Great Self Confidence

...to live the life you want

Archives for January 2008

Does your face convey confidence?

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Does my photograph on the top right of this page give weight and authority to what I write? Or does it put you off, as I look a bit of a wimp? And if you subscribe by RSS you don’t have to look at me at all!

Researchers at Tufts University in Massachusetts have come up with an interesting take on faces. Using photographs of top and bottom Chief Executives of Fortune 1000 companies, they got their students to rate them as “powerful” or “warm”. They found:-

“CEO’s who are ranked higher in terms of looking more powerful do better or have more profitable companies than those who are ranked warm.”

So does your face determine your fate, as they suggest? [Read more…]

Anxiety, Affirmations & Yaro

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affirmationsThis is the first time I have written about Yaro Starak, although he is probably someone whose work I have read more than anyone since I started this blog. Yaro writes about blogging – so whilst of interest to me, I have assumed he won’t be of interest to anyone visiting this site. If you do blog, Yaro has a free blueprint which is worth reading – I can also recommend his Blog Mastermind course when he next runs one.

I mention him, because I happened on one of his posts from 2006 called The Key to Happiness. Yaro doesn’t normally venture into self improvement posts, but I found it quite an eye opener. By accident, rather than design, my recent posts have all featured successful people who had overcome various adversities in their youth. I now found out that Yaro had suffered from panic attacks in his late teens and early twenties.

Anxiety related problems sometimes get short shrift in the media, as we all get anxious at times. Our physiological make up has programmed in a fight or flight response, so our body can get suitably “prepared” if confronted by danger. Unfortunately, this hasn’t evolved over the years to take on board that usually most of us don’t encounter life threatening danger – tigers and other wild animals are now enclosed in cages. [Read more…]

Never judge the day by the weather

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This is a quick, extra, post mainly prompted by my making a total hash of trying to get a video clip on yesterdays post. It doesn’t appear to work in Internet Explorer (get Firefox – it’s better anyway!!) and I now realize those getting the RSS feed didn’t get anything, so the post may have read a little strange. Click on Stephen Fry for the You Tube video.

The other thing to say is that today in the UK has been calculated as the “most depressing day of the year”. A University researcher has come up with a formula that takes into account various factors such as weather, day of the week, debts from Christmas, failure of New Year resolutions (!) and found the third Monday in January is the day to stay in bed!

This story has been on our radio and television, but the link above was the main one I could find on Google. The author has clearly missed the point – he argues from California that sometime in November is a more depressing day. But with the weather we tend to get in January (its hardly stopped raining) – which we love to talk about – its not exactly a surprising finding.

Has anyone got a formula for the Happiest Day of the Year? One thing I have done recently is replayed an old Zig Ziglar audiotape I purchased many years ago. One of his “suggestions” is “never judge the day by the weather“. Today there are many people out there celebrating the birth of a child or some other momentous event. Does it matter to them if its raining or snowing or blowing a gale?

We should celebrate everyday we get, whatever the weather. We will never get 21st January 2008 ever again – its gone. I hope you made the most of it.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself

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Stephen Fry is always entertaining (to me anyway!) and usually gives interesting reflections on life:- 

This video has now been withdrawn from YouTube – copyright problems with the BBC!

You could have see it on You Tube My recent posts have highlighted the less than perfect starts of people who went on to great success in their chosen fields. Despite an affluent background, Stephen Fry described his teenage years as having a "tendency to lie, cheat and steal". So much so that at 18 he was sent to prison for 3 months for credit card fraud! 

[Read more…]

Does Attitude Count more than Ability?

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Last week I received an email announcing the relaunch of Success magazine. As the email was unsolicited – and technically spam – it didn’t seem a particularly auspicious way to relaunch a magazine! But it did lead me to dig out my old copy of Success, which I purchased in Chicago on my only visit (to date) to the USA – in February 1982.

Its a long story as to why I was in Chicago in winter, and I’m not really sure why my magazine has survived 26 years (and that I could find it!). Ironically 1982 was the least successful year of my life as I spent most of it unemployed and lacking confidence in myself. I had yet to learn that reading self development material isn’t enough – you have to take action..

Reading any old publication gives a fascinating insight into how far some things have changed. There is a feature on a new form of dancing called “aerobics”, an advert using John DeLorean to promote a brand of whiskey and the cover feature/main interview is Johnny Carson (“shy and introverted as a youngster”). The other big interview is Brent Musburger, who I gather is still around today.

In many other respects, the magazine is remarkably undated. [Read more…]