Normally, you don’t think of enabling as a good thing, but this class is about us enabling each other to feel good about ourselves… and you don’t really get that anywhere else.
By Alyssa Jenkins
They say mindset is everything, but what does that look like in the real world? People suffer terrible loss. Domestic violence, homelessness, mental illness—there are a lot of horrible things that happen to people. Is mindset really enough to overcome the trauma from any of that?
Over 2,000 women who’ve experienced these exact traumas would say, “yes.”
I had the incredible opportunity to participate in Leap to Confidence, a seven week program offered by Leap to Success that empowers women victims by teaching them confidence building, public speaking, and leadership skills.
The difference I witnessed and experienced from week one to week seven was nothing short of miraculous.
The first day I stepped into the classroom, it was exactly what you would expect. A few friendly smiles, idle chatter here and there, but a whole lot of nervousness, insecurity, and eye-contact avoidance. No one knew what to expect, but everyone had hope that maybe life was about to get (even just a little bit) better.
By the end of that first class, you could already feel the mood shift. We learned about how we can always choose to do things. Even if the action has a negative consequence, the choice is still ours to make. The women left that first class feeling empowered and ready to makes choices that would benefit them.
Week after week, we experienced breakthrough after breakthrough. We connected. We learned how to listen. We learned how to speak to be heard. We learned how to build upon past experiences to strengthen our confidence in our own capabilities.
In this incredibly safe and supportive environment, we not only grew, we flourished.
This all came to a culmination during graduation day. Each on of the women (myself included) had a public speaking moment. We went from being closed off, nervous, and unsure of ourselves, to confident, articulate women able to clearly express the obstacles we overcame, and the positive goals we had for the future to a room of about 50 people.
During week six, one of the women said something that will always stay with me. She said, “Normally, you don’t think of enabling as a good thing, but this class is about us enabling each other to feel good about ourselves… and you don’t really get that anywhere else.”
I will never forget my experience of going through Leap to Confidence, and I will forever be grateful for the awe-inspiring overcomers that I met and connected with during these seven weeks.
And that’s what everyone was in the end—no longer victims, but overcomers. This is the power of mindset. This is the power you get when you make your leap to confidence.
