Self Confidence - Expressing Your Uniqueness Is Important and Necessary

The most critical characteristic in achieving any level of success in life is self-confidence. It is the secret to succeeding in both the business world, relationships and personally in your life. But unfortunately, confidence and low self-esteem problems are all too common in society today, and leave many individuals without the necessary self acceptance and strength of character to live their life on their terms.

So what does it mean to "live life on your terms?" This means expressing your natural strengths and attributes without fear or trepidation. And it is only through expressing what is natural in you -- your innate skills, characteristics and desires -- that you can really "succeed" in any area of life.

The opposite of expressing your personal uniqueness is to be found in many people suffering with self-confidence problems. These individuals -- often unknowingly -- have a habit of attempting to "cover up" who they really are, and deny their true personalities. When this happens it is a real loss not only for the individual affected, but for the rest of us as well. Here's why:

Each of us is unique -- we have our own unique strengths, weaknesses, preferences, talents and points of view. When we attempt to hide or cover up our uniqueness, we deprive both ourselves and those around us of an important part of nature. That's right; I used the word "nature."

You see, who you "naturally" are is important, both to you and to the world at large. Think about the old biblical quote encouraging you to not "hide your light under a bushel." This means, don't hide who you truly are from the world, because who you truly are is an important part of the overall whole. It can be no other way.

The problem is that we live in a world where a competitive mindset is rampant. This mindset assumes that you must conform to certain social norms in order to have any value. Hogwash! You have value simply because you are a part of nature and you are here. You can stop your internal dialogue right there -- no further explanation is necessary.

The secret to success in life is to be MORE of who you already are. This means expressing your uniqueness to its fullest, or letting the whole world see your light. Self-esteem issues often cause people to fear rejection, and to believe that they will not be accepted if they let the world know exactly who they are. This belief is one the primary cause of poor self-esteem and confidence issues.

And it is important to keep in mind that when a person subjugates their natural characteristics in an attempt to "fit in," they make themselves miserable, and they make the world a poorer place. Why? Because they are denying the rest of us what is unique about them.

What I'm trying to say is, we (the world) need your uniqueness. The world needs my uniqueness, and every single person's uniqueness. It is critical that we each understand that our natural characteristics and unique qualities are important to the world. Once an individual understands this, self-confidence issues tend to fade rather quickly.

After all, it is difficult to maintain a poor self image when you understand that who and what you are is important to the life of the world.

Jon Mercer is the director of UltraConfidence.com Build Confidence Quickly Using "Positive Brainwashing."

Unusual Traits Of Highly Successful People!

We've all heard about the successful people of this world. We've heard of people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobbs, Richard Branson and so on.

We have also heard what it takes to be successful like these people. We heard you have to save, you have to start your own business, you have to own properties, you have to be prudent with your finances and so on.

While all these are true (they are time tested), there are other traits that I've noticed about many successful people. They are traits people don't notice. They are traits people don't talk about. Traits that make them succeed where many others have failed.

I'm going to share those traits with you today. Make sure you learn from them and more importantly act on them.

Trait One: Successful People Are Always Learning

I was at a seminar not too long ago and I was seated beside a fine gentleman. After the seminar, I gathered he was a multi millionaire that specializes in importing goods from China. I know a lot of people will wonder why someone who is worth over hundred million dollars will be doing in a seminar.

The truth is that most successful people are permanent learners. They always want to learn new things that will give them new ideas as well as new insights into how things are done.

Trait Two: Successful People Always Ask Questions

I've never met any successful person that claims to know it all yet I've met many average people who claim to be experts on all issues on the face of this planet.

Most successful people ask questions about many things. They don't pretend to know it all. In fact, they don't attempt to know it all. That is why they surround themselves with attorneys, accountants and so on.

Trait Three: Successful People Desire More Success

I've met many people that say they will stop working or stop trying to achieve things once they make a million dollars. Most successful people don't think like that. They are always looking for new challenges.

I bet we've all heard of poeple who sold their companies for millions and then start a new business from scratch. That is the spirit and that is why they seem to be forever successful.

I stongly believe these little tricks can help all of us move towards our dreams of becoming extremely successful. Let us make use of them.

We Can All Succeed!

Akin Alabi

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Healthy Self Esteem Allows You The Pleasure Of Enjoying Success

If you remember anything from this article, please remember this: Healthy self-esteem allows you the pleasure of enjoying and appreciating success.

You can acquire years of education, accumulate wealth, win prestigious awards, be blessed with the most loving relationships and still self-sabotage. Outside barometers of success and happiness won't satisfy you unless and until you like and approve of yourself.

Unhealthy self-esteem sabotages education, wealth, awards and relationships. You'll only achieve what your healthy or unhealthy self-esteem allows you to achieve.

Healthy self-esteem is the backbone of your success. Your self-esteem determines the level of success in both your personal and professional life.

Healthy self-esteem is not an automatic in life. It comes from how you are judging yourself as competent in the important areas of your life. Current self-esteem is based on what you're holding out to be important in your life today.

When working toward your goals, healthy self-esteem allows you to strive for greater success by:

* Giving you more energy and enthusiasm

* Accepting constructive suggestions with an open mind

* Controlling emotions to come from a stronger place of empowerment

* Allowing you to choose how you're going to achieve your goals

* Being a more accepting person

* Knowing who you are and what you want in life

* Having more self-confidence in yourself and your ability to succeed

Why are all those attributes important?

Let me share a story I remember reading a few years ago.

A few years back, during a figure skating championship, a highly ranked skater took a nasty fall at the every end of her original program. The crowd reacted negatively and she quickly became embarrassed, discouraged and disheartened.

Her coach was alarmed by her negativity and took her to a sports psychologist for a battery of tests. After several psychological exams it was reported to the media that each exam showed she was suffering from poor self-esteem.

During the second round of the competition, this magnificently talented skater lost her flair for the dramatic. She refused to try anything too risky and settled for safe. It was amazing how one fall changed the perception she had of her ability as a champion.

She ended up finishing far below her expectations, natural abilities and talents despite many flawless performances in the past.

A retired champion made an interesting observation. He said that if you want to be a champion, you can't allow outside negative forces to influence the mental picture you have of yourself.

He went on to say that this highly talented skater not only allowed the reaction of the crowd to affect her skating performance but, more importantly, she turned out to be her own worst enemy.

Food for thought: No opinion of you is more important than your own.

What's the internal picture you have of your ability to succeed and thrive? I'll say it again; healthy self-esteem allows you the pleasure of enjoying and appreciating success!

Sharon A. Michaels is an e-mentor to women who want to work for themselves. Sharon has over 20 years of business, speaking and writing experience on issues of ending self-sabotage, living in abundance and wealth and making money in network marketing. Sharon offers books, webinars and tele-conferences on how to give yourself the power to succeed. You can learn more about Sharon Michaels at http://SharonIsMyMentor.com Sharon A. Michaels is also the Editor of the Abundance and Wealth site on http://www.BellaOnline.com To read more of Sharon's articles and sign up for her weekly newsletter go to http://abundanceandwealth.bellaonline.com Copyright Sharon A. Michaels - When using this article please give full credit to Sharon Michaels and use the bio as written above.

Career Change - From Teaching to a Road Map to Success!

Many times after a few years teaching, teachers begin looking for a career change. Often the planned change may mean a breakaway from the stress of face to face teaching, or insensitive administrations and at times uninterested parents.

The majority of teachers find their jobs rewarding and the interaction with their charges fulfilling and satisfying, but some find the changes to the schooling environment leads to stress and the feeling they could be doing something better. After a few years, these teachers will begin looking for a career change.

A career change for teachers can mean a move sideways in their field. There are openings for teachers to change their field without really leaving their chosen occupation. From face to face teaching there are opportunities in distance education or in writing training books and developing the overall curriculum. Private tuition and tutoring are other means of finding a career change for Teachers. Then going behind the scenes and helping create the resources for the syllabus could be the direction to take.

If the career change for teachers is prompted by a need to leave the teaching field altogether, then the teacher can look at various other venues of employment that will utilize their specific skills. A teacher has a range of skills that will translate well into other fields. Good communication skills, research abilities, administration experience and people skills can help a teacher find new employment in another industry.

Teachers can find new careers in any field, if they need to hone skills required for a new career a good approach is to attend college locally while teaching. Distance and internet learning are other viable options.

A career change for teachers might involve getting away from interacting with students and concentrate on interacting with the public, or with the elderly. They may look for a career where they can work with their hands, creating things rather than sculpting young minds. The tactile thrill of woodwork, horticulture, art or writing might lead to a career change for teachers, with great results.

A teacher already has demonstrated skills in so many areas they are likely to find other employment relatively easy to find. So many areas of employment will necessitate some training. When a career change for teachers comes along, after finding employment the teacher could well find their special skill in communication and teaching becomes a bonus to their new employer. They can help train new employees, teach courses in customer service skills, demonstrate the company's products at trade shows and other venues, and add other information to the employee's knowledge base.

A career change for teachers can lead to a job where they are less stressed and likely get paid more. They can still use the skills they have developed and the knowledge they have stored over years of teaching experience. The outlook for a career change for teachers is good, if they have done the training to become a qualified teacher they are highly employable and will not find work hard to find in any field in which they have an interest.

John Groth is a former HR executive and career coach. On his web site find Career Change Ideas ,valuable articles and a Free seven day career planning guide. Discover up to date career and recruitment strategies at our Employment Ideas Guide all to assist you in advancing and managing your career.

You Are Creating Your States Of Procastination & Motivation!

Have you ever experienced the state of procrastination? All of us have one time or another! Procrastination is the number one killer of success.

It is the single most common state that keeps people from taking action Knowing that there is an important task at hand, you keep putting it off.

Have you ever had to start work on a project but kept doing everything else that would delay you in getting started? You cleaned your desk, got a drink of water, checked your emails, walked around and finally said, 'I think I will do it tomorrow!'

Has there been another time when you felt totally motivated in getting started on a project? A time when you just sat down and got it done immediately?

I believe we are aware that this situation rarely happens, never happening in times when we need to get something done.

We Create our States of Motivation and Procrastination

We have to understand that we create entirely different states using our physiology and internal re-presentation. When we understand this, we will be able to change, interrupt and change states whenever we need to.

When you were procrastinating, you were using your physiology in a particular way. Your breathing was probably slow and shallow. Your muscles were droopy, your eyes were looking down and your facial muscles were probably flaccid.

What about your internal re-presentation? You were probably seeing pictures of yourself having a tough time, being overwhelmed and getting frustrated. You were probably saying to yourself in the most weary and bored tone of life, "Must I do this now? Can I do it later?"

How do we create Motivation?

A question we have to ask ourselves, when we are in a motivated state, taking action and accomplishing our tasks, how did we create that?

Our physiology was probably different. We were sitting differently, breathing differently and moving differently. We were probably re-presenting the task very differently in our mind.

We were seeing ourselves getting results, having fun and doing things effortlessly. We were probably saying, "do it now!" "Let's get it done!" in a more excited, higher pitched tone of voice.

Remember, our states are hardly managed consciously. We do not consciously shift our physiology nor do we control our internal re-presentations with the intention of controlling our states.

Instead, our minds are allowed to run on autopilot causing us to lose control of our own states, ensuing in mediocre results that we are not to be pleased about.

Now that we are aware that states of motivation and procrastination are entirely created by us, the responsibility is on us to learn and take charge of our physiology and internal representation, propelling us to attain the greater results we desire.

Adam Khoo is an entrepreneur, best-selling author and a self-made millionaire by the age of 26. Discover his supercharged success secrets and claim your FREE bonus report 'Supercharge Your Success!' at Success With NLP.