Fake it Till You Make it: 10 Ways to Feel Confident (Even When You Aren’t) “Original Fake” Photo Credit: courtesy of MashKulture Is your self-confidence natural, or a daily struggle? Many people’s confidence naturally wavers from day to day, leaving them too timid or confused at just the wrong time. If you think you’re not especially smart or capable, or that failure is a given no matter how hard you try, you’re right. And if you believe you’re brilliant and can accomplish anything you set your mind to, you’re right. Amplifying your inner confidence is like any other skill you develop; you can do it in a blink. Same with confidence. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. You don’t have to follow all 10 of these tips, but they are starters that will help you find your internal confidence and boost your sense of self belonging. Start with any of the 10 items on this list, and start feeling better inside out today! Confidence is the key to EVERYTHING. Ever wondered exactly how self confident you actually are? Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain On Twitter! Related Articles:
10 things science (and Buddhism) says will make you happy I’m a science geek as well as a Buddhist geek, and recently when I was leading a retreat on how to bring more joy into our lives I found myself making a lot of references to an article published in Yes magazine, which touched on ten things that have been shown by science to make us happier. It seemed natural to draw upon the article because so much of the research that was described resonated with Buddhist teachings. So I thought it would be interesting to take the main points of the article and flesh them out with a little Buddhism. 1. And in fact Buddhism has always emphasized the practice of dana, or giving. “And which are the three factors of the donor? 2. This of course is an example of another fundamental Buddhist practice — mindfulness. They sorrow not for what is past, They have no longing for the future, The present is sufficient for them: Hence it is they appear so radiant. 3. Buddhists are advised to avoid “conceit.” 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
How to Stop Procrastinating: 7 Timeless Tips Image by tbondolfi (license). “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.”Spanish Proverb “How soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never’.”Martin Luther “A year from now you may wish you had started today.”Karen Lamb One of the most common problems is procrastination. Now, nothing wrong with a little escape from time to time. So what can you do? 1. “To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.”Eva Young A bit of planning can certainly help you to achieve what you want to achieve. You think and think and try to come up with “the perfect plan”. 2. “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.”Olin Miller ”Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. By over thinking and putting things off you are not only trying to protect yourself from pain. Because you are dwelling on it. So plan a little and then take action. Often you don’t even have to plan, you have been there before and you know what needs to be done. 3. 4. “Do the hard jobs first. 5. 6. 7.
Sri Chinmoy Inspiration: The Art of Happiness Happiness is at times an elusive phenomena. In many ways we strive for greater happiness, but often the more we grasp, the more difficult it becomes. Yet, the great Saints and spiritual traditions suggest joy and happiness are an integral part of our real Self. Minimise Desires Quite often we feel that if certain desires can be fulfilled all our problems will be solved. Man's sincere desire: Grasp, possess and enjoy quickly. - Sri Chinmoy Excerpt from Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 5 by Sri Chinmoy. Criticism Happiness can never be found in world criticism. Appreciation Instead of looking at the faults of our friends, we should try to appreciate their good qualities. Judge nothingYou will be happy.Forgive everythingYou will be happier.Love everythingYou will be the happiest. - Sri Chinmoy [1] Look after the Body. It is possible to be happy,whatever ails the body. Be active. Thomas Jefferson said the secret of his happiness was the fact he was both busy and maintained an inner poise. Meditation
Making a Habit of Thinking Happily I have written several articles on positive thinking and the law of attraction, and am always surprised by how many readers privately contact me with strong skepticism. “Do you really practice these techniques” and “do you really find that it works” I am asked. And although the answer is generally “yes” to these questions, I have made an even firmer commitment over the last several months to integrate positive self-talk in my life. The results: I am now an even firmer believer in the practice of positive thinking…and I am going to explain why. More than ever I have come to understand that positive thinking is a technique that actually becomes a way of life, and a way of being. After a while, thinking positively becomes a habit and your mind naturally shifts to a more positive outlook concerning your situations and the world around you. 7 Effective Ways To Implement Positive Thinking How to Break Out of Bad habits Using Affirmations Why The Law of Attraction Does Not work For You 1. 2. 3.
How to Trick Your Brain for Happiness This month, we feature videos of a Greater Good presentation by Rick Hanson, the best-selling author and trailblazing psychologist. In this excerpt from his talk, Dr. Hanson explains how we can take advantage of the brain’s natural “plasticity”—it’s ability to change shape over time. gobyg There’s this great line by Ani Tenzin Palmo, an English woman who spent 12 years in a cave in Tibet: “We do not know what a thought is, yet we’re thinking them all the time.” It’s true. In recent years, though, we have started to better understand the neural bases of states like happiness, gratitude, resilience, love, compassion, and so forth. Ultimately, what this can mean is that with proper practice, we can increasingly trick our neural machinery to cultivate positive states of mind. But in order to understand how, you need to understand three important facts about the brain. Fact one: As the brain changes, the mind changes, for better or worse. Fact two: As the mind changes, the brain changes. 1. 2. 3.
10 Ways To Be Happy, On Purpose “He who depends on himself will attain the greatest happiness” ~Chinese Proverb I was at a Women’s Leadership Conference about a year ago and had an “ah-ha moment”. We were all introducing ourselves and asked to share a few things to help with the process. One question left me baffled and ultimately changed my life; “What do you do to make yourself happy?”. At the time I honestly didn’t know. It’s not been an easy road, but it’s been the most fulfilling adventure I’ve ever been on and I feel that I should now share what I’ve learned with others. 1. “Today you are you, that is truer than true. How many times have we heard “no one will love you until you learn to love yourself” or “nobody knows you the way you do”? So get to know the right-now-real you, both the good and the bad, and own it. The good news is that if you don’t like certain aspects of yourself right now, you have it in your control to change that. 2. “Open your eyes and look within. “You have brains in your head. 3. 4. 5. 6.
9 Daily Habits That Will Make You Happier Happiness is the only true measure of personal success. Making other people happy is the highest expression of success, but it's almost impossible to make others happy if you're not happy yourself. With that in mind, here are nine small changes that you can make to your daily routine that, if you're like most people, will immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life: 1. Start each day with expectation. If there's any big truth about life, it's that it usually lives up to (or down to) your expectations. 2. The most common source of stress is the perception that you've got too much work to do. 3. I'm not talking about a formal, wrapped-up present. 4. Arguments about politics and religion never have a "right" answer but they definitely get people all riled up over things they can't control. 5. Since you can't read minds, you don't really know the "why" behind the "what" that people do. 6. Sometimes we can't avoid scarfing something quick to keep us up and running. 7. 8. 9.