Are Affirmations Useless?

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.  But when first published it sold 20,000 copies in its first year, and by the time […]

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Self Confidence Built into Genes? I don’t agree

There has been some recently published research that suggests that there is now a genetic basis to self confidence.  Originally in “Psychological Science”,  but picked up worldwide, this research compared pairs of twins – half identical, half non-identical – usually the benchmark for sound academic research. I’ve not seen the source article with the full […]

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Michael Jackson, the Curse of Talent?

"Being confident is not always the same as being good at something"? That interesting statement appeared recently on another blog, My Life with Angels, which in turn was responding to a post by Maggie Stiefvater. On several occasions I have touched on the issue of whether being good at something is a key way to […]

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Is Smiling Good for You?

For some reason there have been a few articles about smiling recently. We all do it from time to time (don’t we?), but for most of us a smile isn’t our natural – or first choice – expression. A Smile Will Win Over Anyone? One  article I nearly didn’t read was a article entitled “physician […]

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Toxic People and Spots

I’ve started receiving feedback from my newsletter, Self Esteem Review. Since that only appears in my inbox, I feel I need a some way of posting the more significant letters on this blog, so anyone can respond with comments. So, whilst I’m not too sure how best to work this, I’ve decided to go ahead […]

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Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

Have You Organized Your Expedition Yet? If you search Google for “self confidence” you will often come across articles about children gaining confidence by participating in various activities, as diverse as karate, ballet or magic. One of my favourite posts,  “How to Build Self Confidence Through Activity” discusses this issue.  I did express concern that […]

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Using Pictures to Solve Problems

Next week I am due to accompany my eldest daughter to Buckingham Palace where she will receive her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award – from the “Duke” himself. Without going into detail about the award itself, its a great achievement and a boost for my self esteem and self confidence, let alone hers! It goes […]

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Need a Boost? Holidays & Empowerment

I‘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 […]

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