Tips to Boost Your Self Confidence

Self confidence can get you far in this world. Employers, potential partners and friends all appreciate strong, self confident people. It's an admired trait. But even if you don't FEEL confident, there are ways to APPEAR confident, and when you succeed in doing that, you'll find that, very quickly, you actually feel as confident as you seem to be!

1: Practice exhibiting confidence through your body language

Body language is a kind of non verbal communication, where thoughts, intentions, or feelings are expressed by physical behaviors, such as facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space.

There is much evidence pointing to body language as a path to developing real self confidence. A 'fake it till you make it' approach can actually generate real confidence. So stand up straight, don't slouch, don't look at the floor. Pull your shoulders back, push out your chest a bit and have some space between your feet when you stand. 

Also, don't touch your face when talking to others, this is a clear sign of a lack of confidence, don't play with your hair or look anywhere but the person you are talking to. .

2: Smile

Smiling is powerful. It makes others realize you have it good, that you are relaxed and content. 

Smile and let it show in your eyes. You'll see it not only makes a big difference in how people relate to you, but it also, eventually, makes you feel that much better.

3: Make eye contact and keep it

Don't be the first to look away. When your eyes meet another, hold the gaze, especially if you or they are talking. Don't stare, just move your eyes to theirs and hold, let them drop to the face and then back up. Don't break eye contact quickly, people who will immediately break eye contact give the impression that they either feel guilty for something, don't trust the person or are bored.

You can practice this with random people, and you may be surprised at their reaction when you get the nerve just to look them in the eyes. It will transmit confidence and interest.

 

4: Don't fidget

Compulsively moving your foot or nodding as someone else is talking transmits a lack of calm. To develop your self confidence, you'll need to be aware of your body and keep calm. If you feel yourself start to fidget, take a deep breath, disconnect for a moment and count to 3. Then release your breath and return to reality in control of your body.

5: Halt before you talk

When you are talking to another person, listen to them intently, don't cut them off and don't start talking immediately after they are done. Take 3 seconds to process the information, and then formulate a response that is quiet and shows that you really listened. Use specific details if possible. The time you take to think and process what the other person said would make you look more confident, wiser and kinder. 

6: Let others speak

Continuing from our last point, try to get people to talk. Find out what questions they like being asked and encourage them to answer. People love being listened to, and once you do you'll discover there is always an advantage to knowing more about the person than they know about you. Also, the more open and direct you are in your questions, the more confident you'll seem. Just one word of advice: There is a thin line between being direct and being rude, find it and tread it carefully, you want to ask good questions but do it in a kind and offhand manner that'll put others at ease.

7: Don't cut people off

We return to this point because it is so common. Many of us just listen to the gist of what people are saying while waiting to give our own input. But being cut off is annoying, insulting and sometimes hurtful. Besides, you may miss out on important information. This takes a lot of patience, especially when people will just talk your ear off. But once you gain control of this need to give your own input right away, you'll discover it has powerful advantages. A man in control is a confident man, one who can listen to others' mistakes without having to correct them immediately. 

On the other hand, if someone cuts you off, be assertive but calm, and ask politely that you be given the opportunity to finish. Don't look grouchy, they probably didn't mean to do it, just smile and be kind about it.

8: Dress well

 

It's amazing how much we get judged on visuals alone. You can take great advantage of that fact by being always well dressed. 

Get an honest friend to tell you what looks good on you and what does not. Find a balance between comfort and a great look.

9: Exercise

Yes, even in an article about self confidence you won't escape this essential advice. Physical activity is a huge source of self confidence. Research has demonstrated that there is a direct link between sports and chemicals being released in the brain to cause euphoria. 

Physical activity will also improve your looks, which will also add to your self confidence. And don't forget, just proving to ourselves what our bodies can do is a great boost to our confidence. Do any kind of physical activity for a better overall feeling and a great boost in self pride and respect.

10: Remember the good times

One of the things that we rely on for self confidence is reliving the best moments of our lives. Each time you remember that great day - a game you won, a trip you took, a person you loved - this will do wonders for your self-esteem, as well as providing a good excuse to call old friends

Golden Rules of Goal Setting

If we want to succeed in any activity undertaken by us, we need to set goals. Without goals we lack focus and direction. Goal setting not only allows us to take control of our life’s direction; it also provides us a benchmark for determining whether we are actually succeeding.

To accomplish our goals, we need to know how to set them. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what want to achieve, and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it. In between there are some very well defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow us to formulate goals that we can accomplish.The human brain is set up to help you achieve goals that you sincerely believe are achievable.

Here are our five golden rules of goal setting:

1. Set Specific and Clearly Define Goals

Make sure your goals are concrete, concise and attainable.You should clearly define your business goals from the very start, which should be  specific and well defined. The point is for you to articulate exactly what you want to achieve.

2. Set SMART Goals

We have heard of setting “SMART goals” already. But do we always apply the rule? Simple fact is that for goals to be powerful, they should be designed to be SMART. There are many variations of what SMART stands for, but the essence is this – goals should be:

• Specific.
• Measurable.
• Attainable.
• Relevant.
• Time Bound.

Set Specific Goals
Your goal must be clear and well defined. Vague or generalized goals are unhelpful because they don't provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way. Make it as easy as you can to get where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.

Set Measurable Goals
Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. If your goal is simply defined as "To reduce expenses" how will you know when you have been successful? In one month's time if you have a 1 percent reduction or in two years' time when you have a 10 percent reduction? Without a way to measure your success you miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing you have actually achieved something.

Set Attainable Goals
Make sure that it's possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and erode your confidence.

However, resist the urge to set goals that are too easy. Accomplishing a goal that you didn't have to work hard for can be anticlimactic at best,and can also make you fear setting future goals that carry a risk of
non-achievement. By setting realistic yet challenging goals, you hit the balance you need. These are the types of goals that require you to "raise the bar" and they bring the greatest personal satisfaction.

Set Relevant Goals
Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you'll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want. Set widely scattered and inconsistent goals, and you'll fritter your time – and your life – away.

Set Time-Bound Goals
You goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.

3. Set Goals In Writing

By clearly defining your idea, your imagination, heart and intellect can begin to work together to make it a reality.The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible.  So, we should write our goals down.The act of writing our ideas down, or say, keying them into our laptop, will force us to think in concrete terms. It will also spark additional ideas. This is the birth of our action plan. And, goals are nothing more than what you “plan” to accomplish.

 4. Make An Action Plan

The best, perhaps the only, way to turn an abstract goal into an attainable reality is to create an action plan. By writing out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as we complete it,and with this we’ll realize that we are making progress towards your ultimate goal. However, we don’t need a complete plan in place to rise to the challenge and embrace its possibilities. Achieve greater success by continually updating our action plan and integrating the new information and ideas we uncover.

5. Stick With It!

Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity not just a means to an end. Build in reminders to keep ourselves on track, and make regular time-slots available to review our goals. Our end destination may remain quite similar over the long term, but the action plan we set for ourselves along the way can change significantly. Make sure the relevance, value, and necessity remain high.

My other posts in this Blog on ACHIEVING GOALS :

http://svsaibaba.blogspot.in/2011/04/achieve-your-dreams-six-steps-to.html

Some facts about Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces.

 It is the largest man-made structure in the world, and although no, it can't be seen from space (according to urban myth) it is still incredibly impressive and incredibly beautiful!

Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.   

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi).

Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. 

Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor. 

SOURCE:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

Some of the pictures showing majestic view of the Great wall are given below: