Believe and you can and will Achieve

Many university studies have shown that people who have achieved above average levels of meaning and fulfilment in their lives, all have two major things in common. They firstly have a crystal clear vision, which defines exactly what they want to achieve in the future and secondly they have an absolute belief in themselves and their ability to do whatever it takes to invite just that picture of possibility into their experience. I have written numerous articles about vision, today I want to focus on the second crucial element, namely your belief in self. Do you believe you have what it takes to bring your vision to life?

Behaviours to Improve Self Esteem
I want to share a few behaviours, which will help you to enhance your self-esteem, self-confidence and spur your belief into your ability to achieve the vision you hold for the future. None of these concepts will be earth shattering and may even be things you do automatically, as a natural part of your interactions with other people. If you are not naturally doing any or all of them, I suggest you try to gradually introduce all of them into your new success habit set, as this will help you to more easily achieve your vision for the future.

Greet people with a smile and make eye contact – This may sound really obvious, but it still astounds me to see how many people do not use this really powerful tool to their advantage. Flashing an authentic smile and making direct eye contact with people, conveys confidence, born of self-respect. Even when speaking to people over the phone, smile and convey the same level of confidence you would convey to them, as if you were able to look them in the eye. Give your name out, as early in the conversation as possible, as this underscores the fact that you have real self-confidence and belief in yourself.

Show real Appreciation for a compliment – When anyone pays you a compliment, never downplay it or try to side step the compliment. Accept it graciously and thank the person, by looking them in the eyes, with a genuine smile on your face. The ability to accept compliments graciously, is the sign of someone with solid self-esteem and high levels of confidence.

Never ever, Ever, EVER brag – I know this must seem like a bit of a paradox, but genuine modesty, is actually part of your ability to accept compliments with grace. People, who feel the need to brag about their own exploits or who demand special attention, feel inadequate and feel they must build their image in the eyes of others, just to make themselves feel better. This is because they do not already perceive themselves as worthy of respect.

Never make any of your challenges centre stage in any conversation – Always talk positively about your life and progress, showing those around you that, yes we all experience setbacks, but you are confident that you can overcome yours, as you have always done in the past. Never engage in negative thinking and never criticise people around you and by people around you, this includes self-criticism too. Rather find helpful ways to be supportive and try to see how you can make things better. Always try to be helpful and never critical.

Respond to negative times or difficult moments, by increasing productive activity – When facing challenges or if your self-esteem is being challenged, don’t just sit around and act like a victim. Get active, not frantic and find a solution, by working systematically to find the right one.

Malcolm Forbes said it so well when he said” Vehicles in motion, use their generators to charge their own batteries. Unless you happen to be a golf cart, you can’t recharge your battery, when you are parked in the garage”

See rejection and mistakes as your greatest opportunity to learn – As long as you keep trying to succeed, and you don’t stop taking inspired action, you can never fail. Each setback or challenge is merely the conclusion of one performance, not the end of your entire career. Own up to your shortcomings, take corrective action and never ever see yourself as a failure.

Mistakes are something you may have done and may even be something you may do over and over again, as you travel on the path towards success, but failure is definitely not something you are. Learn the lesson each mistake, setback, challenge and roadblock offers and even pause for a moment to lick your wounds, if you have to, and then move on and get on with the job of achieving your vision. Life is too short and filled with too much abundance to waste too many moments in a state of unhappiness.