Confidently Beautiful with Ciera
Confidently Beautiful with Ciera
Beat the Odds: Lessons from the 1996 Nigerian Football Team
Discover the powerful journey of the 1996 Nigerian Olympic football team and how their story is a potent reminder of resilience and self-belief. This episode of Confidently Beautiful delves into how these underdogs shocked the world by defeating formidable opponents and inspiring generations to come. Their story conveys a universal message: despite facing tremendous odds, we can triumph through determination and courage.
Join me as we explore the intersections of confidence, motherhood, and personal growth. You’ll hear insights on pushing past self-doubt, embracing challenges, and nurturing your inner rockstar. We’ll reflect on the hardships every woman faces in her journey and how we can derive strength from stories like that of the Nigerian team.
Every listener will leave feeling empowered, realizing they, too, can shock the world in their own unique way. Let’s celebrate the spirit of resilience together and remind ourselves that we are stronger than we think! Share this episode with someone who needs that extra boost of confidence and don’t forget to connect with me on social media. Subscribe, share, and let’s uplift each other on this journey toward being confidently beautiful!
Join my e-mail list: Click here
Take my skincare quiz: Click here
Buy makeup products here and help survivors of child sexual abuse
Shop Confident Expression Etsy Shop: Click here
Visit saprea.org to learn more about hope and healing from child sexual abuse
Visit Defend Innocence for resources on child sexual abuse prevention
Connect with Ciera on Instagram @confidentlybeautifulpodcast
You're listening to Confidently Beautiful with Ciera, a podcast to help you stay confidently beautiful, because we all have confidence inside us. We just need to bring it out and I'm here to show you how Body image, dreams, parenting, style, personality and more. Here we cover it all. Get ready to stay confidently beautiful. Hello, hello, welcome back to another episode of Confidently Beautiful with Ciera. I am your host, Ciera, and I am so happy to be here. Before we dive in, let me hit you with a little reminder. You are amazing, no, really. Have you actually stopped to think about that today? Because I need you to, and I know you might be thinking and rolling your eyes. Okay, Ciera, sure, but if you really knew me, you would be saying different. You really wouldn't be saying that if you knew who I was, sierra. Well, here's the thing I may not know you personally Maybe I do but I do know this about you You're here listening to this podcast, showing up for yourself and wanting to grow, to feel more confident, to chase those dreams and to be the best version of you, and that, in my opinion, is amazing. So take a second and sit a little taller, take a deep breath, give yourself that, yes, I am a freaking rockstar energy, because I believe that you are Okay.
Ciera:Now let's get into today's story, after we're all feeling really great about ourselves, a story that hit me right in the heart when I heard it. It's about a team that defied all odds, a team that wasn't supposed to win, but guess what they did? And I am talking about the 1996 Nigerian Olympic football team. Okay, this is a podcast about confidence, right? We typically talk about motherhood and confidence and beauty, style, fashion, all those things, and now I'm talking about soccer. Why did we come here? But just stay with me. This story has really been sticking with me ever since I heard it. It's a story about resilience and belief and pushing past what people think you can't do or what they think that you can do, and I believe that that is for all of us. This is for all of us to hear. So a quick side note of course, this is the Nigerian Olympic football team, so my ears always perk up when I hear someone mention something about Africa. My husband has a deep connection to Africa. He lived there serving a mission for our church, and while he was there, I wrote him every single week, and so Africa will always have a special place in our hearts. He really grew to love the people there. We have a dream to go back there and, you know, have him, show me around and see all that he saw. So you know, having this be the Nigerian football team that it just like that right there, just like, made me stop and listen to this story. So back to the story. This is a true story In 1996, picture this the Nigerian team.
Ciera:They are like massive underdogs and they're up against some of the biggest and best and most dominant teams in the whole world. They're in the Olympics and no one thought that they had a chance. But what did this team do? They shocked the world. The team beat Mexico 2-0 in the quarterfinals, they beat Brazil 4-3 in the semifinals and they beat Argentina 3-2 in the finals game. The victory inspired so many new generations of football players. The ripple effect that this had on so many was inspiring and it showed that African teams could compete at the highest level globally, which hadn't been proved before. It marked a new era of excellence in Nigerian sports. This, just it like, propelled their confidence and it made them feel so much more confident in every area and they all felt like they would have the confidence and the ability to succeed.
Ciera:So I've been thinking a lot about this story. Yes, it's about soccer, football but how could it relate to us? Isn't that what we all want? We all want to beat the odds. We all want to prove to ourselves, and maybe even to the doubters, that we are stronger than we even realize. So how do we beat the odds? As moms, as women, as dream chasers?
Ciera:Maybe you're in the middle of a hard season, balancing kids, your career, your own personal goals, trying to maybe figure out who you are and trying to remember just to drink enough water during the day. Maybe you're facing a health struggle, or maybe you're dealing with that voice in your head that's saying who do you think you are to go for that dream? Here's what I know the people who changed the game are the ones who refused to back down. Let me say that again. The people who changed the game are the ones who refused to back down, just like this football team. They refused to back down. They refused to give into those doubters that said they couldn't do it. They were the underdogs, but they refused to give into that. They just kept trying. So the ones who keep going, even when no one believes in them yet they are the ones who are going to succeed. They're the ones who are going to find that confidence inside them and they are going to win.
Ciera:So take this as your little pep talk. Whatever it is in your life that you're going through, life can be so hard. There can be so much going on, but what can you beat the odds with? Think of this football team and try and beat your odds. How can you bring your confidence out and be the best person that you can be?
Ciera:If there's someone in your life who is beating the odds, send them this episode, let them know that you see them, that you're cheering them on, and if that person is you because, let's be real, you are stronger than you think then take this as your sign to just keep on going. You're amazing, you are capable and you are going to shock the world, just like this Nigerian team. I know you are going to shock the world, you're going to shock yourself and I know that you can do it. So you are amazing and I will talk to you next time. Thanks for listening. Connect with me on Instagram at confidently beautiful podcast and share this episode with someone in your life who could use a little reminder of just how amazing they already are. Stay confidently beautiful.