With a little more confidence, everything runs smoother. You don’t have to be born confident to be confident. Here are some tips to help you improve confidence.
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All You Need Is A Minute
We’ve all got a list of things to do every day. Some days we get through some things, some days everything, and some days none. That’s to be expected. We can’t always accomplish everything we want to do, but do you ever notice that some things keep moving from to-do list, to to-do list day after day without ever getting done?
The reason some things never get scratched off the list is because they seem so big and daunting. Oftentimes when a project or task feels overwhelming we put it aside until we feel mentally and physically ready to deal with it. Then by not dealing with it, the thing gets the added weight of a psychological barrier against doing it and we’re even less inclined to tackle it.
No matter what the size of your task, whether you’re prepared to do it or would rather put it off indefinitely, there’s a little trick that can completely change your perspective on it.
Give it a minute
Rather than getting intimidated or overwhelmed by the size of a project, deal with it in small, easy to manage segments. Essentially the trick is to only commit to one minute.
Set a timer and devote a single minute to your task. At the end of the minute you will have some sort of result. It probably won’t be a huge result, but it will be something. At that point you can either decide to come back and give your task another minute tomorrow or you can keep going. The hardest part of any project is getting started.
One minute is enough time to start, it’s enough time to put you into the proper mindset to get on with your task. You’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish by committing to a single minute!
Save And Spend
Maybe you’ve got college debts to pay off. Maybe you’re debt free but are a forward looking individual preparing for financial freedom well before you hit the half century mark.
Wherever you fall on the personal finances continuum, if you want to save and get ahead, the first thing you need to do is create a budget.
Why budget?
Without a budget you really can’t accurately judge where your money is going, how much you can afford to spend on a Saturday night out, if bringing your lunch everyday is enough to get you closer to your financial goals.
There are lots of ways to go about creating a budget. Here are a couple of straightforward ones you could try.
Pre-budgeting homework
Before you can create that budget you need to have an idea of how much money you actually spend. Make a list of all your expenses, groceries, gas, monthly bills, gym membership, pet costs – everything you can think of.
Some of those expenses are fixed. Like your gas bill and your phone bills. There is no wiggle room. Some of your expenses are flexible, like groceries and clothes. Divide all your expenses into two columns, fixed and flexible. Now you have a concrete idea of exactly what you’re working with.
Subtraction budgeting
With this extremely straightforward method, all you do is add up all your monthly bills. Subtract that from your take home monthly income and see what’s left for savings. If there is nothing left or not as much as you were hoping to put away then where you can skim from that flexible column. Maybe cut back on groceries and movie nights.
50/20/30 budgeting
50% goes to your fixed costs. Rent, utilities, bills you see month after month go here
20% is allotted to financial goals. This is money that goes towards savings or towards paying back debt or towards creating an emergency fund.
30% is for your flexible spending. This is where the grocery money comes from, hobbies, clothes, entertainment.
By doing a thorough examination of how much you have coming in and where it’s currently going out it’s much easier to create a budget you feel comfortable sticking to as you work towards achieving your financial goals.
Make The Best Cup
Whether you’re at the very bottom rung on the ladder to your goals or near the top, there is a single thing you need to do everyday, and that is your absolute best.
Doing your best inspires you to respect and believe in the person you are. It changes the way others look at you, it makes them more inclined to trust you with more responsibility or more money.
It spares you from regret about days past and self-recriminating thoughts. It moves you forward and keeps your thoughts about yourself and what you’re doing positive.
At the beginning of the day you are the one you need to answer to about how you’re going to spend the precious upcoming hours. At the end of the day it’s back to you. Yes there are people you report to, people how have power to promote or demote you, people who will like or dislike you and what you do, but ultimately the most important opinion is the one you have of yourself, because that’s the cue others are going to follow.
Playing people as diverse as anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, to human rights activist Malcolm X to boxer, to a drunk airline pilot, and just about everything in between, Denzel Washington has made a career of doing his best while following his own internal compass. Three Golden Globes, two Academy Awards and a Tony award later, it’s obvious others agree, when Denzel makes a cup, it’s the best cup he can possibly make.
Doing your best inspires you to respect and believe in the person you are. It changes the way others look at you, it makes them more inclined to trust you with more responsibility or more money.
It spares you from regret about days past and self-recriminating thoughts. It moves you forward and keeps your thoughts about yourself and what you’re doing positive.
At the beginning of the day you are the one you need to answer to about how you’re going to spend the precious upcoming hours. At the end of the day it’s back to you. Yes there are people you report to, people how have power to promote or demote you, people who will like or dislike you and what you do, but ultimately the most important opinion is the one you have of yourself, because that’s the cue others are going to follow.
Playing people as diverse as anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, to human rights activist Malcolm X to boxer, to a drunk airline pilot, and just about everything in between, Denzel Washington has made a career of doing his best while following his own internal compass. Three Golden Globes, two Academy Awards and a Tony award later, it’s obvious others agree, when Denzel makes a cup, it’s the best cup he can possibly make.
From Great To Greater
Need some inspiration to find your greatness? Check out this video from MotivationGrid and you’ll never look back!
Managing Your Finances
If you’re living on your own things can expensive. Managing your finances is a key element of success.
Make Your Words As Strong As Your Intentions
So often we hear It’s not what you say, but how you say it. Generally that’s taken in the context of tone of voice and body language, but oftentimes the specific words you use to express yourself are just as important.
Someone asks you if you’ll be able to get a project done on time. Yes you can – so you answer: Yes I think I can or Yes I can.
There may not seem like a huge difference between those two sentences, but one is an absolute affirmative, while the other still has question marks attached to it. Which one would you rather hear?
The words you choose speak volumes about you and at the same time influence how others perceive you.
Indefinite statements vs. definite statements
When you say things like I think or I guess, whatever follows is automatically on weaker ground than a simple direct answer. I guess I’ll go to that seminar implies and underlying unwillingness to do it and makes you seem wishy-washy. I think I’ll go to that seminar implies a lack of commitment. I should be able to go. I’m supposed to go. The listener all of those statements will still not have any idea of whether or not you actually have any intention of going.
Yes I’m going is clear and decisive.
No I don’t believe this will be of benefit to me removes any ambiguity and provides a reason.
If you actually don’t know, give a reason why and a time when you will have an answer. I have to check with X, I will let you know by the end of the day.
Avoid negative statements
If you want someone to listen with an open receptive mind, you’ll have more success if you frame what you have to say using positive words rather than negative ones.
Rather than Don’t always hit reply all, turn the statement around to Only hit reply all when necessary.
Instead of I don’t like negative people go with, I prefer positive people.
by removing the negative words you’re eliminating a negative undertone you may not even realize is there.
Eliminate can’t
You may not be able to do everything you’re asked to do, however can’t is often people’s go-to word for won’t.
If you actually mean won’t then say so. It’s always better to be clear with your words and intentions. If what you’re being asked is outside of your skill set or knowledge then follow up with a solution. That’s not something I’m familiar with, I will call Sarah she can help. Or I have not done that before, I will find out how.
Your words are a reflection of who you are. People will be more inclined to listen to and follow someone who is direct, straightforward and positive. They will trust a person who is unambiguous in what they say.
