Janet Schlarbaum, Mark Schlarbaum Life Inspiration

By Gary Gzik
Article posted by Janet Schlarbaum

Anxiously, you prepare to write the last sentence in your “success journal.” Looking back over the past year, you have completed all of your goals. Astonished – you have never felt as successful in your life. You managed to lose 15 lbs, take the kids to Disney World, and successfully start your own home-based business. It had seemed like a long-haul at the time, but looking back as you make your final reflection, it seems more like an adventure.

Now, with such accomplishments at hand – you ask yourself, “Do I really need self motivation”? You look down at your journal, as it has travelled with you throughout your past goals. You realize it is time to move on to new goals, and perhaps a new journal. But, will you be taking self motivation with you?

At the moment, it seems as if things in your life have been happening the way you wanted them too, and as though self-motivation was not to credit, at least not right now. But, even with things going your way, you can still easily and quickly run out of enthusiasm and motivation. And, for these times, you won’t only need your success journal; you may also need a little self-help.

So, as you move forward onto next year’s goals, by following these few simple steps, you can continue to keep your journal by your side and stay motivated.

1. Stay in good company. To stay motivated it is essential and important to surround yourself with positive people in order to keep a spirit of happiness alive. Who you spend your time with will impact your motivation and your self-confidence. Try to regularly interact with “Yes” people. People who stay positive and motivated, never dwelling on the tasks at hand – rather challenging themselves as they move forward. If you’ve noticed your current group of friends are lacking in this area, don’t trade them in just yet. Try a new activity through the week, join a local sports league, chat with others online or volunteer with a local group. Choose anything that you are interested in or lifts your spirits, chances are, those people are there for a positive social hour as well as the activity.

2. Learn something new. Learning is a continuous process, which few of us actually adhere to. Every time we learn something new, we feed our motivation because we have increased our talent and knowledge, keeping our self-confidence level high.

3. Keep your positive attitude. A positive attitude means a positive mind. Condition yourself to focus on the good in every situation, even when obstacles present themselves. This is an excellent way to stay on track of self motivation.

4. Move on. Don’t get stuck in the moment. It’s hard not to fall into negativity, especially when you’re working on a project or dealing with issues and, all of sudden, obstacles start to occur and you can’t seem to move forward. When this occurs, shift your focus and approach the situation in a different angle. Suddenly, you will notice a different attitude and how everything starts to flow the way you anticipated it too before the obstacle – realizing self motivation has started to set in once again.

5. Write down your feelings. You may be tracking your goals and steps in your success journal, but are you tracking your feeling as well. This is very useful, especially when you are having bouts of sulkiness. Simply grab your journal, write down how you are feeling – and the reason you’re feeling the way you are. Do the same, even when you are feeling sheer happiness. This will allow you to recognize any patterns through your journal recordings, which will help you to decipher your emotions – what brings you sadness and what brings you happiness.

6. Track your progress. Okay, I know you’re already doing this with your journal. But, did you know that we mostly measure our successes and not the times we feel self-motivation. Use your journal to record these moments as well. Also, on days when you are feeling low, browse through your progress to be reminded of your accomplishments, and quickly start feeling better again, as you continue the cycle of completing a goal.

7. Share. Not only is sharing a good thing, it’s also a sure shot way to get motivated. When you know you were able to contribute even in the slightest way possible, you will definitely feel motivated to do better. Sharing ideas and feelings, or even motivating a friend who is feeling low, will quickly increase your self confidence.

 10 Ways to Build Your Self Confidence

By: K Lowe
Your level of self-confidence plays a role in every aspect of your life. It determines whether you succeed or fail. It determines whether relationships succeed or fail – or even ever get started. It determines the work that you will do throughout your life, the social relationships that you will build, the hobbies that you will pursue, and so much more. Here are ten ways to help you build your self confidence, starting today.

1. Start by realizing that you do have an issue with your self-confidence. Fully explore it. Try to figure out what triggered it. This is easier for some than for others, and it can be painful – but it is the necessary first step. Often, self confidence can reappear when we understand what caused the issue, and we have the benefit of time or distance to put things in better perspective.

2. Accept yourself for who you are. This is also easier for some than for others. For reasons beyond us, we learn – somewhere in life – that we are supposed to constantly try to be better than we actually are, and to feel bad about it if we are not. Realize that while everyone has room for improvement, if we were all perfect, the world would be an absolutely boring place.

3. Examine the people in your life. Are there those that tear you down – even if they do it nicely? If so, they’ve got to go! Simply limit their access to you – and to your self confidence, if you cannot remove these negative people from your life altogether.

4. Make a list of all of your positives. This can be achievements, a winning personality, a special skill or ability – anything that is positive. Write it down and feel great about it.

5. Really take a look at your physical self. Many self confidence issues stem from feeling like you don’t look as good as you could, or as good as you should, or as good as the other people around you. Hopefully, as you’ve aged, you’ve learned that what’s on the outside isn’t nearly as important as what is on the inside. If not, it’s time that you learned that. If you have already figured this little tidbit out, realize that other people have also figured it out for the most part, and that few people will judge you on your physical appearance – as long as you are clean and tidy. Besides that, you probably look better than you think you do – most people do.

6. Realize that life’s not all about you. Everybody isn’t staring at you. Everybody isn’t talking about you. Everyone is busy with their own lives, trying to make it through this world. If you doubt that, try volunteering. Not only is this a great way to improve your community and your world, while making life better or easier for others, it’s also a great way to start being thankful for what you have in life – and for building self confidence.

7. Identify activities, skills, or talents that will make you feel better about yourself. Maybe you don’t feel that you are completely qualified for your job – or for a job that you want. You should be learning throughout your lifetime – and taking classes to build skills and talents is a great way to build self confidence. You could even learn a new hobby.

8. Keep a positive attitude. Many people don’t realize that a positive attitude plays a role in building ones self-confidence, but it does. When you keep a positive frame of mind, positive things happen in your life – and when this happens, it boosts your self confidence without you even realizing it happened.

9. Use affirmations. Affirmations are good for lots of things. They can help you to reach a goal, but they can also help you to see what a special person you really are. Each person on this planet has something special about them – and that includes you.

10. Learn self-hypnosis. The absolute best and fastest way to build self-confidence is through hypnosis. Somewhere, something in life zapped your level of self-confidence, without you even realizing that it happened. Hypnosis works in the opposite manner, so to speak. It subconsciously gives you your self confidence back.

Remember that self confidence affects all areas of your life. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it doesn’t matter, or that you don’t have time to think about it. The quality of your life depends on it.

Janet Schlarbaum Self Confidence