Develop the Growth Mindset Habit

2020-01-142020-01-13 ~ adminlife

When deciding what new habit to pursue, it’s easy to look at all the things we shouldn’t do as a place to begin. We want to stop smoking or stress eating. We want to learn how to say ‘no’ or to quit spending so much time on social media.

Have you ever considered the flipside of all that by building a habit that’s positive? What if the habit you formed was one of growth and personal development?

Having a growth mindset positively impacts your life in multiple ways, so it’s a great healthy habit to build into your life. What are the benefits of developing a growth mindset?

1. You keep learning. Learning is important as you not only discover new ways to do things, but by making a practice of constantly learning, you develop new ways of thinking, and new ideas. Learning connects you with more of the world and helps you see things with a deeper significance than you ever thought possible. But more than that, people who stop learning very quickly stagnate. Studies have shown that the practice of learning new things when you are older helps ward off problems related to dementia. In short, learning is good for your brain!

2. You learn perseverance. As we learn new things, we adapt and change how we think. That gives us the ability to see other solutions to problems that would have frustrated us in the past. By challenging yourself to grow, you learn how to push through obstacles and find new paths.

3. You learn how to embrace challenges. Growth can be challenging. But by pushing yourself to grow, that means you’re also pushing yourself to look at challenges differently. An obstacle now becomes an opportunity to learn something new and to do things in a way you haven’t before.

4. You learn how to embrace failure. When you’re interested in growing as an individual, you start to see failure differently. Everything becomes a potential lesson in a way that you didn’t think would work.

5. You become more open to criticism. By being willing to grow, you start to see that the input of other people has significance. You see their words not so much as something negative, but something you can use to develop as a person and learn something about yourself. You might not always like the lesson, but that’s part of growing too.

By embracing personal growth, you find the best version of yourself. You’re able to become more than you ever thought possible, and then you turn that around by finding out that you can become more still. You’ll find that the furthest edges of yourself are far beyond what you thought you ever could be.

Want to Increase Your Personal Magnetism? Pay Attention to Your Body Language

2019-02-272019-02-27 ~ adminlife

When you enter a room full of people that you don’t know, and you see some people with their arms crossed, do you approach those people? How about people that look your way and smile? If you said no to the first question and yes to the second, it’s because of a subconscious force at play: body language.

Paying attention to your body language is a crucial aspect of increasing your personal magnetism. People inherently pick up on those signals without much of a thought. They don’t say to themselves, “this guy has his arms crossed so I am not going to approach him.” They simply move on.

There are plenty of books, guides, and seminars that can help us learn more about our own body language. But some of the basics have already been covered; don’t cross your arms if you want people to approach you and make eye contact as often as possible and be sure to smile. These are three of the major ways to improve your body language to make yourself more approachable.

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Another way to learn how to use body language to your advantage is to observe people who you are naturally drawn to. Pay attention to the kinds of movements they use as they speak to you. Are they crossing their arms or are they using their hands to express themselves? Perhaps they give you the occasional touch on the shoulder when making a certain statement. Are they focusing their eyes on you and giving you their undivided attention? These are all traits of charismatic people and can be used to increase your magnetism.

Take a look at how others are reacting when you speak. Are they distracted or are they hanging on your every word? If they are checking their smartphones every couple of minutes, you may have some work to do. If they ask you to repeat what you said often, this too is a sign that you should hone in on your body language signals.

Start with small changes. Don’t try to incorporate every change in body language all at once. It will seem too contrived and will not be effective. Continue to observe others you find charismatic and try to incorporate the actions that they use when talking to people. If you are consistent with your changes, they will become second nature over time and people will definitely start being more drawn to you.

To your success

Michael W

P.S. If you are looking for a confidence program that can help you with your self development. Send me an email at michael@youaresuccesslifecoach.com to request a copy of my “Maximum Confidence Transformation Package”. Afterwards we can arrange a discovery telephone call to discuss the package and how you can benefit further from developing your confidence level.

Feature photo used under CCO and available at Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Accepting Rejection – The Cornerstone of Perseverance

2019-01-242019-01-24 ~ adminlife

We learn at an early age that we don’t get everything we want. In other words, we have had to deal with rejection since then. This makes you think that people accept rejection easily. The exact opposite is usually true.

People start to develop an invisible shield against rejection. They may show anger or resentment to the people who are serving up the rejection. But, in many cases, it can show who is resilient and who is likely to continue until they get what they want.

No one likes to hear negative comments about themselves. People take it personally. However, knowing the reason for rejection can help change your direction. You can correct the aspects that made people reject you in the first place.

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This won’t work with everything. For instance, if a person you are attracted to does not return the favor, it may be difficult or impossible to turn this around. Then again, there are numerous stories of people who persevered even when they were rejected time and again, and won the love of their lives.

Another instance where you may face rejection is during a job interview. Many candidates will pass this off as incompetence on the part of the interviewer, and there are certainly cases where this is true. But, you should always try to evaluate the reasons why the interviewer did not choose you. You’d be surprised at how few people even ask for the reasons. Interviewers won’t typically volunteer this information. Many will feel you don’t care if you don’t ask.

In many cases, rejection is not personal. You may not have the necessary skills when seeking a job, or you may not have enough experience, etc. In other cases, it may be somewhat personal, but it may be in your best interest to get rejected. For instance, if you don’t have an aggressive personality, do you want to pursue a career that requires one? If you are in sales, you need to have this driving personality to succeed.

Use rejection to your benefit. People who accept rejection and don’t give up are usually the ones who eventually get that acceptance. Sometimes, the very fact that you are persevering is what turns the tables from rejection to acceptance. Whose to say that next opportunity is not the one that will accept you? You won’t know unless you continue on your quest.

To your success

Michael W

Feature photo used under CCO and available at https://pixabay.com/en/stamp-approve-rubber-pass-reject-2114884/

Build Confidence with Competence

2019-01-062019-01-06 ~ adminlife

Confidence and competence are crucial to ultimate success no matter what your endeavor is. The more competence you have in a given career, sport or personal goal, the more confident you’ll become that you can complete the task giving it all you’ve got – mentally and physically.

Competence means that you have unwavering belief in yourself to meet and complete any challenge. Your competence comes from the understanding, knowledge and willingness to perform whatever is needed to become successful in a chosen field.

Confidence is more of a state of mind that you have the ability to go forward with a goal or task. With competence added to the mix, you’ll be able to present an image to others that you’re strong and have the qualities needed to undertake a task.

The two traits, confidence and competence, are powerful components in your life and with them, you can achieve beyond your wildest dreams. Those who are confident in their abilities feel competent to seek more challenges, push themselves to new heights, even though they’ve already succeeded.

Most people who are confident and competent enter each challenge and set and perform goals with much enthusiasm and determination to succeed. They don’t dwell on failures and mistakes, but turn them into learning experiences which spur them on to bigger and better things. Challenges become opportunities and obstacles become challenges.

Confidence is something that’s difficult to fake. It must be gained from the learning process which makes you confident in your abilities – and that is competence. Competence is also derived from seeking knowledge and putting into action certain goals, organization and preparation that will lead you toward completing a goal or competition.

It’s important to set goals that, step-by-step, lead you to a competence you feel and a confidence you exude. Be sure you learn how to set goals and follow the steps needed to get there. The more goals you set and the better you become at the tasks, the more competent you’ll feel to go on to bigger and better things.

When you develop confidence that comes from competence that was learned and practiced, you’ll become the person who instills trust in others. Confidence communicates with others by the role model you create for yourself. When others see that image, they’re either put-off, intimidated or encouraged by what they experience. You communicate the image you’ve derived from the confidence you’ve created and that ability can help you soar to success.

To your success

Michael W

Feature photo used under CCO and available at https://pixabay.com/en/motivation-live-courage-enjoy-life-1389126/

How to Use Failure to Strengthen Belief in Yourself

2018-12-292018-12-29 ~ adminlife

Do you try to avoid failure? Most people do. It makes sense, too. Failing is no fun. It would be great if we could leap right to success. However, it doesn’t work that way. But, you can use tools to help you believe in yourself, and find that success. One of the best tools to help you is failure itself.

When you fail, you can use the experience to figure out what went wrong. You can evaluate the steps you took and try to find the point of failure. You can then choose alternative steps based on this information.

You do need to be honest in your assessment of why the failure happened. If you go around blaming everyone else for your failures, this will mask the true reasons, and you will never move on. It’s easier to blame others rather than admit mistakes. However, you aren’t doing yourself any favors when you do this.

Recognizing your failure is important, but don’t be overly critical. If you get to the point where you are putting yourself down because you failed, this won’t help your cause. You need to recognize that you failed, but know that it is going to happen and embrace it. Then, you can take a step back and figure out how to continue.

You can get inspiration from the failure of others. People write about their trials and tribulations in books or record videos about their experiences. Their experiences can help you by giving you tips on how to avoid the mistakes they made. Understanding this can help succeed at a much faster rate than if you make the same mistakes. Using other peoples’ experiences to your advantage is crucial. If you don’t do this already, it’s time to start.

Drawing from the experiences of others also shows you that you aren’t alone. If you read about how a successful person overcame obstacles, you can feel better about making mistakes. In other words, if they did it, so can you. That too is a powerful benefit of using failure to your advantage.

Is there ever a time when you should try to avoid failure? If you are repeating the same mistakes over and over, it’s time to take a hard look at what you are doing. If you can’t break that cycle, you may want to find a coach that can help you. Sometimes, that extra push can be all that is needed to get you to move on from that cycle.

To your success

Michael W

Feature photo used under CCO and available at https://pixabay.com/en/success-planning-strategy-draw-pen-620300/