Lost your Confidence since Covid19?

Hi Readers

Just a quick thought!

Did you know the biggest obstacles in being successful are lack of confidence and low self-esteem, and not taking action and actually doing whatever needs to be done

Both of these personality traits can be changed with a little effort.

Lack of confidence might be stopping you for applying for a new job or promotion. It might make you sit there looking across at the person who attracts you but to whom you can't speak, let alone try to fix a date. At the far extreme it stops some from even leaving home, from going into a shop and buying a product. It might make it impossible to travel by public transport. 

So if you have lost your job during Covid19 or have spent all your saving to live on, buy food, pay rent, cover utilities like electricity and gas, and you feel a loss of confidence here are some quick ideas that might help.

First, take a look at yourself. Go somewhere private with a mirror. Stand in front and look at yourself carefully. Can you see any reason why you are not confident? What can you do to improve your confidence? Are your clothes clean and ironed? Is you hair tidy and clean? Are you looking after yourself everyday with a shower, leaning your teeth, brushing your hair and putting on clean clothes. This regular daily routine will make you feel better. It's funny but as your confidence waivers and you start to feel that you are failing, then most people will start to take less care about themselves. Don't think about it, just do it, every day.

Are you spending more time in bed, watching the TV or just sitting in an armchair, lost to the world? Sit up!! Taking action is a sure-fire way to gain confidence. The mere act of doing something, even going for a vigourous walk will get the blood racing around your body and that will carry more oxygen and stimulate a good feeling. Try it, go for a walk now. You don't need money, walking is free. You will be away from disratctions too, so you can think about the good things in your life. No good things? Rubbish. You are probably healthy, eating ok and with clothes on your back. Think of those less fortunate. Think about those parents who are eating little so their chuildren are fed. Think of those who cant afford gas and food so they keep warm or fed. Think about people living alone in this Covid19 time and can't go out or have family visit them? Now think about yourself, your health, your life skills, your family and friends and how lucky you are to have them around you. 

Confidence is having faith in yourself. Click on the link and learn a few secrets.

https://success.official.academy/#!

Stay positive and succeed

Mike Leahy

 

Start a new habit today - Happiness, Motivated, Accept, Confident

Do you want to be a better person? I guess we would all answer "YES" but what do I have to do? And will I want to do that? And that is the problem for most of us. We set ourselves targets but don't reach them because we give up or don't even start. Look at New Year Resolutions. Lots of us make these at the beginning of the year - go on a diet, do more exercise, take the dog our for longer walks, learn a language, save some money, give up or cut down on alcohol or sugar. We start in earnest but by the end of week one we are already slipping. Week two starts and you are tired after work: can you not go to the gym just today! Ok. It'll be fine. The following week the same happens and in week four you are down to going twice a week. After that you just give up. There are too many other priorities. You have to plan your habit and follow through. The saying is plan your work and work your plan.
The beginning of the year is probably the worse time to start anything. The Spring is the best. Holidays are only a few months or even weeks away, the weather is better for outdoor activities, we want to throw off the winter blues. So Spring is good. And guess what! Its Spring now. So lets put a spring in our step - and in our minds and start.

Max Depree once said that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are. If your goal is to become a better person by being a better leader, businessperson,  entrepreneur parent, mentor, friend or teacher, then the first step is to learn to do better. And doing better is something we all can aspire to, wherever we are, whatever we're already doing.

That aspiration--to constantly improve, to always be changing and growing, to keep doing better--is what keeps us moving forward. However successful we already may be, it's how we prepare the way for tomorrow's success. The alternative is a sad one: to look back one day and wish you had done better.

The time to start is today. So I'm suggesting that you start some new habits over the coming weeks. Someone suggested starting a new habit every day for a week but I gave that a go and was finding it difficult by day two!!  A journey starts with a single step. The long haul isn't a sprint then being exhausted and dragging yourself for the rest of the way, or giving up. So I'd suggest starting a new habit weekly.

That might still be a struggle but it does mean 7 new habits in 49 days. And they say do something regularly every day for a month and it will become a habit so after just 4 new habits, the first one will become natural to you. I'm calling this the 49 Steps, a challenge I hope you'll take up with me. Write a comment below and join me on the Facebook page, click here  where you can also comment or write posts. My first video goes up today and here is the text.

Today’s habit is to select your thoughts and changing the way to speak to be optimistic, positive, accepting and happy.

The first thing to do is to start the day listening to something happy. For most people the first thing they see or hear is the TV or radio. And the news pops up with negative bad stuff. National disasters, deaths, loss of jobs, misery. Even when you are listening to a music show the news creeps in. If your first contacts with the outside world are negative then your whole day with start that way.

So I’d suggest selecting your own choice of music and listen to this, either through your home equipment or your mp3 which is probably your smartphone today.

Good music in the mornings has a good beat because this will raise your soul and heart-beat. It will also get you moving faster and feeling positive. Feeling positive will make you be happier in your skin and accept more who and what you are. Feeling positive will make you optimistic. And when you talk to others you will speak to them in a positive optimist way.

If you are a perfectionist you need to think about living for the moment. Think. Is it better to do something that is your best effort but possibly flawed, than strive for perfection, because with some things you will never reach perfection.  And learn from each experience so the next is better and improved. Think! I don’t make mistakes, I have learning experiences that will enhance my appreciation of life, make my next shot better and leave me feeling I have done my best at that moment.

If you just do your best in that moment you can come away feeling that you accept yourself and all your strengths and weaknesses. And you will feel good about yourself.

As you meet others show this new positive side by smiling, greeting them where appropriate and talking in positive way. If the weather is bad say “looks like its going to clear soon” rather than isn’t it awful today.

And listen to yourself. You can think about what you are going to say before your open your mouth. Check and be careful. A recent survey actually showed that we have a better feeling towards others if they talk positively.

And when you speak positively you’ll stand up straighter than  when you are talking negatively.  And first impressions count so give a good first impression.

And make this your new habit that you will use every day from now. Good luck. Please leave a comment.

 

Watch your Manners. Learn with us - here

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Hi Guys

My new course "Manners maketh Man & Woman" is now completed and available. As a special introduction to this and my other courses I am offering it free for 2 days only. This offer will finish on Thursday 4th February at midnight GMT.
 

To get immediate free enrollment copy and paste this link http://tinyurl.com/zzweqzn   Please share this link whilst it lasts.

All my courses include lifelong access so that you get all future updates and additional content. All these courses are being continually updated: for example I have just added 5 new videos to "The Complete Guide for Overseas Students in the UK" covering how to get a part-time job during studying and full-time job when graduated, plus new videos on English manners. 

There is a huge market for online courses and I am very pleased to hear from you if you would like to create a course to go on my site. I can give you all the help you need to produce this and you'll not necessarily have to appear

yourself. There are alternatives such as Powerpoint presentations, animation, using an actor (through a low cost agency) and more. I can show you how to set up a home studio in a small space such as a bedroom or living room, enhance the audio, edit video and much more. Interested? Leave a comment or e-mail me personally at ask@mikeleahy.comask@mikeleahy.com

Not only will you be sharing information and helping others but you'll make some spare cash too. This is a great opportunity. You probably have a skill or knowledge that you haven't thought about. Maybe you are a keen gardener, cook, keep fish, have a second language, have coding knowledge, photographer, are a good dresser or can do brilliant make-up. Maybe you want to create a religious course, meditation, losing weight or keeping fit. One course I saw was a man training in his living room. He started making video when he started his workouts. It was remarkable how he did turn from a weak frame to muscular and because the course followed his progress it was seen as genuine and sold well.

And you don't have to be a genius. So long as you know more than the average person about your subject then you can create a course. I'm happy to work on joint ventures too, so if you have the knowledge we can work together if you wish.

Many people say that they can find everything fee online, and yes you can. But courses are better because everything is together and there is a 30 day full money back guarantee on all courses on my site so you can depend on the tutor as being reliable and good. Courses are usually inclusive, by which I mean that you have everything in one place. 

It doesn't have to be a paid course. Some people like to just share their interest and run free courses. That's fine with me. The Learning Centre is a general resource that is growing.  

So to recap
Enrol in my manners course for free CLICK HERE 
If you want to create your own course contact me.



Have a great life. Watch this space. Please follow me.

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Good Manners Meeting People

Good manners simply means treating other people as we'd like to be treated ourselves. 

After reading through my last post I realise that using your mobile whilst having a meal with others is not very good manners and so I've decided to put together short course on basic good manners and etiquette. In the week I listened to a programme on the radio about etiquette across the world and was surprised to learn how many schools for etiquette there are around the world, all teaching English good manners. 

Here is my first video covering meeting people. There's nothing special about this but so many people get it wrong. Good manners is common sense. So when you met someone offer your hand to them, keeping your hand held forward vertically, not facing down or up. Take their hand and shake 3 or 4 times not vigorously or weakly but with a firm grip. Look them in the eye and tell them your name. For example "Pleased to meet you. I'm Mike, Mike Leahy" use that format so you say your first name twice. They'll remember better and feel more relaxed in calling you by by your first name. In the UK you normally stand about a metre apart and everyone feels comfortable. Interestingly in Japan people stand much closer together, probably because people live in closer proximity: whilst in Australia people stand further apart in general and stretch their arms forward. 

 

When you are having a conversation don't hog the talking, in fact use the art of listening. Listen to the other person and take in what they are saying. Don't let your mind wander. Be interested, agree or disagree as appropriate and ask questions. Don't interrupt but always wait for the other person to finish. 

If someone else joins you and you know them , then introduce them to the rest of the group. You might add something personal like "This is John, we work together". If strangers come to join the group then make sure they are included. 

Always speak well of others. Don't gossip. If you talk badly of others then people will think "Are they going to bad mouth me when I'm gone?" And if you can't think of anything good to say then shut up. 

If you have any comments or questions use the comment box at the bottom. And if there are any questions about etiquette write them down and I'll try to answer here on the blog.