Necessity – The Mother of Invention

By Bob Proctor

From childhood ice cream has been my favorite dessert. Coming from a large family and raised during the Depression, we had an occasional "churn" of ice cream on Sunday afternoon. We didn't get much at a serving, so that made it particularly enjoyable. Over the years my passion for ice cream did nothing but grow and at one time I could quickly rattle off the four best ice creams available in America and, interestingly enough, the best flavors came from four different companies. To this day I find it difficult to pass the ice cream store without a quick stop for at least a single, if not a double-dip. Unfortunately, my body retains ice cream, so I seriously limit my intake today.

This leads me to a fascinating little story on ice cream and the ice cream sundae. A merchant from Wisconsin named Smithson, out of necessity, invented the ice cream sundae in 1890. They did not deliver on Sunday in those days, so to avoid running short he reduced the amount of ice cream with each order and added chocolate syrup or some special fruit topping to the mixture. The mixture was so well-received that he was asked by his customers to serve it on the other days of the week as well. He wanted to meet his customers' needs and desires, but some people objected to the use of the word "Sunday" because it was the Lord's Day. They felt that to call an ice cream dish after the Lord's Day was profane. That's when he modified the spelling to "sundae." Today the ice cream sundae is still a favorite among millions of people.

Just think - we never would have had the sundae had there not been a shortage of ice cream. The next time you run short of something, think of how you can stretch it out. Who knows? Maybe it will be a bonanza like the sundae. Give it a try, and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

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13:05:00 - By Vincent 0

5 Daily Positive Affirmations For Happiness In Life

BY Vernon Layne 

If your under-your-breath conversations were monitored for a day, what would that reveal about you?

Would there be a lot of self-talk berating yourself or there would be pep-talk encouraging yourself?

Perhaps there will be some talk back sessions getting the last laugh.

Most of us are careful about what we believe or whom we let into our life. We set limits on whom we listen to.

But for some reason we think we are supposed to believe everything we tell ourselves, right?

Don’t let self-defeating thoughts get the best of you.

Instead, win yourself over with daily positive affirmations.

Why Do You Need Daily Positive Affirmations

The voices of self-criticism in your head sometimes run rampant, draining you of all your positive energy.

When you see yourself in a negative light, you give off the negative energy that affects you mentally and physically. It can lead to health problems.

That is why the opinion of yourself and your circumstances are most important.

It is because they can have a positive or negative influence on not just yourself, but on people around you as well.

Did you know when you are listening and believing your lies, you are practicing insanity?

If I had a survey and asked people to describe insanity, I am sure most would say it is repeating the same mistake and expecting different results.

That is a good way to describe it but is it the best way? Does it tell us how people view themselves? Is it really a definition or just a quote?

During my research, one definition described insane being a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior or social interaction.

When Albert Einstein or Ben Franklin, depending on whom you ask, wrote this quote, he was not just referring to external actions but also internal actions that take place in our mind.

Please understand, for every action there is a reaction. Furthermore, behind every action there’s a thought and self-talk.

It is these internal dialogs we have over the years that become our truths.

When reality stares us in the face, and it is not in agreement with what we believe, our perception gets distorted preventing normal perceptions and causes us pain and unhappiness.

The saddest thing about these conversations is that they are usually negative and untrue, and they steal our joy.

That is why it is important we practice telling ourselves positive affirmations daily.

Henry Ford quoted, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.”

Think of it this way: You having a build-in alarm that sounds and alerts you when yourself or others have not lived up to your expectations, beliefs and ideas. It sounds when your fixed ideas and reality are opposite polarity.

No matter how many times you have failed or how many mistakes you have made in life. The truth is you are doing better than you feel, and more importantly, you are doing better than you think.

“The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.” ~ Socrates

How Daily Positive Affirmations Help You

Life and all its challenges can be rough at times and depending on how you respond internally, you can learn happiness in the mist of those rough times.

You are going to struggle constantly if you are not having a healthy conversation with yourself.

Give yourself a break and concentrate on the good things that are happening in your life. Yes, there are good things going on in your life too.

For example, you could start each morning with being thankful as you wake up. That is always a good start, and it is simple. Life is as simple as you see it.

Your feelings follow your thoughts, so finding the time and going through a mental gratitude list will remind you of things you are grateful for.

It will also help you develop a balanced sense of self-esteem and be in agreement with who you really are; a person with assets as well as liabilities.

Defeating negative thoughts before they become your reality and before your emotions send you that alarming sound you are all too familiar with is the best defense against unhappiness.

I’ve come up with five daily positive affirmations that you can tell yourself every morningand start your day on the positive note.

5 Daily Positive Affirmations For Happiness In Your Life

There’s no limit to the amount of power and happiness you can have when you believe these 5 positive affirmations:

Daily Affirmation 1: Today I Have Courage to Walk Through My Fears

Fear is behind many decisions you make or don’t make. They will destroy you mentally, physically and emotionally if you allow them to control your life.

Sometimes they are subtle and attack without you knowing. Perfectionism is a good example of this subtle fear.

Deep within you may feel you are not being exactly what you want or what you think others would like you to be.

So you try harder at being perfect, believing it will bring you happiness and acceptance.

But the shadow of those high expectations cast over you when they are not met. Then you default to doing the only thing you know; try harder.

The first step in defeating fear is accepting the fact that it is there and understanding it is normal. Your fears get stronger the longer you think about them, so redirect your thoughts to something positive.

Do the very thing that you are afraid of doing and your fears will slowly lose its power over you.

Daily Affirmation 2: Today I Forgive Myself and Refuse to be a Prisoner of My Past

Giving and receiving forgiveness is an essential part of discovering happiness.

Why, because it requires you to make peace with yourself, and that is hard when you feel you are the worst person on earth.

However, it is the only road to long-term contentment.

It is impossible to give someone something you do not have. Forgiveness is no different. How can you forgive others when you do not know how to forgive yourself?

Stop being held captive by your feeling. By choosing to forgive yourself you are no longer controlled by bitterness, anger, and resentment.

You will free yourself from the bad things you have done to yourself and others, and others have done to you.

Forgive yourself today, and your negative thought patterns and feeling will change for better. Each time it brings you closer to the person you are meant to be.

Daily Affirmation 3: Today I Seek Personal Growth, and I Will be Open-Minded

Change scares a lot of people. It does not matter if the change is positive or negative.

Some people do not like change and stay closed-minded and stop growing.

While others embrace it and continue improving like my family at Aha!NOW. We are constantly changing and growing. Click here to find out how.

When you are open-minded, you are teachable and can take advantage of what others have to offer from their knowledge and experience.

There’s too much to learn in life to be closed-minded. So humble yourself by remaining teachable and remember, its okay not to have all the answers.

Daily Affirmation 4: Today I Accept and Love Myself

The most valuable thing you can offer yourself and the world is being YOU. To do this, you must accept yourself fully; your assets, flaws, successes, and failures.

This helps you stop comparing your inside with others outside and helps you stop wishing you were someone else.

Instead, compare who you used to be with who you are becoming, and that is a person who strives to be human and not perfect.

Daily Affirmation 5: Today I Believe Everything I am Experiencing is Building Character Within Me

When you face your problems with patience and hope, it strengthens your character.

You’ll stop avoiding them, but welcome them knowing it is another opportunity to gain wisdom.

A positive attitude makes all the difference when facing difficult times.

It helps you see trails as character building blocks of hope, patience, and wisdom – the three essential ingredients for a peaceful and fulfilling life.

How To Practice Positive Affirmation Daily In Your Life

You may be wondering, “How do I implement these 5 positive affirmations into my life?” After all, they are meaningless without action.

First you need to make time. Don’t wait to start your self-examination. Moreover, don’t let obstacles stand in your way.

Set an appointment with yourself to meditate on your feelings and thoughts and write them down.

Next thing you need to do is be honest with yourself by opening your heart and mind about your past and your present circumstances.

You must ask yourself some critical questions. For example, “Is my self-esteem based on what others think of me?” or “Can I forgive myself?”

Denial protects you from your true feeling, but it also prevents you from believing other things like positive affirmations, so be honest as you can with yourself.

Once you see your negative thoughts on paper, ask yourself do you want to keep them or do you want to develop a better perspective. Remember you have a choice.

If you choose the latter then begin to tell yourself these five positive affirmations daily, and you will start experiencing positive actions supporting your new beliefs.

Replacing your old beliefs with new ones is the only way this will work.

“The only thing in the world you can change is yourself and that makes all the difference in the world.” ~Cher

It is simple to obtain what you want in life when you focus correctly.

When you are able to see the connection between what you are telling yourself and the consequence, you’ll be amazed at yourself and enjoy making decisions.

Telling yourself these five positive affirmations daily will help you do just that. They will help you look forward to life’s challenges, knowing that a peaceful and happy life is possible.

Over To You –

Do you believe in positive affirmations and practice them daily in your life? Share your thoughts, experiences, and affirmation in the comments.

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13:30:00 - By Vincent 0

The Power of Affirmations

By Remez Sasson

What are affirmations?

They are positive statements that describe a desired situation or goal, and are often repeated, until they get impressed on the subconscious mind.

This process, causes the subconscious mind to to strive and to work on your behalf, to make the positive statement come true.

When you know how to use affirmations, you get a great tool for achieving success and for improving your life.

Most people repeat in their minds negative words and statements concerning the situations and events in their lives, and consequently, create undesirable situations. Words work at both ways, to build or destroy. It is the way we use them that determines whether they are going to bring good or harmful results.

Your subconscious mind accepts as true what you keep saying. It attracts corresponding events and situations into your life. So why not choose only positive statements, in order to get positive results?

Imagine that you are swimming with your friends in a swimming pool.

They swim fifteen rounds, something you have never done before, and since you want to win their respect, you want to show them that you can make it too.

You start swimming, and at the same time keep repeating in your mind, "I can do it, I can do it...". You keep thinking and believing that you are going to complete the fifteen rounds.

What are you actually doing? You are repeating positive affirmations.

In a different situation, you might find yourself repeating, "I cannot do this", "It's too big for me", "It is not going to work out", and consequently, lose ambition, motivation and faith, and actually bring about what you said to yourself.

It would be a good idea to pay attention to the words you repeat in your mind, to discover whether you are using negative statements, such as:

• I cannot do this.
• I am too lazy.
• I lack inner strength.
• I am going to fail.

If you discover that these, or similar words, run through your mind, you should do something to change them.

Your words and thoughts program the mind in the same way that commands and scripts program a computer.

Repeated positive statements help you focus your mind on your aim. They also create corresponding mental images in the conscious mind, which affect the subconscious mind accordingly. In this way, you program your subconscious in accordance with your will. This process is similar to the way creative visualization works.

The conscious mind, the mind you think with, starts this process, and then the subconscious mind takes charge.

By using this process consciously and intently, you influence your subconscious mind, and in turn, it transforms your habits, behavior, attitude, and reactions, and even reshape your external life.

You might, how long it takes to get results. Things might happen immediately, in a few hours, in a few days, or take weeks or longer. This depends on your focus, faith, strength of desire, the feelings you put into the words, and on how big or small is your goal is.

It is important to understand that repeating positive affirmations for a few minutes, and then thinking negatively the rest of the day, neutralizes the effects of the positive words. If you want to get positive results you have to refuse to think negative thoughts.

How to Repeat Affirmations

1. Choose affirmations that are not too long.
2. Repeat them every time your mind is not engaged in something important, such as while traveling in a bus or a train, waiting in line, walking, etc., but do not affirm while driving or crossing a street. You may also repeat them in special sessions of 5-10 minutes each, several times a day.
3. Be as relaxed as you can.
4. Pay full attention to the words you are repeating.
5. Stronger faith in what you are saying, and more desire and feelings bring faster results.
6. Preferably, choose positive words with no negative connotations. If you want to lose weight, don't use words such as, "I am not fat", or "I am losing weight." These are negative statements, bringing into the mind mental images of what you do not want. Repeat instead,"I am getting slim", or "I have my ideal weight". Such words build positive images in your mind.
7. Affirm, using the present tense, not the future tense. Saying, "I will be rich", means that you intend to be rich one day, in the indefinite future, but not now. It is more effective to say, and also feel, "I am rich now", and the subconscious mind will work at overtime to make this happen now, in the present.
8. By stating what you want to be true in your life, you mentally and emotionally see and feel it as true, irrespective of your current circumstances, and thereby attract it into your life.

Positive Affirmations

- I am healthy and happy.

- Wealth is pouring into my life.

- I am sailing on the river of wealth.

- I am getting wealthier each day.

- My body is healthy and functioning in a very good way.

- I have a lot of energy.

- I study and comprehend fast.

- My mind is calm.

- I am calm and relaxed in every situation.

- My thoughts are under my control.

- I radiate love and happiness.

- I am surrounded by love.

- I have the perfect job for me.

- I am living in the house of my dreams.

- I have good and loving relations with my wife/husband.

- I have a wonderful and satisfying job.

- I have the means to travel abroad, whenever I want to.

- I am successful in whatever I do.

- Everything is getting better every day.

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12:43:00 - By Vincent 0

7 Easy Ways to Find Inner Strength

By Harleena Singh 

Do you want to know how can you find inner strength in your life? Do you have any idea where you’d look for it?

Of course, you do not have to venture out to discover your inner strength as that precious inner strength is within you, thus it is aptly termed so. However, sometimes it is okay to take help of external factors to find inner strength.

You must have often heard and read about people using their inner strength to overcome seemingly impossible difficulties and obstacles in their lives. You can do the same.

You need to understand that each one of you has the strength and support you need already within you – you just have to find it. Without finding your inner strength, you often tend to fall short of your goals.

Sometimes you need to keep looking out for things, people, events, and signs that will help you to connect with your inner strength.

Just like any other skill, inner strength can be searched, developed, and worked upon once you are ready. You do need to conduct certain exercises, engage yourself in activities, and make some efforts.

“You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.” ~ Brian Tracy

What is Inner Strength

You need to first clarify the meaning of inner strength. Isn’t inner strength a state of mind? Doesn’t it depend on what you think about yourself and believe in all that you can do?

Inner strength is the strong conviction that comes from within, when you believe in yourself.

Your inner strength is expressed in forms of will power, positive attitude, belief, and confidence in yourself. It’s the positive image and assessment of yourself that makes you feel good, capable, and courageous.

It’s something that says within you – “I can” – no matter what the problem or situation.

Probably it is lot more than that. Your inner strength can make you do wonders. It is a vast reservoir of power that springs from within – an inexhaustible source of miraculous energy.

Inner strength is characterized by self control, self discipline, detachment, persistence, peace of mind, and the ability to concentrate.

With inner strength comes determination, the courage to persist, the power to change, the spirit of endurance, and the force to challenge.

For some people the definition of inner strength is a force of will, though it’s often just the opposite. When you want to find real inner strength, you need to find ways to weather life’s tribulations calmly and peacefully.

This can happen only when you don’t cling to your force of will, rather let it go, which will help you find your inner strength.

There are many tips to develop your inner strength and power as I had discussed in an earlier post. Finding inner strength is regaining the belief and confidence in oneself.

“You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength, and say, “I’m proud of what I am and who I am, and I’m just going to be myself.” ~ Mariah Carey

How Can You Find Inner Strength

Anything that helps you find inner peace can also help in finding inner strength. Reaffirming your spiritual beliefs, getting in touch with nature, doing something to nurture yourself or taking time away from work will help you connect with your inner strength.

It’s in your trying times that you need your family and friends to find ways to come together and find the inner strength with one another. All it takes is a little bit of teamwork, determination, love, and understanding.

Most people show their lack of inner strength with sentences that include the word “impossible” or “can’t” in them. For example, I can’t cook, I can’t lift that bucket, I can’t lose weight, or it’s impossible to write, it’s impossible to earn money, etc.

With such negative thoughts, you are absolutely right, you can never do anything. So, what do you do? Hire someone to spoon feed you or do your work for you? I guess that’s not the path you want to take.

Thus, it’s important to introspect and converse with yourself about where you want to go in life, how you want to turn those negative “can’t” to “can” and “impossible” to “i-m-possible”, and how you want to get there.

Making mistakes, failing, and undergoing traumatic moments are all part of our lives. So, finding inner strength is all the more crucial in being happy, though what’s important is finding that inner strength so that you can rely on it even in your down moments.

Thus, never give up on working on your inner strength.

“Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out.” ~ Katherine Dunham

The Key to Finding Your Inner Strength

How do you gather all the inner strength and courage to overcome sudden hardships? You can do so by turning your negatives to positives.

• Start gradually

You need to first start by taking baby steps to achieve inner strength. Don’t try to jump into immediate action that doesn’t work always.

Instead, find ways to support yourself and remove the negative words as mentioned above from your vocabulary.

• Think positive

If you have thought one of your goals as losing weight, then imagine yourself by closing your eyes at the weight you are aiming for. Imagine what you would be doing, thinking, and feeling.

You need to feel those emotions, then open your eyes and find ways to reach those goals by incorporating all that you felt.

• Remain positive

When your goals are set and you start thinking positive, your outlook to life will change. If you feel you cannot lose weight, instead of telling yourself that “I can’t” or “it’s impossible”, try telling yourself “I’m learning how to lose weight”.

Similarly, try shifting all your cant’s into a learning process and give yourself time to develop and find your inner strength.

Remember, your internal support system and inner strength is already present, it’s just waiting for you to tap into it and by taking small gradual steps, move forward to reach your goals.

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

Ways to Find Inner Strength

Once you have made up your mind to tread on a path and think positively, developed a positive attitude, and have complete belief in what you are doing, you need to next find ways to discover that inner strength within.

Some strategies that can help you finding your inner strength on those difficult days are –

1. Take time to focus

You need to takeout time for yourself to focus on you and think about what you need to feel stronger. List out all your positive qualities and accomplishments, and if you can’t do that, seek help from your friends or family.

So, when you are feeling low or down, look up this list and feel good for your smallest of efforts. You need to remember that it’s very easy to think about failure and the negatives in life, but you need to fight those thoughts and learn  – to not fear failure.

2. Remain calm and patient

Confucius once said, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, so remember that problems may not be solved in one day, thus remain calm and patient.

Celebrate each moment when you take small steps towards solving a problem and feeling better, because those achievements are what help you find your inner strengths.

3. Stay active, sleep well, and have fun

Studies show that you improve your self-image and moods when you eat healthy, smile, exercise regularly, and sleep at least eight hours every night, so don’t forget to do these things.

Also, with the stressful lives we all live, it’s important to have fun by doing things you like to do. It could be things like watching movies, playing games, learning something new, attending live shows, make family time or even acting silly at times!

Just remember to be spontaneous, embrace your inner child, and let loose.

4. Interact and meet people

It would help you a great deal if you in turn volunteer to help others, which can help improve your self-confidence and build  inner strength.

Even attending peer support groups helps to receive support, guidance, and encouragement, and you get to meet new people who may be in a similar situation as you and would understand what you are undergoing.

You could even share your personal stories with trusted friends or others that will help you understanding yourself better and find your inner strength. If you don’t want to talk about your story, try recording it or writing it down in a journal.

5. Express yourself

Find ways to express how you would like to feel or how do you feel by doing things like dancing, drawing, writing, and painting. Try even just doing something you like or even trying to do something unusual by stepping out of your comfort zone.

Doing these various activities are great ways to get rid of negative emotions and energies, and you are able to understand yourself better this ways.

6. Repeat self-affirmations daily

Words or sentences like “I can do it”, or “This too shall pass”, or “I am doing the best I can”, are positive thoughts or affirmations to counteract the negative ones.

They make you feel good about yourself and boost your self-confidence and help youachieve wellness, which in turn helps discover your inner strength.

7. Spend time with family, friends, even pets

Surround yourself with supportive and helpful family and friends who keep reminding you about how good you are and listen to you whenever you need to talk or discuss things.

If need arises, it’s alright to ask for help without feeling ashamed or embarrassed, either from your family or friends, or even seek professional help if need be.

It’s been proven that spending time with your pet also improves your inner strength as your bodies release hormones that makes you feel stronger. So, go ahead and give your pet a hug for being a part of your life and helping you without even knowing about it.

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” ~ Mother Teresa

Here is another wonderful post on different ways to build  your inner strength that you may like. I also had to share this wonderful video about Nick Vujicic, whom I am sure you all must have heard of some time or the other.

Never Give Up ~ Nick Vujicic ~ You Tube video

Isn’t Nick’s courage and belief in himself an inspiration to all of you? If he can do so much and remains so positive, what’s holding you back? I guess it’s time to change your way of thinking, if you have problems believing in your inner strength.

Speaking of myself, being a freelance writer and working from home, I receive my inner strength from my work, kids and family.

I think I overcome my deepest emotions and convert my fears into strength and power when I know I have my husband’s full support and the love of my kids beside me.

“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” ~ Anna Freud

Remember that changing your life isn’t always about learning more, but about using your inner strength. So, by discovering the way to your inner self, you will also find inner strength and peace.

Over to you –

What ways would you suggest to find inner strength in our lives? Do you feel it’s possible to develop your inner strength? Share your experiences of finding inner strength in the comments below.

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13:30:00 - By Vincent 0

5 Tips to Weed Out Self Doubt and Cultivate Confidence

By Mel Sherwood

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Do you feel confident and positive all the time? If you are like most people, your confidence can wax and wane depending on the circumstances. However, lack of confidence and low self-esteem can impact on every area of our lives. When we start to doubt ourselves and our ability, we shut ourselves off from experiences, we impact our relationships and ultimately live an unfulfilling existence.

I was once the shy girl who didn’t speak up in class, who rarely made eye contact with anyone, who didn’t believe I was good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, outgoing enough. Over the years I’ve done a lot of personal development and learnt a number of tips to weed out self-doubt and cultivate my confidence. But even now in my forties I still have to make sure I keep my ‘inner meanie’ in check. Do you have an ‘inner meanie’ – the one who tells you you’re not good enough?

No matter what your background, no matter what your beliefs, if you don’t first believe in yourself you won’t be able to give your best to the world.

But where do you think that self-doubt and lack of confidence live? It all starts in our minds. So try thinking of your mind like a beautiful garden; for it to flourish it must be nurtured daily. You need to fertilise your garden well. Don’t poison your garden with negative thoughts; give it nourishment in the form of positive thoughts and experiences. Weed out those negative beliefs by replacing them with positive beliefs (if you say them enough you will believe them). Stand guard at the gateway to your garden; your ‘inner meanie’ is not welcome! Only allow thoughts that will help it to blossom and in turn this is how you will blossom with confidence and a healthy self-esteem.

In this post, I’m going to share my top tips for weeding out self-doubt and cultivating confidence.

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye ~ Helen Keller

The first step is to stand tall and breathe deeply which feeds your body and brain with oxygen helping you to feel alert, relaxed and centred. It also provides support for your voice which will ensure you are able to communicate with a strong, confident sound.

Imagine you have string attached to the crown of your head and it is pulling your head up so that it rests gently on your neck; the rest of your body is able to stand tall and relaxed underneath it. Put your shoulders back and down and take some deep breaths into your belly (imagine your tummy is filling up with air like a balloon) while trying not to raise your shoulders.

As you take a breath in, imagine you are breathing in confidence. As you breathe out, imagine you are breathing out doubt. After a few breaths you will have breathed out all of your doubt! Then you can breathe in confidence and exude confidence on your out breath. Take some time to walk about with your head held high, shoulders back and, in line with Helen Keller’s quote above, look the world right in the eye.

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line ~ Lucille Ball

The words we say to ourselves affect our self-image and our self-image determines what actions we take. For example if our self-image is one of a person who lacks confidence, we will only be able to take actions that are aligned with this trait. If our self-image is one of someone who worries, we are more likely to think negative thoughts and worry! Alternatively, if our self-image is one of a radiant and fearless individual, all our actions will correspond with this quality. Your self- image is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So if words affect our self-image, start to notice the words you say to yourself and ensure that they are loving, positive and supportive. Practice when looking in the mirror – try saying, “(Your name) I love you – you’re amazing and you have a great (fill in the blank with one of your positive qualities)”. This might feel strange at first and be difficult to believe but the more you do it the easier it will become and the more you will believe it.

Last year I introduced Weed Out Wednesday, a dedicated time once a week to notice any negative and unhelpful thoughts you might have been having and to replace them with positive affirmations. Each Wednesday I post a reminder on Twitter and Facebook for you to observe your thoughts, consider any limiting beliefs and substitute them with kind, loving messages for your soul. Think about that precious garden of your mind and don’t let your thoughts and words poison it.

See things as you would have them, instead of as they are ~ Robert Collier

Our thoughts create our reality; the quality of our life is determined by the quality of our thoughts and the mind works through pictures.

If you have a thought, either positive or negative, you’ll imagine it in your mind, run the movie in your head and visualise the scenario. Then you might start talking about it, and then you start feeling that it really might be true, and soon enough you’ll start believing it until you find that it actually happens.  So the first step of that process after the thought is how we visualise it. We should all spend some time every day visualising our desired outcome, mentally rehearsing the way we would like to be and feel (not what we don’t want to happen!)

Sex appeal is fifty percent what you’ve got and fifty percent what people think you’ve got ~ Sophia Loren

Think about people you know or famous people who exude confidence. What is it about them that makes them appear confident? If you think about Sophia Loren’s quote above, it is possible to give the illusion that you’re confident and in my experience if you choose to act confident, you eventually start to feel confident. Much the same as if you smile when you don’t feel like it, your mood can be improved simply by smiling. American social psychologist, Amy Cuddy, says you can feel more confident simply by changing your body language. Rather than fake it until you make it, Amy suggests that you can fake it until you become it. You can read more about Amy’s research and watch her TED talk here.

One isn’t born with courage. One develops it by doing small courageous things ~ Maya Angelou

I’m currently doing research for a book I’m writing about confidence and this week I interviewed Oli Norman who is a very successful Scottish entrepreneur. The reason I was interviewing him is that someone told me that Oli was the most confident person they had ever met. During the interview I asked him what advice he would he give someone who is lacking in confidence. He said that you just need to do the thing you’re not confident about; get outside your comfort zone and do it again and again, and soon enough you’ll be confident at doing it.

Stepping outside your comfort zone does take courage but using and strengthening your courage muscle will lead to improved confidence. I call it the Courage Muscle Crunch. And I don’t mean you have to do hundreds of crunches a day like you do to get flat abs; with the courage muscle crunch you simply do one small thing each day that takes you out of your comfort zone. By doing that you’ll get comfortable being uncomfortable and that is another key to building your confidence. Read more about the Courage Muscle Crunch here.

Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers ~ Veronica A. Shoffstall

Use these tips and whatever else you find works for you to ensure that you look after your mind garden, weed out self-doubt and cultivate your confidence. You deserve to blossom.

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12:00:00 - By Vincent 0