We were lucky to catch up with Tannia Godinez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tannia, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Developing my confidence and self esteem is an ongoing journey for me. For the most part of always had a loud and bold personality which could come across as confident but I wasn’t. Having people in my life remind of what I look like caused me to have low self esteem. For a really long time, I considered myself unworthy unless I did a lot of people pleasing things to be seen or be validated. And when I wasn’t, I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. My worth felt like it was non existent.
But then I started a self discovery journey where I start to find the path to come home to myself. Where I feel the safest and at my best. I felt lost and I needed to come back home. This meant releasing people and things from my life that no longer served me or were helping me grow.
Between participating in ancestral medicine ceremonies, getting a divorce, and getting gastric sleeve surgery, a new me emerged.
I’ve been building on the new me since. I realized that I have been be worthy all along and always will be. That I am the main character of my story and also the author. I didn’t like what I was reading and it was up to me to switch things up. I saw how others confidently walked and I wanted the same for me. So I did!
I am still learning and growing and updating this version of myself and I just say, it feels good!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Even throughout a lot of transition, I am discovering new ways I want to be apart of my community. Life transitions were used to be seen as setbacks but now I see them as on time blessings.
I work in the education sector but it’s not necessarily where I see myself long term. Life be life-ing and we got to do what we got to do sometimes. I realized that I allowed survival mode to halt my creativity and I essentially blocked my own blessings.
It wasn’t until I said, ENOUGH. This cycle will never end unless I do something about it. Survival mode is just where I’m at but it doesn’t mean I have to stay here. Thinking about all the things I want to do and not act on them and then realizing later that if I would have started what I wanted when I thought about it, I would be ahead but here I am thinking about where I COULD be. I wanted to change these conversations I was having with myself and have more positive ones.
I started to make decisions and build discipline in small increments. I am changing the way I talk to myself and be much more self aware of where I want to take my goals and dreams.
I enjoy sharing my journey via social media, I love being transparent and vulnerable. That’s my super power. Being able to share the good, the bad, and the ugly of what I call my life is a gift. I say what others can’t say out loud yet. I give people hope that self discovery journeys are life changing. That living authentically is as easy breathing. It’s a daily choice. I inspire people daily just by being myself and that is effortless magic to change lives with my story.
This has led me to take steps towards making this my professional career in the near future. I believe this is my purpose. Continuing to share my story with others in various platforms such as podcasts, public stages, and any other way I can.
I joined toastmasters a couple months ago and I am already learning so much. I will be taking on an officer position within my toastmasters club in 2024 to catapult this journey public speaking journey to new heights.
I am working towards a podcast, that will give more depths than what I share on social media.
I am so excited for the new year and the goals I have set. I will be on multiple platforms and I can’t wait to continue to be a testimony for others!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Ancestral medicine ceremonies were definitely a game changer in finding acceptance, love, and forgiveness within myself and with others.
This helped me accept people for who they are and giving me the choice to keep them in my story. I discovered that everyone and everything is rooted in love and when in doubt, love will always be the answer.
Along with acceptance, forgiving people for the sake of my peace was crucial. Recognizing that people are writing their own stories and I can’t take what others do personally.
These areas were incredibly impactful in my human experience to recognize my own behaviors and what I needed to work on to be a better human being.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
I think the people that I have had to heal/move on from have been the most helpful in building strength and skills in overcoming anger, sadness, and trauma. They have taught me the hardest yet the most valuable lessons in life so far and had I not had those experiences, I don’t think I would be the person I am today.
Besides the people who have taught me life lessons, the people that have listened and helped me navigate through my roller coaster of a journey are some real MVP’s. Even in my darkest days, they found the way to bring me back into light.
My children, my friends, and my community help me overcome challenges I come across and I am beyond grateful for them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @tanieeezy
Image Credits
Emilio Godinez (Sunset/Snow Picture) Disney images taken by Disney photographers. Selfies by Me.
