Great Self Confidence

...to live the life you want

The Kings Confidence

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How would you feel about taking on a job that you were totally ill equipped to perform, where your self confidence was absolutely rock bottom?

A job that entailed making public appearances , being the centre of attention,  when you were shy and reserved.  A job that involved making speeches in front of thousands, and live broadcasts to millions, when you were inflicted by a terrible stutter.

The Kings Weaknesses

I‘m sure many of you have seen the Academy Award winning film, “The King’s Speech“. This depicts the story of how the future King George VI (who wasn’t “scheduled” to be King until his brother abdicated) received help so he could fulfil his royal duties. Even before he became King his role representing the Crown necessitated public appearances and speeches. [Read more…]

Stress from Mobile Phones

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The other evening my wife and I went for a walk at a local beauty spot. It was a lovely, late summer evening and quite a few others were making the most of the occasion. But one thing got my attention. For about 5 minutes everyone we passed, young and old, had a mobile (cell) phone pressed to their ear!

Because of the advantages of phones, being able to contact help in an emergency for instance, we tend to view them as helpful, even essential tools.  A UK survey in 2008 introduced a new word to me “nomo-phobia” – fear or anxiety of being out of mobile phone contact! This apparently affects 53% of mobile phone users – 20% saying such a scenario would be as stressful as moving house or breaking up with a partner.

The same survey had 20% of the 2163 questioned saying they never switched off their phone, 10% saying their job required them to be contactable at all times. [Read more…]

Learn to Network

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I have recently joined a new service called “Shy Networking“.  As a lifelong introvert, although I would no longer describe myself as shy, networking networking with confidencehas never come easy. Likewise for one of the team behind Shy Networking, professional blogger Chris Garrett.

My main reason for joining was to learn how to network online, which basically I’m very poor at. Whilst I have learnt (the hard way) to network reasonably effectively face to face, I’ve not been able to carry that forward on the internet.

This is somewhat ironic, as theoretically it should be easier for a shy or introverted person to network where there is no face to face contact.  However, I’ve started to realise that some of the principles behind networking go deeper than just being able to cope with meeting strangers. Just because I can “do” face to face networking doesn’t mean I’ve been good at it?!

Brian Tracy

I recently saw a Brian Tracy video on the 10 essentials  for success. One of these was contacts – the number of people who know you in a positive way. He stressed never take rejection as a sign of lack of interest or take it personally – people are busy.

“Some will, some won’t, so what…  next.“

The more people you know, the more likelihood of the right person being there at right time. His key method to build contacts was to always look for ways to help. However, that’s easier said than done.

Time will tell if I can improve and build my network via Shy Networking and it proves worth the money.  But it has got me reflecting about networking,

here are my suggestions on what can help:- [Read more…]

Are Affirmations Useless?

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Its 150 years since the publication of what is now regarded as the first self help book – Samuel Smiles “Self Help“.  Still on sale today – and apparently a big seller in countries such as Japan and China.  selfhelp1But when first published it sold 20,000 copies in its first year, and by the time of Smiles death in 1902 had sold over 1/4 million copies. In the 19th Century it was only out sold by the Bible!

In a recent radio program it was said Smiles book was published on the same day as “On Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin.  I cannot find any other proof of that fact. Either way,  it could be that Smiles message “Heaven helps those who help themselves” was reassuring to a society held together by Christian beliefs.

But the underlying message from Smiles was that success came through dedication and hard work.  He didn’t appear to believe in the concept of “genius”, all those he portrayed in his case studies got there by hard graft and application. Interestingly, this is a central theme of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Outliers.

The End of Self Help?

oprah1I write this as some have been predicting the end of self help, [Read more…]

Need a Boost? Holidays & Empowerment

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twinsI‘ve just returned from a family holiday to Portugal that was over far too quickly.

Whilst we were away my twin daughters hit the magic
age of 18. As with any parent, there are times you wish you could do things without your children. But I’m still glad all three of my
children (the eldest is 21) still wanted to come on holiday with us.

If  left to me to organize we probably wouldn’t go anywhere. I enjoy having a break from everyday routine, focussing on enjoyable activities and the increased company of family or friends. But having not travelled greatly when younger, I’ve always viewed the organization and “getting there” with trepidation. [Read more…]