Building Self-Confidence
It is vitally important that you understand that the people, things and circumstances you encounter on a daily basis can have a dramatic effect on what is being stored in your subconscious mind. For example, reading the negativity of the daily news, watching violent films, absorbing negative input from friends, family or colleagues. This can affect your emotions, confidence, drive, relationships, ambitions and all round self-image. The power of the subconscious mind is at work constantly. Therefore, it is essential that you are aware of negative thoughts and influences that may be affecting your outcomes and performance in life.
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In order to have a marked improvement in your quality of life and experiences, you must begin to take actions that will limit or remove these sources of negativity. Replacing negativity with positive input, such as friends or family who are positive people who want to bring out the best in you, or watching ‘feel good’ movies, or even reading success stories such as the biographies of people who have excelled, will all help you to form a positive subconscious that will allow you to succeed in the things that you do. It is extremely important that you are careful and selective as to what you allow your conscious mind to absorb. This will directly influence your beliefs of the future. This selectivity is crucial if you are to fulfill the potential that you have been given.
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Is our opinion of ourselves accurate? Watch the video opposite. The truth is, for most people, it is more negative than it needs to be. One of the reasons for this is that the primitive part of our mind, the limbic system, which is primarily concerned with survival, tends to place a high importance on our failures, as it sees them as a threat to our survival. Our failures are powerfully stored in our memory, whereas our successes, especially the everyday ones, are easily forgotten or filtered out. The vast majority of us will actually have significantly more good days than
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bad days in life, but we tend to remember the bad days more than the good days. This creates a negative imbalance, which can cause a drop in our confidence and ability to succeed. In
order to create a better balanced, more accurate opinion of yourself and
strengthen your confidence, take time to think about your life so far, and list the ten best things you've achieved
in an "Achievement Log." Perhaps you came top in an important test or
exam, played a key role in an important team, graduated from university, produced
the best sales figures in a period, did something that made a key difference in
someone else’s life, or delivered a project that meant a lot for your business.
Put these into a smartly formatted document, which you can look at often. Spend
a few minutes each week enjoying the success you’ve already had. It will build
your confidence and pave your way to achieving even greater successes in the
future.
Of course, in the journey of life, we all face challenges. Sometimes those challenges can be so big that they instill doubt in us and knock our confidence. However, confidence grows when we tackle challenges and overcome them, no matter how big or small. We take confidence from overcoming, surviving and surpassing each challenge that comes our way. Challenges are an opportunity to grow our confidence further, add to our experience in life and expand our ever increasing skill set. So, you must face your challenges head on.
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If you don't face up to your challenges, then they have defeated you before you have even started. The truth is, confidence is not the absence of fear or doubt, but the courage to keep going despite the presence of fear and doubt. Confidence grows with each step forward and even the smallest of achievements. Tackling a big challenge is an achievement in itself and confidence will grow each momment that you endeavour to meet that challenge.
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Check out the video opposite. This is a masterclass in how to speak in a way that people want to listen. Whether that is professionally, like a presentation or interview, or whether it is socially, in a group or on a 1-2-1, this video will point you in the right direction of how to speak very well. Taking on board the suggestions from this video will help build your confidence to speak out and win people over. The ability to speak well and the confidence to speak well are closely linked. Find out how to master the art of BOTH.
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