It is amazing how much easier things seem to flow when one can pinpoint what it is they want, and how they plan to create their desires into reality.

One secret to turning your desires into reality is to identify the steps needed to achieve your desire.  Once you can determine what your long and short-term goals are in relation to what it is you want to achieve, you will then have a great starting point to move your desire towards creation.

After you pinpoint what your goals are, you then need to build a plan of action to begin moving them forward towards achievement. Your thought should be on visualizing success of your desire and also creating a realistic plan that incorporates action in a positive way with a clear set of goals.

Remember to check in with yourself each week to see how things are moving along.  If something seems not to be working, look at ways you can reverse that to become something that does work, or look for ways you can make little tweaks and changes so that things begin to move in the direction you wish them to.

Be mindful of not being afraid of failure, as Bo Bennet said, “Focus on succeeding rather than not failing”.  Think about it, it makes sense.  Take the pressure off yourself, and enjoy the process, both the good and the not so good.  Think of your end result as success.

It is very important to be in the moment and to not procrastinate.  Procrastinating robs us of our energy and of successful results.   Write down your goals, make sure you take action in a positive way everyday and focus on the desired end result.

Do not fall into the trap of holding things off to another day, or waiting to move forward because not everything is in the order, or way you would like.  STOP WAITING for things to be perfect, or for things to be in a certain way before you can move onto other things in life that you want.  Your life is now, so begin to create everything that you want. Create a full life at this moment, do not put off living until the time you feel everything is in order or perfect, that is just putting a major hold on creating and enjoying a full interesting life.

Take the time to tap into your talent and skills, to look at your wants and your needs, to determine how you want to live your life and last but not least, what steps you need to take now to move towards the direction of achieving and living a full happy life with both up’s and down’s, failures and success, trial and error.  All of this is what makes life interesting, challenging and worthwhile.  Enjoy, live settle for nothing less then your best life!!

21 quick and practical strategies to make your confidence soar

1. Think about someone you admire, what is it about them that you like?   Take cues from the people who you think are great.  You are great also.  Nothing is stopping you from modeling mannerisms of people you admire, they my have done the same thing with someone whom they admire.  Create your own unique being, and incorporate all that you love from the people who you look up to, along with your own many special qualities

2. Smile a lot more. That doesn’t mean putting a silly grin on your face! But smile when you walk down the street, when you meet people and generally be happier even if you’re not feeling that way.

3. Learn from mistakes of the past; Think of them as a gift, and let them go.  You can feel bad about how you handled a past situation, or how one turned out. But in order to gain from it, you must learn from it, and then release it.  Don’t hang on and try to change something that is no longer in existence, instead learn from it and move on.

4. Try something new, something you always wanted to try before. Buy yourself some new clothes, do your hair differently, treat yourself to something new. It will make you feel better and will give your ego a boost.

5. Are you basically prepared for daily, new and immediate situations that cross your path?  Are you confident enough to meet any challenge that may present itself to you? Are you prepared for that meeting, that presentation, that job interview, when you meet someone for the first time?   If you feel you are not prepared, get to it ASAP. Work out a plan for being confident when situations quickly come before you.

6. If you are not happy about, or do not agree with a decision someone else made, which also affects you, such as a break-up. Be happy with the fact that you do have control over how you handle that situation from your end of the table.  Know that you can rise above the sadness, and instill confidence and a success mindset for yourself to get through this trying time with nothing less then overcoming the sadness, and moving on into your own power of happiness.

7. Play to your strengths. Know what you are good at and expose yourself to these opportunities, because you’re good at it, you’ll enjoy it and have more confidence.

8. Improve your weaknesses. Know and appreciate what these are and put a plan into action to improve them over time.

9. It is ok to say no to people. If you cannot do something that is asked of you, or you simply do not want to, or just do not have the time, you can say no. Don’t be afraid, you’ve got nothing to be afraid of.  They will most likely understand. You cannot always overextend yourself, if it goes against what you really want to do.

10. Be positive. Look on the “ I can do” side of things rather than the “I can’t do”. You’ve accomplished lots in your life and you will accomplish lots more in the future.

11. Be in charge of your thoughts at all times. What is a thought? It’s just a question that you’ve asked yourself and the thought is you’re answer. If you’re thinking negative thoughts, you’re probably asking a negative question. Change the questions to be more positive.

12. Whenever you feel a negative thought coming, STOP, THINK, and say is this really the only outcome that can happen?  If so, then turn the negative into a positive by seeing what good the situation will bring with it.  If there is more then one outcome, which nine out of ten times there is, then toss the negative and focus on the positive outcome.

13. Do you let the words of others affect you? Do you mind what they think of you? Remember that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. It’s  not what they say to you that matter’s, it’s what you say to yourself after they have stopped talking. Change the way you think, to acknowledge that only you have the power to choose how you feel and think about yourself.

14. List the words that you use on a consistent basis when you feel let down or annoyed. People use different words to mean the same thing and depending upon the intensity of the word – this will have an effect on your confidence. Instead of saying “I’m enraged about this” say, “I’m a little annoyed”. Make a substitute list for the words that you use. Make sure they are lower in intensity and then use them. You’ll be surprised with the results.

15. At the end of each day list your achievements and successes throughout that day.  Celebrate your reaching your goals no matter how big or small.
    
16. Be appreciative of what you have to be thankful for in your life right now. Fill yourself with gratitude for all that you have at this moment.

17. Every morning when you wake-up, prepare yourself for an excellent day. Go over in your head the day’s events as though they have already happened and that they were a success. Visualize all of the encounters you had, the people you talked to, the outcomes you had. Visualize success and confidence and it will be so.

18. Improve your body language. The way that you move your body has a massive impact on your confidence levels. Move your body assertively and walk with your head up, shoulders back and as though you’ve got somewhere very important to go. If you are feeling low in confidence at the moment, visualize an empowering moment, and walk in that fashion. Change you body language to reflect success.

19. Emotion is created by motion; make sure you move around consistently. Create energizing moments and get the blood pumping around your body – it makes you feel better and more confident.

20. Learn to brag about yourself. Yes, you heard me! Talk about your achievements and successes more than you currently are.

21. And finally – You only live once, so any time that you are down just ask yourself in 10 or 20 years time – will what I am down about now and worrying about really matter?

By Lori Snyder

“Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.”
Edward de Bono

I have always found it fascinating discovering new things, or figuring out new ways of handling a situation that was not working, or trying something new to solve an old problem that kept repeating itself.

It is amazing what we can come up with when we are open to letting new ideas and thoughts enter our space.  It is also a great gift to recognize that there is something new to discover everyday and if we are aware of that, it can only enhance our life and our well-being.

The choice to become more open to your inner self and to you intuition would be a wise one.   When we take the time to quiet our minds and listen to our inner voice we can be more and more delightfully surprised at the solutions to problems we already have, if we only take the time to tap into our thoughts.

It is also wonderful to learn a new way of doing something, or to learn a new skill or think creatively to think of more ways then one to achieve a certain goal.

And we should all receive the gift of seeing something beautiful for the first time.  The joy of your significant other’s face after achieving something they wanted to achieve, the smile on a child’s face after they got that double scoop of ice cream, or the joyful contentment after sharing something new with people who are important and special in your life.  Or last but not least, both you and your partner discovering together the solution to a problem that has been putting a damper on your relationship.

The point is simple, be open to new ways and new solutions to solving your existing problems.  If you cannot think of solutions, brainstorm with someone and come up with new solutions, then put them into action and see how it goes.  If it works great, if it does not, then go to solution number two, continue until the problem is solved.

Also it is important to realize that being open to doing new things is very good for adding spunk into your life.  To stick with the same routine over and over again leaves no room to enjoy and explore something that you may like, such as a new restaurant, or reading a different type of book then you usually do and loving it, or trying new foods you never tasted before, only to discover it is something that tastes really good. All of this and a lot more can be a great way to naturally add more excitement to your life.

Be open to the new this week and see what enters your life that you are absolutely ecstatic about.  Also explore the many ways to solve any problem that you may have. Without the willingness to experiment, to discover new ways to solve problems, or to overcome a challenge, we could not grow into our best selves.

When we try something and fail, it helps empower us to become creative and look for new ways of achieving our goal, or to think of a better way to make something we care about work.  Always be positive and creative, know that you can discover many ways of solving a problem.

Also remember to take the time to tap into your intuition and to look around you at all the beautiful amazing gifts that are in this world for your eyes to see.

© 2010 Lori Snyder