mindfulness Archives - Page 3 of 8

What’s Sabotaging Your Confidence?

Nicki CawoodDecember 21, 2019

Confidence is often misunderstood. In truth, confidence is merely the ability or propensity for feeling truly at home and happy within yourself, despite what might be going on around you or what other people might think of you. If you haven’t quite mastered this ability yet, you might want to look into what you can do to make it a reality. Work out what’s sabotaging your confidence and take action. In this article, I look at some of the best ways to do that, so you can be more confident in no time.

Not Being Happy With Your Appearance

There is a tricky concern to think about here. You don’t want to simply try to look like everyone else, or try to follow the fashions and ideas of attractiveness that the culture around you happens to have. That is no way to be confident in yourself, and it is only going to mean that you struggle to ever feel like yourself. That could mean dressing a certain way, straightening your teeth with Invisalign, or taking better care of your skin. Whatever it takes, be sure to do it.

Sabotaging Your Confidence? Past Experiences Can

If you have often struggled with issues of low self-esteem, then you might find that past experiences crop up again and again and haunt you in a manner which is not going to be very helpful. If you have lots of past experience of suffering embarrassment, then it is going to be even more difficult to make your confidence shine through. You need to allow yourself the permission to let all that past go, so that you can win through and be yourself as confidently as possible. In time, you’ll get there.

Being Out Of Touch With Yourself

Many of us are out of touch with our true nature, and when this happens it can make it much more difficult to be naturally confident in the way that you would hope to be. Being out of touch with yourself means that you are going to not know who you are trying to be, and with that confidence is going to be challenging indeed to bring about. So spend some time getting to know yourself as fully as you can – it will make a world of difference to your confidence levels.

Sabotaging Your Confidence? The Unkindness Of Others

Sometimes, you suffer with a lack of confidence because of other people putting you down or being unkind. This can happen at any age, and when it does you need to make sure that you are going to do whatever you can to rise above it. The more that you do so, the better you will feel about yourself, so it really is going to be important that you can do this. You should be able to respect yourself more and then enjoy a greater degree of confidence as a result of that increased respect.

In Self-Care

Don’t Forget To Care

Nicki CawoodNovember 21, 2019

We all seem to spend our lives speeding around everywhere these days. We’ve forgotten to show that we care. Taking a moment or two out to show someone else a kindness takes little effort but can mean a lot. What about care in your own life? If there’s one aspect that we forget to prioritise it is self-care. Self-care is essential if you want to thrive and be happy. Make a brew, sit comfortably, read this blog post on caring and then think about what changes you might want to make in your own life.

Enjoy a Little Bit Of Self Care

Self-care is something that you definitely want to try and practice because a lack it can lead to so many different problems. From struggling with your mental health to feeling like you’re out of sync with your life, ignoring your own needs can be harmful. I’m not suggesting that you run out and buy blankets and candles and embrace the essence of hygge (although from what I understand a little bit of a hygge way of life could benefit all of us). Try going to sleep early. Get up early to read or walk. Make an effort every day to take care of you. If this means removing apps from your phone, striving for a firmer work-life balance or something else, you should be making an effort daily to do something to improve your life experience.

Care For Those Closest To You

Those closest to you can also suffer when you’re at your busiest. Those closest to you often used to be your safety net. When your life becomes so busy and you become so self-contained, it’s easy enough to not show you care. This is something I am very mindful of. At this time of the year work is crazy and so my social life and spare time, in general, is in short supply. These days I try to show people I care by just sending a text message, a quick call, a message to say “it’s daft busy right now but I haven’t forgotten you and if you need me I’m still here”.

For other people, showing that you care means helping them get the care that they deserve. The Red House Retirement Community is just one of many ways you could help elderly relatives be cared for and be happy. Volunteering for your community is another. I run a free coworking group for all in my local area and while that isn’t exactly helping in a soup kitchen it’s my own way of showing others that I do care.

Opening Up To People

Finally, you need to be able to learn to open up to people and be honest. Tell your family and friends if you need a little alone time and respect their right to the same thing. Make sure those who need your help know that you do it because you want to, not because you feel you have to. Open a positive dialogue within yourself and with others about what it means to be more caring.