You’re reading Boost Your Self Confidence With These 6 Tips, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

How would you rate yourself if you were to measure your level of self-confidence? Are you as confident as you really wish to be? Do you still stutter and feel inadequate when you are about to meet people or carry out an assignment?

Having low self-confidence means you feel inadequate to take up a task because you doubt your abilities. You shy away from responsibilities, and when a particular situation that you dread arrives (such as speaking before an audience), you just wish the ground to open and swallow you.

It invariably impacts every aspect of your life, and determines to a large extent how people will appreciate you in the society.

If you lack self-confidence and have very low self-esteem, don’t despair! You can overcome it. Acquiring self-confidence is a skill that you can, and should learn as it is the foundation of success.

How?

1. Make sure you are fully prepared for every action you want to take.

Preparation helps you develop poise which is akin to self-confidence.  Failure to know what you will say or do at a given situation will intensify your feelings of nervousness.

For a preparation to increase your levels of confidence, it must be done properly and not in a rush.

At times, though, you may feel well prepared for a certain event only to be found wanting. So, real preparation also involves a good and clear knowledge of what is expected of you. Be willing to go beyond the material or information you have received and do some research on your own.

2. Don’t just sit there, take action immediately

Some tasks can look very daunting till you try your hands on them. And you may never start feeling confident until you start doing something.

As a public speaker for instance, I always feel my heart beat increase just before I am to climb any stage to speak. And as the time draws closer, my palms will start sweating, and then my heart then starts thumping.

But I have trained myself to ignore those feelings. This is because in my experience, those feelings always give way once I climb the stage or start speaking. In other words, I noticed that the feeling of self-confidence comes when I start taking the action in view. It is a cycle.

Are you feeling jittery and like your heart I s about to fall out of your mouth? That’s fear speaking. Ignore it. But don’t just sit there. Put your best foot forward. To your surprise, you may find it interesting once you get the hang of it.

As you step out in faith, your confidence level will rise.

 3. Always adopt a realistic approach

In spite of how well you have prepared, and despite the level of knowledge you must have acquired in a given subject, you must try to be realistic as you build your self-confidence.

For instance, you shouldn’t attempt to speak to a crowd of 10,000 people if you were stuttering while trying to speak in an informal meeting of 10 people.

The secret here is to get better through constant practice. But as you practice, make sure you don’t set standards that are too high. They may boomerang. And if they do, it will do more harm than good to you.

4. Walk Tall

Being tall or standing tall enhances our self-image, and makes us feel more self-confident. According to this study, tall men seem to be more confident and have the world at their feet. The study suggests that the tallest quarter of the population earns 10% more than the shortest quarter.

This asserts that height and self-confidence are enmeshed.

“Being tall is associated with greater career and relationship success. Height is taken to convey authority and we feel taller when we feel more powerful” said Daniel Freeman from the University of Oxford. According to the same source, people who are short may suffer from paranoia.

Being short however, doesn’t mean you are sentenced to a life of low self-confidence. There are countless men and women who don’t have the height advantage but have been able to achieve amazing feats and live very confident lives.

Being short is not a disadvantage. And if it bothers you so much, use high heeled shoes if you are a lady and use an addheight insole as a man. They will make you add a couple of inches to your height.

5. Take Regular Exercise

Regular exercise promotes good mental health and improves intelligence. It stimulates the brain, and of course the mind by giving you a sense of well-being. The quality of your sleep improves, and helps you deal with stress.

Besides, being overweight can be a resultant effect of low self-esteem. Reducing weight through exercises can soar your sense of well-being, and indirectly affect the way you feel about yourself.

6. Learn to use relaxation techniques

They act like palliatives to cushion the effect of stress on you. All the steps mentioned above are helpful, but especially when coupled with a relaxation exercise.

Suppose you face a sudden unexpected event, or you are about to do something that makes you feel nervous, these techniques help. A few of them are autogenic relaxation, visualization, and deep breathing.

In conclusion, do not let your flaws blind you to your value and accomplishments. Applying these cool tips will boost your self-confidence, and lead you to greater success in the long run.

 

 

You’ve read Boost Your Self Confidence With These 6 Tips, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading Top 5 Online Relationship Resources for 2016, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Relationships demand a great deal of commitment at every stage – beginning it, strengthening it and maintaining it over the course of months and years is not an easy task. In 2016, with work and other commitments often limiting the time we have in our personal lives, it is more difficult than ever.

Fortunately, this is the digital age and the amount of online resources designed to help you navigate the tricky waters of relationships, both romantic and platonic. Here are five of the best resources for website and mobile.

27 Ways To Be Closer To Your Spouse

There are always ways in which you can become closer to your other half – it’s easy to take them for granted when you have other things going on, and this can slowly cause the relationship to deteriorate. The Quality Solicitors guide to maintaining a close, strong bond with your spouse is a fantastic, varied resource for couples of all ages – from promoting empathy to encouraging couples to pursue separate interests, this guide is an invaluable resource.

36 Questions That Lead To Love

When the New York Times published an article that suggested that asking and answering 36 questions could be the key to two people falling in love, it caused a sensation as people questioned whether such a simple thing could help achieve something so complicated. While it’s perhaps a bit far-fetched to say that the questions really could help people fall in love, they can certainly help people become better connected. You can download the questions (from “Out of anyone in the world, who would you want as a dinner guest?” to “Share a personal problem and ask your partner’s advice on how they would have handled it”) via an app or view them online.

Wiith

Tinder is infamous for facilitating hook-ups, but what about those who want to meet new people and form new relationships with them without necessarily getting into anything romantic? Mobile application Wiith takes the same formula and allows the user to find people nearby who share their interests, so it’s a great tool for making new friends and hitting it off with someone immediately. And if it leads to something more, that’s just an added bonus…

Niche dating websites

A lot of people who use dating websites like OKCupid and PlentyOfFish may become disillusioned because they can’t find anyone they like or who shares their interests. However, there is a growing market for niche dating websites and apps where those who like beards (for example) can connect with people who have beards. These sites have helped connect people based on music taste, favourite foods (or necessary diets) and even preferred sci-fi shows. If there’s a niche for it, there’s probably an app that people are using.

Fix A Fight

Every couple fights – it’s part of a healthy relationship to get your feelings about a situation out in the open, but the hard part is making up so that both parties are satisfied and are able to move on. Fix A Fight is an app that allows you to do so by guiding you through the actions needed to make up after a fight. In terms of effectiveness, it may not work for everyone, but it should allow you to get to the making up part as quickly as possible…

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as online resources for relationships are concerned. Whatever you might need help with when it comes to your friends, family or significant other, there is probably an app or a website that has you covered – and if there isn’t, there almost certainly will be soon.

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You’re reading Follow These 6 Steps to Stress Less and Stay Motivated, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Stress. It’s that slap-in-the-face feeling you get when there are too many demands, too many people to please, and too little time to get it all done.

This is not a pleasant or productive state to be in.  

Sure, a little stress can be motivating and even energizing, but even working best under pressure has its limits. Eventually, it becomes physically, mentally, and emotionally draining.

When you reach that point, you don’t want to do anything. You’re tense, on edge, and mentally blocked.

If you’ve hit your stress limit, here’s a quick checklist to keep yourself calm and moving on: 

1. Remember that you are enough.

When you’re stuck in not-good-enough mode, it can feel like you’re always doing something wrong. This only makes a stressful situation worse.

It’s a vicious cycle, and soon all you seem to see are your flaws. You feel weak and defeated. You lose motivation, energy, and creativity, and you’re convinced that you can’t cut it.

What if this time you remembered that you are enough? What would you do differently when things get tough?

You have nothing but stress to lose by trying.

2. Put on your own mask first.

You can’t do anything unless you are taking care of yourself. It’s nearly impossible to think clearly and stay motivated when you aren’t fueling, resting, and recharging your body and mind.

When your gut reaction to stress is hunkering down and pushing harder to get through it, it usually means doing less of the things that improve your mood and outlook on the situation. This might work for a little while, but eventually you get burned out.

Break the cycle by handling stress strategically. Ask yourself what one thing you could change about your self-care to help you through this stressful time. Give it the time it deserves as you test out that change.

Your body, mind, and productivity will thank you for it.

3. Let go of

No matter where you are in life, “should” and “supposed to” usually end in stress. This self-talk adds pain to an already upsetting situation.

This may surprise you, but “should” also helps you solve problems a lot less than you might think. Rather than facing a problem head-on as it is, it gets you frustrated about what it is not. This gets you nowhere fast.

Relieve your stress and keep up your motivation by making the move from should to solution. Ask what you can do about the situation as it is right now.

 4. Let go of comparison and competition.

Comparison and competition can be motivating when the conditions are right, but they sure can backfire. They can put you under constant pressure and make it feel like your entire worth as a person hinges on keeping up. When this goes too far, it’s defeating, not inspiring.

Having the drive to excel isn’t the problem here. The problems come when you focus more about the outcome than the process of getting there. When you can’t celebrate the small victories, be kind to yourself in the face of failure, or remember your unique strengths, you have the perfect conditions for losing motivation and feeling stressed.

If this sounds familiar, give yourself a time-out to think about what makes you who you are, what is meaningful to you, and what else you could be doing with your time and energy if you got off the hamster wheel of comparison/competition.

5. Reevaluate your expectations.

When you’re stressed, reevaluating expectations can feel a little too much like settling, so remember this: adapting your expectations to meet reality is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of intelligence! Sometimes the most effective way to stay on track is to pivot and try again with a fresh perspective.

You could tell yourself that you should have been able to meet your expectations exactly as they were, but life rarely plays by those rules. Rather than arguing with life about it, take a moment to adjust. Shift your perspective by taking the situation as it is and coming up with your best plan from there.  

6. Slow down.

Stress can happen when you get ahead of yourself and take on too much at once.
It isn’t that you’re not capable of doing these things but that the combination of things, timing, and circumstances right now is just not working for you.

The result? Overwhelm. Indecision. Paralysis.

To slow down, focus on what’s right in front of you. Where are you today? What’s going to work right here?

Think of it as doing what works rather than trying to do everything all at once. Set small goals that fit into the bigger picture, and celebrate as you reach them. It’s so much more effective (and motivating) that way.

Leave a comment and share. What stress checklist tip resonates most with you?

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Leslie shows working moms how to bust those superwoman myths and bring back the balance and joy with her signature blend of real-life positive psychology tips and guilt-free meditations at A Year of Happy. To get you started, she’s whipped up a delectable 2-minute revitalizing meditation for you to enjoy on the house at http://ift.tt/1X6g1U9.

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