June 18, 2015 by Maggie Currie

Sometimes I have feelings of inadequacy

Sometimes I have feelings of inadequacy and of not being good enough. I am not sure where they come from but I sometimes wake up feeling that way.

I remember one such occasion, I went to a breakfast business networking meeting, one I went to every Thursday morning at 7am, which meant getting up at 5am to be showered and dressed ready for business by 6.15am at the latest. Then a 10 mile drive.

Usually these meetings were full of energy and fun and a pleasure to be at, but on this day it was a little different. One of our members had split with her significant other and moved off the Island and is now living with her parents on the mainland. This person will be sadly missed as she is vibrant, honest, straight talking and fun. So there was an air of sadness that she had suddenly gone.

There were also some people there who were revelling in this news and making stupid comments, which I tried to ignore, but they were so unnecessary and I thought it was shameful. I said nothing as I didn’t want to get into a stupid argument.

When the meeting finished I took some items to the DHL drop point to send around the world, as I do several times a week with my secretarial business. This should have taken about twenty minutes but ended up taking nearly an hour because the computer system wouldn’t let them put in the address and postcode I had for one item going to China, and a call to the helpdesk was needed and this took forever. The lady who served me is also one of those people I try to avoid as she drains all the energy from me and is very critical of every one and every thing.

So instead of getting back to my office by 9am to get stuck into my work, I didn’t get back until nearly 10.30 and then I was all behind and annoyed that things didn’t work out.

I sat and thought about what it was that was making me feel inadequate. Not the fact that I was late getting back to the office. Not the fact that we had lost a great member of our networking group. So what was it? And then it came to me.

The night before I had been on a fabulous phone call with two coaching colleagues. The creativity and ideas were flowing from them, and what brilliant ideas they were. I am in awe of their power to think these things through so easily and clearly.

So, I believe that I was feeling inadequate because I had absolutely nothing to add to these two brilliant coaches’ thoughts and ideas. They had done their homework fantastically and presented their ideas and innovations in clear and concise ways, and they were great ideas and I know they will work.

I feel that my strengths lie elsewhere, but at that particular moment I wasn’t sure where.

I hate feeling this way and it makes me really upset to think this way. I know that I am a brilliant coach and that I do make a huge difference to people’s lives and that I will continue to do so.

Having written all this I felt much better and know that I have a lot to offer but not necessarily in the same way as other people. I also know that I should not compare myself to other people, that is definitely a confidence killer.

So, to re-boot my confidence I have written a list of my creativity and innovativity (is that a word?) and here is the list I have come up with:

My creativity

Superb coach
Brilliant cook
Expert typist
Can set out a document by eye, and it will look great on the page.
Brilliant writer and author
Fabulously intuitive
Do my accounts satisfactorily
Create a good workspace
Create opportunities for clients
Create opportunities to get clients
Great supporter
Impactful
Great teacher
Create achievable goals for my clients and for myself

My Innovativity

Build relationships online and in person
Think up new ways for my clients to succeed
Find new ways for me to succeed
Lead by example
Positive and encouraging to all
Hear beyond the words

If this hits home to you then please feel free to contact me. You are not alone. I would love to talk with you and help you to learn how to be more confident in yourself. As we all know, life is a school and we are constantly learning. I really do look forward to hearing from you with your lists of creativity and innovativity. Get in touch today to find out how my inspirational coaching can transform first you – and then your life

Maggie Currie

Thought Leader, Coach, Speaker, Author, Survivor

Contributor to BBC Radio, Vectis Radio, Susan Rich Radio

Published author and regularly write articles for national and international magazines.

Find out more about me and my ‘Why’ on my website

November 15, 2014 by Maggie Currie

How to change your behaviours

Your behaviour develops your character. OK, you have learned where your beliefs come from, and you are now aware that you can change your attitudes. You have realised that your perception of life is totally unique. You have discovered that your subconscious mind is ruling the roost. And you have found out that you are living each day by the habits built up in the subconscious mind and that you weren’t even aware of it.

All this sounds pretty negative, doesn’t it? Well it really isn’t. Knowing all this is positive as it now means that you have the power to change things, and you can now be well on the way to making your reality what you want it to be, instead of what your subconscious thinks you want it to be.

Now you know how to change your attitude to someone or something you can begin to change your behaviour as well.

Same old same old
Let me explain. It may be that your typical weekday is made up of a regular pattern of behaviour that you have been following for some years. It could be that you get up at 7a.m., complete your morning ablutions, go to the kitchen, turn on the television, put the kettle on, make tea/coffee, eat your cereal and toast while getting dressed. Leave for work at 7.45a.m. and it is all a bit of a rush. You go outside and get in your car and drive to work and you always get caught in a traffic jam and, more often than not, you arrive at work just in time to sit at your desk before the boss comes in at 9a.m., and you are all flustered.

The working day goes on and at lunchtime you always go to XYZ sandwich bar and have a sandwich with exactly the same filling, and you always order exactly the same drink. You bring them back to your desk and eat while carrying on with your work. Invariably you have indigestion and you don’t feel that you have had a lunch break.

At 5p.m. you set off for home and you get caught in a traffic jam again and you arrive home at 6.15p.m. feeling stressed and exhausted. You turn on the television, start to prepare your evening meal and sit and eat it in front of the television, but you don’t really enjoy it. The television programmes float past. You have become a victim of your own habits.

Then comes the washing up, all the usual chores of washing or ironing. Friday is shopping night and that is such a chore and you go around the supermarket and buy anything and everything that you perceive will make your life easier, because it doesn’t need cooking or preparing or whatever.

Then at 10p.m. you go to bed to go to sleep. You perhaps don’t sleep well. This pattern repeats every day, every week, every month.

Weekends are taken up with housework, more washing and ironing, gardening (if you have a garden) and perhaps Sunday lunch with your parents or relatives, whether you really want to see them or not.

The next week is exactly the same, and the next, and the next and so on. This is your current reality.

All that repetition in your behaviour creates habits. The habits feel comfortable to you and they can get far too comfortable. They can get so comfortable that they appear to be the only safe way to proceed. You have created a ‘safe place’, something like a really comfy armchair that hugs you all around, with some lovely comfy slippers, and your television has beautiful stars all around it because it is so warm and inviting to you.

Breaking the habit
But has it got so safe and so comfy that you become really scared to change anything? After all, life has carried on like this for years without change, why change anything now when you are feeling so safe? Even though you know you are not satisfied with this life of ritual and habit.

What would happen if you changed just one thing about your day? Would the world come abruptly to an end? Would the sky fall down? Would your friends all run away?

No, none of those things would happen. If you were to change just one of those patterns of behaviour, your life would begin to be more interesting and less exhausting.

Don’t believe me?

Give this a try. It is not a major change to your daily behaviour, it is a very tiny change, but it is one that will make a huge difference to you.

Every day you have gone to XYZ sandwich bar and bought the same type of sandwich and drink and taken them back to your desk and worked through your lunch. Make the decision that today, instead, you are going to make a tiny change to your routine and go to ABC café instead. Find a café that looks nice and welcoming to you and that you think you will feel comfortable in. Try out a few over the next few days if you prefer until you find just the right one for you.

Then go to ABC café, by all means have the same sandwich as usual. Buy a drink, it can be the one you usually buy. But, instead of taking these back to your desk, stay in the café, sit and enjoy your lunch, relax, watch the people all around you. Take your time and really enjoy your lunch. Then take a stroll back to your office and begin your afternoon feeling rested and refreshed.

Notice the difference it makes to you and to your day. Notice that the world has not ended.

Just one little change in your behaviour can make a huge difference to your working day.

Now your reality will look totally different. Instead of being tired and exhausted, you will be refreshed and raring to go. Your colleagues will notice the difference in you too.

Once you have achieved that small change, take a look at the other patterns of behaviour in your daily life. What other small changes can you make that will make huge differences to your reality? Could you have something different in your sandwich?

What about the time you get up and go out in the morning? Could that be changed to make it less likely that you will catch the traffic jams?

Is there an evening class, reading group or a dance class you could join that would get you out of that comfy armchair and meeting people and helping you to enjoy your life more?

Can you change your reality so that you are really happy and doing what you want rather than what your subconscious thinks you want?

Make a note of some small changes you can make to your everyday life to change your reality.

Your brain craves change, but it is also terrified of change and therefore it will happily let you think that by doing the same things over and over again you are safe and that doing something different is scary.

But if you were to go to a different café for your lunch what would happen? Would the world come to an abrupt end? No. Would XYZ sandwich bar go out of business? No. Would you still go to bed at night, sleep and get up the next morning? Yes of course you would, the world wouldn’t end. But your reality would change and you would feel so much better for it.

I am sure you can change just one or two little things and make a huge difference to your life and create a new reality for yourself.

What if you were to get up just fifteen minutes earlier and left for work just fifteen minutes earlier. Would you miss the traffic jams? Would you arrive at work less stressed? Would you be able to start your day on a more positive note? Yes you probably would.

Our primary relationship in life is with our selves. No one else goes through every experience in life with us. We are our one permanent companion, yet we are often our worst critic.

Maggie Currie

Email: hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

Follow me on:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

August 24, 2014 by Maggie Currie

Are you really conscious of your thoughts?

You are constantly barraged, from the minute you open your eyes and ears in the morning until the minute you close your eyes and ears at night, with information – facts and figures, fiction, half-truths, music, news, stories, half-heard conversations, pictures and images. This information comes from parents, siblings, relatives, newspapers, magazines, school, college, university, colleagues, television, radio, advertising posters, books, magazines, films, fellow passengers, articles – the list is endless. And this has been happening since the day you were born.

You would be surprised at how much information you absorb each week.

To prove just how much information you absorb each week and from how many sources, make a list of all the publications you read, the television programmes you regularly watch, the newspapers you subscribe to, the radio broadcasts you listen to and so on.

Are you surprised at the length of your list?

How much of that information that you have listed do you think is having a positive effect on your life?

How much do you think is having a negative effect on your life? Again, make a note.

I bet the second list is far longer than the first.

You filter all the information you receive (whether you realise it or not) and you think you either store it away for future use (you believe it) or discard it as useless (you choose not to believe it). But, unbeknown to you, your subconscious mind will store all the information away, just in case, whether, in your conscious mind, you think you believe it or not. Your subconscious mind has remembered everything you have ever seen or heard since the minute you were born. Your subconscious mind has very kindly done this for you without you even knowing.

Think about it, you see a poster flash by you and the information on that poster is absorbed into your mind in an instant. You may not even have realised that the information has been registered. So what you believe today could be entirely based on something you read on that poster this morning. Alternatively your beliefs could be based on something that is hidden deep down in your subconscious mind that you thought you had forgotten about, but in actual fact it has been lurking there for many years, thanks to your subconscious mind.

This is an excerpt from my book “What you believe creates your reality”. When you want to learn more, buy it, read it, take action – change your life. Click here to make your purchase.

If you’re ready to take control of your life, you have two ways you can work with me to solve your problems and regain your joy of living: One to one coaching, 7 Steps to Self Confidence Programme.

As a result of coaching with me you will grow into a new you. You will grow in confidence, self esteem and self belief. You will become self-reliant and you’ll begin to trust and value yourself.

You will discover how to bounce back when life knocks you down and how to gain the valuable lessons from all of life’s experiences.

You will start to live the life you really want to live rather than one forced upon you by other people and circumstances.

Does that sound like something you’d like to experience?

I know that coaching and mindset changes work to change your life which is why I’m willing to guarantee my coaching. If you feel your life has not changed for the better as a result of working with me then I will refund your investment.

You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Call me today (+44) 1983 754 666 and let’s start your life transformation.

Maggie Currie

Creedence – Confidence for You

Coaching you to become the very best version of you so you can have more fun, live a better life and enjoy your work.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

June 27, 2014 by Maggie Currie

Stepping well out of my comfort zone

I have many friends, some of whom live locally, some who live under 100 miles away, and some who live many thousands of miles away. I keep in touch with them all on a regular basis. There are some friends who I have never met in person, but chat to every week via Skype.

All my friends are important to me and I love hearing about their successes, their plans, their daily lives. I have one friend in Australia who I have known for about four years, and we chat regularly each week via Skype. Heather lives on a farm in Wangaratta, about 350 miles from Melbourne. She is a coach, teaches the Romany language, is an artist and an author. We spend a lot of our time laughing when we chat, and it makes a great start to my day and a good end to Heather’s day (Melbourne is 9 hours ahead of BST).

In April Heather told me that she had been to see some specialists and she has a recurrence of melanomas. The doctors had told her she had probably got around five months left to live. Heather of course told them she intended to be around for another thirty years, so not to write her off yet.

She began a course of chemotherapy and I decided to offer my support to Heather in person. That meant I would fly to Australia to be with Heather for a few days.

This decision was not easy to make since I have never travelled anywhere on my own, the furthest I have flown is to Italy (about 2 hours), but it felt right to me. So I booked my flights out of Heathrow to Melbourne, via Dubai and Brunei. I was leaving on 15th June at 5.50pm and arriving in Melbourne on 17th June at 4.30am. Phew! What had I done? Stepped right out of my comfort zone. But it still felt right.

The preparations began. Because it is winter in Australia I had to sort out jumpers and a coat that wasn’t too heavy. I was only allowed 20 kilos in baggage. I also collected lots of brochures and magazines about the Isle of Wight since Heather is planning to come over here in 2016 and these will help her plan what she wants to do when she gets here.

Everything was packed, checked, double checked. Passport, currency, travel insurance, itinerary, tickets. Time to go.

Me at Heathrow Airport

So, there I was at Heathrow airport, having been driven there by my lovely hubby Kelvin. All checked in and waiting to go through security. And so the real journey began. I boarded the Royal Brunei Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner, found my seat and then we took off. The cabin crew were lovely and brought round drinks and food at regular intervals. 6.5 hours later we landed in Dubai. A quick trip around the airport whilst the plane was refuelled, restocked etc and then we were back on the plane and heading for Brunei. We landed in Brunei 6 hours later and stopped off for 2 hours. I wanted a cup of coffee and they only accept their own currency, so I had to change some sterling in Brunei dollars. Then back on the plane for the final leg to Melbourne. 6.5 hours later we arrived, in the dark in Australia. The baggage was unloaded very quickly and I sailed through customs and immigration.

I bought a cup of coffee and waited for Heather’s husband Geoff to collect me. He had volunteered to drive me to their home in Wangaratta, 350 miles away and had got up at 3 in the morning to come to Melbourne to collect me and drive me back. What a star!

Geoff found me and in about three hours we were in Wangaratta and I got to meet Heather in person. It was as if we were carrying on a conversation, rather than meeting in person for the first time. We know each other and nothing was strained. We hugged and the chatting began.

Heather

Heather was half way through her course of chemotherapy and was feeling very tired and weak understandably. We sat and chatted whilst Geoff prepared meals. Heather’s friend Susan kindly volunteered to drive us out for an afternoon. We went for afternoon tea to a place called Beechworth, where they have a wonderful shop that sells honey. Not just honey, but hundreds of different flavours of honey. Of course I had to buy some to bring home. Then to a cafe to have coffee and scones. Yummy.

Beechworth

The following day Susan took us out again for afternoon tea to Glenrowan. I had my photo taken next to Ned Kelly, an Australian bushranger who was apparently very controversial. We had scones with cream and jam again. It was lovely to see Heather outside, even though she had to tow her oxygen cylinder with her.

Me with Ned Kelly

Heather’s house

On the Friday we all set off at around 7am to drive to Melbourne again to the Alfred Hospital for Heather’s appointment for her third round of chemo. We arrived and she was seen by the doctors who were pleased to see her, even though one doctor did express surprise that she was well enough to attend. (I did think he could have kept that thought to himself). I sat with Heather and chatted whilst the treatment was going on, ably assisted by Alfred bear.

Heather and I in the Chemo Unit

That night we stayed with Heather’s son and daughter-in-law just outside Melbourne. We were fed and entertained by Rhys and Sonia on Saturday too. Heather was very tired after her treatment and we just sat and chatted, or she dozed in the chair. We watched a couple of dvds and in the evening we had Chinese takeaway.

Sunday morning we set off again at around 7.30am to go to Melbourne Airport to drop me off and for Heather and Geoff to drive back to Wangaratta. We said our goodbyes and I began to the check in process at 9am. I found some breakfast at McDonalds and then went through immigration and security to the departure gate to await my flight.

The first leg of the journey set off from Melbourne to Brunei and took 6.5 hours. We had a 2 hour stop over at Brunei and I was grateful to be able to walk around and stretch my legs.

Model of Royal Brunei Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Brunei Airport

The next leg took me to Dubai, another 7 hours.

Dubai Airport – Costa gets everywhere!

The next segment of my journey took me to Heathrow Airport where I landed at 6.30am on Monday morning. I had to wait ages for my case to appear on the carousel, but it eventually arrived. I then went through the nothing to declare channel. I was stopped by a customs official and asked where I had been, had I bought any drugs or alcohol, was I carrying anything for anyone else. All the usual questions. I said I had bought nothing but some honey. They seemed to be ok with that and I went through into the arrivals hall to be met by Kelvin.

Kelvin drove home via Lymington, the Wightlink ferry and home. I was really happy to be home, but also really pleased that I had made the trip.

I had stepped right out of my comfort zone, but had enjoyed the experience and thoroughly enjoyed meeting Heather and being there for her to support her in some way. I am looking forward to her coming to visit the Isle of Wight in 2016.

I learned that I am capable of a lot more than I thought I was. I am so pleased that I made this trip.

If you would like to be able to step out of your comfort zone, but are not sure where to begin, contact me for a free chat on how I can help you.

Maggie Currie

Follow me on:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

May 27, 2014 by Maggie Currie

Can life coaching help me sort out my life?

Yes, I believe that it will help you sort out your life. Coaching draws out rather than puts in. I find it is reactive, flexible and enabling. My coaching style is non-judgemental, helps people to develop and grow in a variety of areas.

My approach to coaching is to get the very best out of someone and giving them the confidence to make decisions that will improve their life.

When my clients experience being coached, their motivation comes from working with me who is an upbeat, positive role model. I want my clients to reach their full potential and when they do it gives me tremendous job satisfaction. Helping clients discover where they want to go and then helping them to get there is so rewarding to me.

What makes me a great coach?

I like people and want to bring out the best in them
I want my clients to do something more fulfilling in their lives
I enjoy personal and financial freedom
I have natural ‘people’ skills.

Interestingly, a great deal of the life coaching and personal coaching I do is carried out on the telephone. Some of my clients I have never actually met in person. For several reasons coaching is just as effective over the telephone as it is face-to-face. In fact, many of my clients prefer to speak over the telephone. It is very convenient for both myself and my client, and it offers greater flexibility since we all have busy lifestyles. Coaching over the telephone offers other obvious advantages:

coaching can be conducted wherever I and my client happen to be – anywhere in the world
there’s no travelling time or travel cost involved
I don’t need offices, meeting rooms, staff or other expensive overheads

Having said that, I enjoy face-to-face coaching too, as I love the personal contact and appreciate the one-to-one feel of the coaching session. I meet my clients at a mutually agreeable venue, a quiet corner of a café, in their client’s home or office, in my home or office or wherever is convenient.

My coaching sessions are typically sixty minutes, though sometimes longer.

Some of the things I practice in my coaching:

Listening to what has been said, and what hasn’t been said
What motivates people must be understood
Everyone is capable of achieving more
Finding solutions not creating more problems
A person’s past is no indication of their future
People’s beliefs about what is possible for themselves are their only limits
I always provide full support
I can’t provide the answers, but I can draw them out of my clients
I never criticise my clients
All my coaching is completely confidential
Some people’s needs cannot be met by coaching, and I recognise clients with these needs and refer them to a specialty that will help them

So, to answer the original question “Can Life Coaching help you sort your life out?” Yes, I believe it can. Life coaching is what you make it. If you wish to set and achieve goals, accept yourself and become everything you are capable of becoming then working with a Life Coach is for you.

I also offer a money back guarantee. If you don’t change something about your life when coaching with me, I will give you your money back.

Contact me today to have a free chat on how my coaching will help you to sort out your life.

Maggie Currie

Follow me on:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

May 21, 2014 by Maggie Currie

My workshop – ‘the afterglow’

I facilitated a workshop last week entitled “Confidence for everyday life” and, even if I do say so myself, it was a huge success!

The time flew by and before I knew it, the whole thing was over. I loved every minute of it, meeting the attendees, sharing my expertise, watching the vision boards develop and the interaction with each other.

There were some ‘aha moments’ as someone realised that all the pictures and words they had stuck on their vision board referred to family and it wasn’t until that moment they realised just how much family meant to them.

Here is some of the feedback from the attendees

I had taken a lot of time and trouble to prepare the workbooks for the workshop. I included a recommended reading list, information on how to construct and use affirmations, all the exercises and some homework.

The homework exercise is to write 50 good things about yourself. This can be done by writing 3 things a day until 50 are reached. It is then a good thing to be able to read all the lovely things you have written about yourself and remind yourself just how good you really are.

My next workshop will be on Monday 15th September 2014 and will be about your relationship with yourself. Keep an eye on my website for sign up details.

The attendees achieved a lot in a very short space of time, just imagine what they will achieve over a few months of coaching. The possibilities are endless.

Contact me today to have a free chat on how my coaching will help you to change your mindset.

Maggie Currie

Follow me on:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

April 29, 2014 by Maggie Currie

Fear of crowds

Fear of crowds is very common for a lot of people whether they are single, married, male, female, high flyers, students, teachers, old or young .

I know how it feels to be alone in a crowd. I often feel totally overwhelmed in a large crowd of people, especially if I don’t know anyone in that crowd. It can feel like I am on the periphery and not allowed into the inner circle, and that, of course, makes the fear even worse. I wonder if the fear is actually of the crowds themselves or is it a fear of feeling lost or being unnoticed amongst a large number of people?

I know when I am in a large crowd of people entirely ‘on my own’ I feel nervous; I have an irrational fear that nobody will even notice that I am there. I look at the little groups of people who do know each other within that large crowd enjoying themselves and the company of each other and that somehow increases my nervousness and the fear. Of course they may feel just like I do but when I feel that fear, it certainly looks like they’re having a great time and I’m not. When I am in a large crowd of people and I have my own ‘group of people’ with me I feel safe and secure and know that I am noticed and therefore I don’t have those same feelings as when I am alone in a crowd.

Did you grow up in a house where “children were seen and not heard”? That might be the root of these feelings of nervousness and insecurity as they are for me. I can ultimately relate feeling like this to my childhood when I was constantly told that I should be seen and not heard. So I would sit in the corner with my toys and only speak when I was spoken to.

Having worked hard on discovering my authentic self, discovering, acknowledging and accepting those unexpressed feelings and emotions of when I was told to be seen and not heard, I now think and act differently. I know there is a solution to this fear of crowds. Based on what I know to be true about fear. I know that FEAR is:

False

Expectations

Appearing

Real

I have found the solution that works for me and might work for you too:

Don’t worry about pleasing anyone else. Just be you.
Here’s what I do – I take a deep breath or two and take the plunge.
I walk amongst the strangers in the crowd and I expect to be noticed. I’ve decided not to expect to be or feel lost.
I make eye contact with people and smile at them.
I say hello to people I have never met before and strike up conversations. They aren’t always long conversations, just long enough to introduce myself and be friendly and to listen to the other people. Sometimes they are much longer, it depends on the person of course. Once the conversations start to happen, other people start to talk to me and to each other and before long I am part of the ‘crowd’ and not isolated on the periphery.

Even if being you just says it’s ok to not talk to anyone – which is a good friend of mine’s solution for her fear of crowds. She’s decided to not push herself and just enjoys watching people. Funny thing is, she reports people come and talk to her.

So I know that I am not alone in feeling alone. There are other people who are in the same position as me and I make a special effort to speak to them as well and include them in the conversations. The energy and dynamics of the crowd change visibly and it becomes much more enjoyable.

The most important thing is to find a way to feel comfortable being you whether you decide overcoming the fear by talking to people is your way, or overcoming the fear by giving yourself a break and just allowing others to talk to you is your way. Bottom line, stop pressuring yourself to be like everyone else and just be you.

Contact me to have a free chat on how my coaching can help you find solutions to your problems.

Maggie Currie

Follow me on:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

April 7, 2014 by Maggie Currie

Improving your body language can improve your confidence!

The way that you move your body and how you walk has an enormous effect on the way that you feel and affects your confidence levels.

Lets start with an exercise.

Imagine there are two people standing in front of you – one with “negative body language” and one with “positive body language”. I’d now like you to write down what you are observing with each of these people

Positive/Negative

How are they standing?
Where are their eyes looking?
What position are they holding their head?
How are they talking?
How are they moving?

How you feel at any moment in time is linked to what is going on in your mind and how you are moving your body. The way that you move sends subconscious messages to your mind and this either helps or hinders the way that you feel.

Emotion is created by motion. If you sit still for a long period of time your natural energy levels automatically lower. And what happens when you get up, walk around and return to your seat? Yes, you have more energy and you’re given a boost.

I can’t stress how important it is to move and act confidently and positively. You will give off all the right vibes to everyone around you and it will make them think that you are confident even if you’re not feeling it inside. Yes, that’s right. Even if you’re not feeling confident, act as though you are.

So, how do you do this?

Walk swiftly and with a purpose. Don’t saunter along, walk like you know exactly where you are going and when you get there you mean business!
Gesture with your hands as you talk, it will create motion and you know what that leads to – EMOTION! The right gestures also have a major impact on building rapport as long as you’re not shaking your fist!
All it takes is a smile! Think for a moment about your confidence role model. One thing that she and confident people in general have in common is that they all probably smile a lot and are happier than their negative counterparts. It may sound silly, but there is a lot of power associated with a smile.

Start smiling more often. Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to walk around with a silly grin on your face all of the time. But smile as you walk down the street, when you talk to someone, even when you look in the mirror at yourself. You will be surprised at how much better you will feel for it, and it will project a positive image to all others – one that will attract opportunities and people.

Remember that confident people are happy people and negative people are not. Happy people are also seen as more attractive than unhappy and sad people, so that is an added bonus!

You know, the way that we communicate in our appearance, posture, gesture, gaze and expression can be such a powerful tool in the way that we feel and when communicating with others. The manner in which you communicate and your interpersonal skills are also very important indeed. Effective communication is vital if you are going to succeed no matter what you are doing.

The way in which we communicate with people is broken down into component parts, and it is popularly believed that people to whom we are speaking understand what we say by interpreting these different elements in varying proportions:

VERBAL – 7% of our message is interpreted from the words we use.

VOCAL – 38% is picked up from our voice – speed, tone , pitch, rhythm etc

VISUAL – 55% is what the other person sees – our body language

Please bear the above in mind when you are communicating to people.

If you are ever feeling down, just have a look at your body language and change it immediately. Even if it has to be false – YOU WILL start to feel better and more confident immediately.

First impressions count – notice body language. You can normally tell what others are feeling by the way that they are moving and using their body too. You can use this to your advantage when you are more aware of it.

Contact me to have a free chat on how my coaching can help you improve your confidence.

Maggie Currie

Creedence – Confidence for You

Coaching you to become the very best version of you so you can have more fun, live a better life and enjoy your work.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

February 12, 2014 by Maggie Currie

“I’m ACE!” – The 7 day challenge

Here is a short confidence building exercise for you. If you are up for the challenge that is!

At the end of each day, for 7 days I want you to write down 5 things that happened throughout the day that proved that you are ACE! Now if this doesn’t come naturally to you, you’re going to have to go out and make things happen.

Don’t ignore the little things as well.

You can include such things as complimenting someone, a good piece of work you did, the 30 minutes you spent with the kids when you would normally be watching TV – write down 5 things where you have added value to something or someone each day for 7 days.

GO FOR IT!

The 7 Day Challenge Template

Write out each “ACE STATEMENT” in the following format:

Number 1 was when I…

It meant that…

Afterwards I felt…

Number 2 was when I…..

It meant that…….

Afterwards I felt……

And so on until you have written down 5 things that happened throughout the day that proved that you are ACE!

After the 7 days are up, look back over your list your will be truly amazed at how ACE you are!

The following week, repeat the exercise but with 5 new things each day, and also make a plan for each day, just like the little dog in the cartoon above.

Remind yourself of this challenge every time you feel that you are not good enough, because you are good enough and you are ACE!

Contact me today, and we can have a chat on how I can help you. There is so much more information for you to see about my coaching on my website, take a look.

Maggie Currie

Creedence – Confidence for You

I am helping people to become the very best version of themselves so that they can have more fun, live a better life and enjoy their work.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Huffington Post

November 4, 2013 by Maggie Currie

Are you holding on to things you ‘should’ do?

A lot of people carry around with them a huge amount of “baggage” or “clutter” in their minds. When I say this I mean that they are still holding onto things that they say they ‘should’ do, but they really don’t need to.

There are many ‘coulds’ and ‘shoulds’ in your life that hold you back – you want to let go, but for some reason you don’t.

This is very common in several areas of life, in particular going through or after divorce. You are not alone, I am guilty of doing it myself.

Are you carrying around with you a lot of emotional attention that you could be doing without rather than focusing on something more productive instead?

If you are, I bet it is having a negative influence on your confidence and self esteem.

Take a look at your life, be honest with yourself and begin to get rid of this baggage, bit by bit, by asking yourself some questions and by completing the following exercise. In effect, what you are doing is making certain tasks “complete”, drawing a line under them and moving on.

Answer the following questions honestly. You can do it all in one go or do it over a period of days. By writing your answers down they become more real and the changes more attainable.

Get to it and over a short space of time you will notice your confidence soar!

Make a list of 10 things that you are putting up with at home
Make a list of 10 things that you are putting up with at work
Make a list of 10 things that you are putting up with in any other areas of your life

Make an action plan to make changes in your behaviour or communicate to the person involved in these things that you have been putting up with how you would like them to change their behaviour. Take action!

Make a list of things that are unresolved/unfinished in your life.

Make an action plan of how you are going to make some changes to reduce this number! Take action!

Do you need to clear the air with anyone? If so, just do it! Life is too short!
Did you ever say that you were going to call someone or keep in touch with someone yet have done nothing about it? If yes, call them or send an email to them today

Let go of as many coulds, woulds, shoulds, maybes, oughts as you can. Take action!

By completing these exercises you will be able to focus more on the here, the now and the future. You will now be able to let go of some of the things that have been taking up your valuable attention – those things that knock your self esteem. And you will definitely notice the results in the way you are more confident and more aware of what you will tolerate in your life.

Many of my clients find simple strategies to recognise their daily achievements and spur themselves on to greater success! What are yours going to be?

I am helping people to become the very best version of themselves and would love to work with you. Contact me today.

Maggie Currie

Creedence – Confidence for You

International Confidence Coach, Motivational Speaker, Author

My creativity

Maggie Currie

Share this:

Maggie Currie

Share this:

Creedence – Confidence for You

Share this:

Maggie Currie

Share this:

Maggie Currie

Share this:

Maggie Currie

Share this:

Maggie Currie

Share this:

Creedence – Confidence for You

Share this:

Creedence – Confidence for You

Share this:

Creedence – Confidence for You

Share this: