident” mean?

When I check out the thesaurus, it provides these alternatives:

• bold
• convinced
• courageous
• fearless
• hopeful
• positive
• sanguine
• satisfied
• self-assured
• self-reliant
• sure
• upbeat

And if you look at the noun, confidence, then these words are thrown into the mix too:

• assurance
• certainty
• courage
• determination
• poise
• spirit
• tenacity

The image I have in my mind of The Confident Mother is a mother who is self-assured, who has the knowledge and the relevant information so that the decisions that she makes at any moment in time are the right ones for her. This might need her to be brave and courageous, to do something different from friends or family. Something as natural as co-sleeping is seen by some as outrageous. Breastfeeding beyond 6 months? How crazy is that? You want us all to behave like mammals?

When we become mothers or parents, there are SO many people eager to share their thoughts, beliefs and values with you. To tell you that THEIR way is the right and only way to be a parent. There are so many parenting books on the market. If you do a Google search on “mother”, there are something crazy like 1.29 billion results. I searched on “how to be a good mum”. Wow, that alone provides 601 million results. That’s 601 million opinions on how to be a good mum. I am not here to tell mums how to be good mums. My role is to provide you with the time, the space, the acceptance, and perhaps the information if you don’t already have it, so that you can make strong confident decisions yourself. I want all mums to have self-assurance and self-belief. To know that when they do what they feel is the right thing to do, that their actions, their values, and their beliefs are accepted without fuss, without question, without judgement.

I just signed up to a 15 Day Audio Challenge … the first challenge yesterday was to explain what I am passionate about. Have a listen and see what you think, it’s just 4 minutes. It’s my first ever attempt at audio blogging. There’ll be more to come over the next two weeks as I discover how to use audio effectively with the wonderful Viv Oyolu. Just listening to her gorgeous silky voice puts a smile on my face.

So what about you? What does “confident mother” mean to you? Please share your thoughts below or come and join me on the Facebook group.