Personal Development Plans

January 15, 2010

Why You Must Set Goals to Improve your Self-Esteem

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What are goals and why do we need them. Goals are targets for you to reach, things for you to aim for, obstacles for you to overcome or a destination for you to reach. Why are they important? Read on and find out.

How can you reach a destination if you don’t know what or where it is. Imagine living in the USA and wanting to get to England but you have no idea where England is, you don’t even know that you need to take a boat or a plane to get there because you’ve never even heard of England before.

How hard would it be to reach this destination? I’d say near to impossible wouldn’t you? You may stumble on it through shear luck. Maybe you wondered into an airport one day and saw the flight information on the screen but the odds on this are slim to none. This is why goals are so important.

To have a real goal you must have a plan. You must know where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and most importantly why you want to reach the goal in the first place. We’ve already dealt with the first one, you can’t reach a destination if you don’t know where you’re going.

The only part we haven’t dealt with is how specific your goals need to be. ‘I want to make lots of money’ isn’t good enough. ‘I want to make 1 million dollars in the next five years’. Now that’s the type of goal you want to be setting. It’s specific, punchy and straight to the point.

Secondly you need a plan. This doesn’t need to be too specific at first as it will constantly change throughout the process of reaching your goal. It’s like a boat cruising across the open water. On it’s way to it’s destination it is off course about 90 percent of the time and it makes minuscule changes all the way to it’s final port. Just like you’ll make changes to your plan on the way to reaching your goal

You may even find that half way to reaching your goal the destination itself will change, either slightly or become an entirely different goal altogether.

Finally the most important part. You must know why you want to reach your goal. If you don’t know this, if you don’t have a strong enough reason for accomplishing your goal then your chances of success are greatly reduced. It needs to be a reason that only the thought of will elicit a strong emotional response.

Ideally you should have two reasons. One must involve all of the great things that will happen once you’ve achieved your goal, list all of these great things and give them a positive emotional strength. The other should involve all of the things that will happen if you don’t achieve your goal, give all of those bad things a negative emotional strength so when you think of what will happen if you fail it instantly motivates you succeed.

January 2, 2010

10 Tips to Boost Your Self-esteem

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Perhaps one of the most important things for being successful in life is the amount of self-esteem and confidence you have. It is something you should pursue actively. Unfortunately most of us look at the outside indicators like how people react to something we say or do and we forget that these outside indicators are influenced by who reacts to us and what experiences and expectations they have. Because we have no influence on that it is necessary to build our self-esteem from the inside out. Once we know our worth and who we are the outside world will adjust.

Following are ten tips how you can improve your self-esteem: 1. Know your strength

What aspects of your self do you like? What are you already good at? What are your strength? Come up with at least 10 positive attributes before proceeding to the next step. Keep this list on you at all times and read it each time you feel lowly. 2. Be positive and optimistic.

Do you know the song: “Always look on the bright side of life”? Start living these words and stop thinking negatively about where you are today. Instead look at all the things you have already achieved in your life and visualize (dream) of everything that is still to come. 3. Develop an attitude of gratitude.

Every night and every morning say thanks for all you already have and for the special things that have happened in the last 24 hours. You will be surprised how much there is to be grateful for. Even when life seems glum you can be grateful for being alive, having a roof over your head, enough food to eat, clean water to drink etc. We all have so much already but we take most things for granted. Take this exercise serious because it can really change your life. 4. Set SMART goals for all your plans.

Write your goals, dreams and desires down in as much detail as possible. Then prioritize them and start working on your number one goal immediately by breaking it down into small, achievable steps. Go through your list of goals and steps every single day until it has become a new habit. Tick off and celebrate each achievement.5. Be proactive.

Do not wait for things to happen, instead make things happen. Fuel your motivation and determination by imagining what it will be like when you have achieved what you aim at achieving. Let other people know about your plans and in what aspect they can help you. 6. Make each person feel that she/he is significant.

High self-esteem means you feel good about yourself. Helping other people feel good about themselves will also bolster your confidence and by making the people around you feel significant you will eventually see amazing results – in your life and in theirs. 7. Mix with the right people.

Sometimes it is necessary to improve your circle of influence. Join social clubs or organizations like Lions, Kiwanis, business networks etc. in which you are likely to find successful, confident people. Good social contacts can give you further assurance.8. Find balance in life.

Indulging in sports or hobbies can help improve your self-confidence. Likewise, it can help you maintain good health. Good health leads to a sound body and a healthy mind. A sound body and a healthy mind play a major role in improving your self-esteem and gaining balance in life. 9. Learn from your failures.

We all have failures and disappointments which frequently result in low self-esteem. When our goals and objectives are not met, we get frustrated and can become negative about our capabilities. None of this helps. What differentiates the winners from the losers is the speed at which they get up again and what they learn from their failures. Failures and disappointments are part of life and the best way to overcome them is by learning the lessons they offer us. 10. Enroll in self-improvement seminars and/or life coaching.

If you don’t know where to begin, a coach or mentor can be very useful. Also emerging yourself in the positive atmosphere of self-improvement seminars can help you find your purpose and gain self-esteem and confidence. Reading self help books and listen to CD programs is useful but the most successful method from the outside is coaching as it gives you someone who holds you accountable.

Improving self-esteem does not happen overnight but if you use these tips you will see positive change happening.

Your improved self-esteem will benefit you in all aspects of your life. You will experience change in your relationships, your career, and most importantly, in your attitude towards yourself.

December 23, 2009

How to Boost Your Self Esteem

Filed under: Development Plans — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 11:48 am

How to Boost Your Self Esteemby  Jodi-Ann Walker  “If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race of life.” “With confidence, you have won the race before you have started.” -Marcus GarveyConfidence and having a powerful self-image is very important. Confidence and self-esteem motivate you, when other people do not. Self esteem encourages you when everything and everyone else does not. It is the underbelly of your drive, motivation, and determination.The question that may be on your mind is, “how is it that some people have a high self-esteem compared to others?” This is because some people’s  self-confidence has been nurtured from an early age. Their opinions were always respected. They were always encouraged to express themselves whether verbally or otherwise. They were always supported in their endeavors. For people who have low self-esteem, they have encountered contradictory circumstances. They were not supported in their endeavors. They were not encouraged to express themselves; and if they did so, they did so on a limited basis. Their opinions were not encouraged and, hence, shied away from truthfully expressing their views on how they really felt about a particular situation. Because their opinions, actions, and endeavors were not valued then it became easy to devalue themselves—and to allow others to devalue them. This self-deprecating and -negating behavior is intensified when people with low self-esteem compare themselves (or when others compare them) to other individuals. They begin to feel as if they are not enough. They begin to feel as if they are not enough. They begin to feel and think that they are inadequate.If you are one of those people with low self esteem, here are some tips to help boost your self confidence:1.Write 50 different things that you like about yourself over a five day period. This will help you to celebrate and appreciate your uniqueness. It will begin to teach you self love. This helps to focus on your strengths instead of your weaknesses. (A tip that could help you with this activity is to think of two positive things to counteract a negative thing about yourself.)2. Use personal development and self improvement tools and resources. When you love and accept yourself, then you will do everything, which is possible, to develop and improve on yourself.3.Help other people who are less fortunate. This will shift the focus off of you for a second and place it instead on other people. In this way, you will move from the depressed state of mind when you are in a self-deprecating and -negating mode. Also, after you help someone else, you start to feel better about yourself. 4.Socialize and make connections with the right people. Join clubs, groups, and social media networks and socialize with people with common interests. These should also be the right people in the sense that they encourage and support you in in your endeavors, dreams, and goals. They should also be able to give you sound advice and constructive criticism when you do something wrong.5.Formulate a life purpose for yourself. Think of what a perfect worldwould be like for you, then write it down. Write down your dreams, gifts, and talents. Then formulate your life purpose which includes what you intend to do with your gifts, goals, or talents to better the world around you.6.Set short- and long-term goals to achieve your life purpose. First develop an overall plan to accomplish your life purpose. Then set long-term and short-term goals to achieve each section of the plan.7.Celebrate your successes. After you have accomplished a goal you should celebrate by doing something good for yourself. You can go to the spa and get a massage, buy yourself something nice at the mall or treat yourself to a cone of ice cream.8.    Do not attempt to be like another person. Be the best person you can possibly be. It is okay to desire to improve yourself mentally, physically, socially and emotionally. But never attempt to be someone else. You will be putting yourself in self-sabotage mode reject yourself so that you can be someone else. 9.Stand up for your core values or belief systems. When you love and appreciate you will do everything in your power to protect your core values. This is because this forms the foundation of who you are as an individual. If you do not defend your individuality, then people will always treat you like a doormat and this, in turn, will activate the self-destruct mode within you.

December 18, 2009

Self Confidence – Understanding And Boosting Your Self-Confidence

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The building mentality is a critical factor in almost all successful ventures that you may ever undertake. The right plan and the right execution of it determine the success of your ventures. Building self-confidence is no exception to the rule, and you need to have a plan before you can successfully do so. Categorize your self-improvement plan into compartments, and you will quickly see yourself achieving the goals at a quicker pace than before.
Human beings sometimes may feel that we are insignificant in the infinite universe. However, if we compare ourselves to the light emanating from a candle, one light may not make a whole lot of difference, but many candles together can light up a huge room. Similarly, our collective efforts can and does make a difference to the world.
However we cannot do much if we do not have self-confidence. You can never give out light, so to speak, if you do not believe there is light in yourself. You can never help any one if you cannot help yourself at first. How would you ever be a light in the universe without the spark of self-confidence within? So believe in yourself, and maybe you could help others believe in themselves by setting a fine example.
When we are children, our fears are irrelevant to the world that we know as adults. A child is at worst scared of the dark, not of the apparently real factors such as setting up your own business, meeting deadlines and paying your bills. When we get a little older, we start fearing these situations.
It is fair to say there is no point being scared of the dark, and at the same time there is no point fearing these issues mentioned above either. What we need to do is face our fears and overcome them to build our self-confidence, much as a child faces his fear by sleeping alone for the first time in a dark room!
It is critical to make a note of what helps you grow your self-confidence. It may be hard to do at first thanks to an already existing negative self-image, but you must try never the less. You may have had a few failures along your life that have become monkeys on your back, and its time to lose those! Get a hold of your emotions, and start building that self-confidence to help make a better tomorrow.
You may have to start building your self-image and self-confidence from zero, and even if you do, it is well worth the effort. After all, you are the one who will be affected by the efforts most.

December 16, 2009

Personal Development Starts With Self Esteem

Filed under: Development Plans — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 10:19 pm

If we want to attain any goal, achieve any aim or reach any objective we all know that we need a large amount of confidence. We need confidence in ourselves, the plan we are using and our own abilities to work that plan. However, self confidence is merely a by-product of high self esteem but do we really know what that is or how to get it?

Self esteem begins with a positive self-image. This involves holding a balanced yet loving, approving and healthy self-view. However, it is not arrogance nor is it narcissism. True self esteem gives us a balanced realistic appreciation for our own talents. It allows us honest introspection of our strengths and a complete acceptance of our human limitations. High self esteem is a reflection of the true value in which you hold yourself. It also frees you from any overtly polarised view of others and how you perceive they think of you.

Individuals with high self esteem have a strong sense of themselves. They know who they are and what they want. They have a realistic world view of others and themselves. Their self-image is positive but also very rational.

However, do not think that people with high self esteem always feel great and proud of themselves. Self esteem is about having a balanced view of yourself. Everyone makes mistakes and people with high self-esteem are no exception. They also behave in ways or make decisions that they later wish they hadn’t. The key difference with these people is that they recover quickly make the changes they need to make, apologize for their behaviour where necessary and learn from the experience. Individuals who have developed a healthy degree of self-esteem are able to use these situations as a form of feedback and learn from them. It is alright to feel bad about their behaviour and make atonement for it but they do not let it effect their entire sense of identity nor do they carry it with them as emotional baggage.

If you are rude or aggressive with a person it doesn’t mean you are a terrible person or should be punished in some way. People with high self esteem are aware of this. These people are capable to taking full responsibility for their behaviour, admitting that it was undesirable. They will then try to make the situation “right” before they learn from it and put it behind them. They do not see themselves as bad people, just a good person that made a bad mistake. However, people with low self esteem tend to pile blame on themselves and think themselves unworthy and unlovable because they are “so bad” and “so unworthy and worthless”. They think because they have behaved badly it is a reflection of the total person they are when, in fact, it is only one portion of the complex personality they have. If you have high self esteem and you exhibit behaviour you yourself don’t like you tend to work on the problem until you either eradicate it or reverse it. People with high self esteem can do this relatively easily because they don’t see a change in one aspect of their character as an assault on their whole personality! So they can still have self criticism but also have high self-esteem at the same time.

A key to being in this mental and emotional state is to avoid generalising about mistakes made by ourselves and others, recognising that our weaknesses are part of who we are, while recognising that some of our behaviour can be changed without it affecting our sense of identity!

So start to see yourself as those who love you see you. Ask them what they think. Ask them to be realistic and to point out your good characteristics. Then take stock of yourself and start to believe in yourself. You can develop the skills needed to be critical of yourself, in order to learn and grow, while at the same time realizing that you are a unique, special, loving yet slightly flawed child of the Universe. You are wonderful. Accept that!

December 1, 2009

Personal Development Review: Personal Development for Smart People?

Filed under: Development Plans — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 8:09 am

Are you lacking confidence in your self to deal with day to day situations or problems presented by life?

 

Is your life just drifting along with no goal or aim whatsoever? Are you frustrated that life is not turning out as you have planned?

 

If so, you are not alone, there are countless people, including you and me who feel this way at some time or another in our lives. What you are lacking is the personal power that is needed to live life on your terms and not on the terms on your boss or neighbor or some one else for that matter.

 

There are heaps and heaps of books, articles and programs written on the subject Personal Development for Smart People, but how many of them are effective is actually a question.

 

If you are to develop any sort of Personal Power, the first thing and most effective thing you must do is to Accept Yourself as you are, with all your faults, problems and whatever. You must start to love yourself unconditionally. No matter what mistakes you made in the past, you should be able to forgive yourself and anyone involved in these mistakes or problems. You should first heal your past emotional hurts, for whatever Personal Development technique to be effective.

 

There are several energy healing techniques that would help you to clear the past hurts or limiting beliefs. You can chose that you feel will be most suitable to you. I recommend Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT to this end.

 

We are talking about Personal Development for Smart People, hence it is my duty to introduce a much more effective and easy method that would help smart people to develop without any hard work on their part.

 

Personal Development is much effective and effortless when your mind is quiet and calm. When your mind is calm and quiet, you live in the Present Moment and your mind is not limited by past limiting beliefs or hurts. In this state you can access your true potential effortlessly and is guided by your intuition or inner guidance. This is the state of mind that you should achieve in order to effectively develop your true potential.

 

Brainev is the latest Personal Development program, sweeping the earth today. What differs from similar products here is the Latest Patent Pending Technology known as 3P-DEAP, which makes Brainev the Most Powerful Personal Development Product for Smart People on earth today, as claimed by the developers.

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