Laugh Your Way to the Top, and Make Others Laugh with You

Imagine a man—tall, dark, and handsome—with a dazzling smile, impeccable fashion sense, a hefty bank account, but humorless as a corpse. Alternatively, picture another, not quite as good-looking, not quite as rich, but funny as hell. Who do you think would attract more people to them if both were in the same room?

Perhaps the gorgeous guy would elicit a lot of attention at first. But good looks can only go so far in holding and keeping that attention. A great sense of humor can be a useful tool in endearing yourself to the crowd at large. It can break the ice among strangers and is a wonderful way to make friends. In some cases it can even be used as a powerful weapon. Humor, when unleashed with perfect timing, can be terribly disarming. To potential employers, it could mean a promising job offer for you. To the ladies, it is a massive turn-on, and you might as well be wearing a sign on your forehead that says, “Date me. You won’t be sorry.”

Wit is a sign of intelligence, and intelligence is very sexy and attractive. Like all other gifts and talents, however, not everyone is born with it. If you are one of the less endowed and humor-challenged, thankfully enough, there are ways to compensate. You can train yourself in the art of good humor by following these steps:

Read. Be aware of current events. Fill your head with things you can comment on, other than the weather, so that striking up a conversation wouldn’t be so daunting. Watch movies or shows with witty dialogue and commentary. Study how the actors and commentators deliver their lines. Learn from them. Do not copy them outright. Be original.

Timing is everything. Just a few seconds off and your attempt at flawless humor can get derailed in an instant. If your joke bombs, move on. Do not dwell on it. Do not prolong your agony, or worse, your listeners’ agony, by going into a lengthy dissertation about your intended punch line. Doing so will only worsen the situation and create an awkward atmosphere.

Know your crowd. Funny as you are, there is such a thing as inappropriate humor. If you’re speaking at a funeral, don’t launch into raunchy standup comic mode more fit for a stag party.

Do not resort to insulting and making fun of people as this is a surefire sign of weak humor and an even weaker mind. Unless, of course, the people in question are bumbling politicians and public figures who are just asking for it and who aren’t in any way related to any of your listeners, then by all means, fire at will. Focus on their misdeeds rather than flaws that can’t be helped. Say, “Looks like he’s winning the election. And looks like I’m moving to another country.” Don’t say, “That candidate is one ugly ^#@*!”

Be confident and be natural. Self-consciousness shows, believe it or not, and witty retorts don’t pack as much punch when you’re worrying too much about the manner of your delivery instead of just getting it out there in the open.

Practice. Stand in front of a mirror and talk to yourself. Forget about looking like a fool. This is a great way to get rid of your inhibitions and get comfortable with yourself. Think of it as a rehearsal of sorts. The more you do it, the more self-assured you’ll become. Remember, confidence—like wit and intelligence—is sexy, too.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Learn to laugh at your own mistakes. Self-deprecating humor is actually quite charming and you can never go wrong with putting yourself down every once in a while. Use your common sense though. Don’t ruin the moment by saying something like, “I wet my bed till I was fifteen. Isn’t that funny?”

It is mentioned in the Koran, “He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh.” We’re not promising you paradise, but at least it’s a start.

www.selfimageimprovement.com

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Be the Best!

Are you complaining that your life style is not good or that your income level is very low?

Let me ask you…

What are you doing to develop yourself?

When was the last time you read a book? When was the last time you attended a seminar?

Continuous self improvement is vital for your success.

You must become more to achieve more. It is very normal that you stay where you are as long as you are the same person.

When you learn something new and develop new skills, you will position yourself to reach a higher level in life.

Always strive to be the best that you can be. Set self improvement goals and take action to achieve them.

Continuously, work on yourself. Don’t stop your personal growth. Your personal growth should be a life long journey.

Learn from the experts, study success and life, and make it a habit to read 20 minutes everyday. And the most important thing is to apply what you learn.

Everyday take an action to expand your mind and develop yourself.

Make this statement your personal philosophy…”Be the best that you can be”. Grow and your life will grow.

Your current level in life is corresponding to your personal capabilities.

Improve everyday and increase your potential and personal value.

Your potential is unlimited and you can do whatever you want. You just need to commit yourself to the continuous improvement journey.

Make the decision today to do whatever you can to be the best that you can be.

A good program to help you is Success University.

www.successuniversityworld.com

How to Boost Your Self-esteem and Confidence

How often have you listened to that inner voice within you - a word of praise “aren’t you special!’, a positive reinforcement about yourself ‘go for it, you can do it!‘, or even an outright discouragement ‘you are just not worth it!’. This is your self-esteem speaking. Self-esteem is one’s appraisal of one’s worth. Self-esteem is an index of the amount of confidence and satisfaction you have in yourself. Self esteem is the collection of beliefs we have about ourselves.

This voice speaks in two ways - it can be positive and reassuring for some - for those who have a high self-esteem. At the same time, for those with a low self-esteem, this inner voice constantly criticizes, pulls them down, and negates their achievements.

The characteristics of a low self-esteem individual are all too evident, degrees, of course may vary - non-risk taker; looks for approvals externally; fears rejection; insecure, anxious, nervous with others; irrational beliefs.

Why is self-esteem so important? How we feel about ourselves affects how we act and react. A high self-esteem is as essential as oxygen, as uplifting as the fragrance of fresh roses, as warm as the golden sunshine - so very vital to a healthy life and state of mind. A low self-esteem can result in self-doubt, stress, anxiety, relationship problems, underachievement , spiraling down to a lack of interest in life itself

Self-esteem is derived from many factors - our goals in life, achievements, place in the world, how we relate to others, our successes/failures, how we perceive others seeing us, to name a few. Our self-esteem develops and evolves throughout our lifetime- beginning right from our childhood- and is constantly being influenced by our interactions with different people and activities.

A positive self-esteem reinforces your confidence. If you have confidence, you tend to respect yourself. This further translates into a respect for others, improved relationships, confidence in one’s achievements, willingness and drive to pursue happiness, success etc. Confidence in self-helps you cope with situations in a positive light, to accept failures with a shrug, gives you the courage to try again.

A positive self-esteem and confidence walk hand in hand both are essential towards having a healthy and fulfilling life. Therefore, it is very essential to focus on building a positive self-esteem for oneself, in order to avoid the feeling of being incapacitated in our daily lives. Find below a few tips on building a positive self-esteem, which is by no means an exhaustive list.

Give yourself positive feedback - don’t put yourself down
Do not dwell on your mistakes
Celebrate your strengths
Be yourself - in all situations
Set realistic goals for oneself
Expand your comfort zones - try new things

Like most things in life, this cannot be achieved overnight, but taking a small, confident step at a time. At every small measure of success, praise yourself, set a next achievable goal, things are looking up surely.

Goal Setting For Beginners

Do you have goals? Well, most of us do. It might be a daily goal, a weekly goal, even a yearly goal, but we have goals. However, not everyone knows how to properly set goals. This article aims to educate the goal-setting novices out there on how to properly set goals.

Setting goals for yourself is like creating a road map to get to your destination. In goal-setting, your destination is succeeding in accomplishing your goals. This means you have to write down your goals on a piece of paper so you can start to get organized. This step allows you to concentrate on your goals rather than leave your ideas scattered throughout your mind.

The first question you have to ask yourself is: Is my goal something that I would really like for myself or is it just something that looks good to other people? This question is crucial because many people make the mistake of setting a goal just to please other people. A good example of this is a college student who chooses a course so that his parents will praise him. What he should actually do is to go where his heart leads him. This means that the goal should match the individual’s personal value system.

Second, a goal should correspond with the other goals you have set for yourself. Like the example we gave above, a college student must not take courses that deviate from the career path he is creating for himself. Not only is this a waste of money but it also opposes the purpose of goal setting – which is to keep his life organized. Deviating is dubbed non-integrated thinking.

Third, set goals for the 6 aspects of your life, which are: Mental and Educational, Physical and Health, Financial and Career, Social and Cultural, Spiritual and Ethical, and lastly, Family and Home. This guarantees that you will maintain a balanced life as you evaluate and amend the basics of your daily life. This step also lessens the level of non-integrated thinking.

Fourth, create goals that emphasize positive thinking rather than negative thoughts. We create a list of goals partly because we want to program our subconscious mind to follow our instructions. This part of our mind – the subconscious – was made solely to follow instructions. So if you want your subconscious to follow positive thinking, think of positive instructions to give it. (Positive thinking is also a useful tool for our development in daily life as a person.)

The next step is to define our goal in a detailed fashion. For the college student who is trying to choose a course, he could write down: “I want to study BA European Languages with a major in German and a minor in French” rather than just state “I want to pick a course in the College of Arts and Letters”. You will notice that the more detailed statement serves to provide the subconscious mind with detailed instructions to follow. Your final outcome becomes more and more definite as you provide more details in the instructions you write down. The subconscious mind works more efficiently if the final outcome is defined well.

In the sixth step, do not downgrade your goals – keep reaching high! That way, if you do not reach your goals, at least you reached a level that is higher than you imagined you could reach.

Lastly, you ought to list your goals on paper. Read your list often so you can focus on them one by one. If you concentrate on accomplishing your goals, it is probable that you will be able to get to where you want to be in life. As you review your goals, it is also possible that you may have to revise your list but that’s okay. Stay flexible if circumstances warrant it.

Reach Your Goal by Affirming and Visualizing!

Your thoughts determine whether you reach your goal or not. If you are constantly in a negative state of mind or succumb to fears and doubts, then your goal will remain far from your reach. But if you feed your mind with positive thoughts and imagine yourself having reached that goal already, then you are almost certain to reach it!

Before you can even set a goal, first acknowledge that we all live in a universe overflowing in abundance. Lack and poverty are mainly brought about by thoughts of lack and poverty. But in reality the universe has more than enough for everyone, if only we ask and believe. So before you think about you want, affirm the universe’s abundance, that it already has what you want even before you ask for it. Surely, then, you will have it once you ask! For your subconscious mind to totally accept this as fact, recite an affirmation everyday, like “The universe can give me anything I ask for,” or something along these lines.

After having the proper state of mind, you can then start asking. Write down your goal. Make it very specific. See the outcome very clearly in your mind. Experience the outcome of your goal in your mind. If it is your dream job, imagine walking through the office, talking to people, sitting at your desk and doing the work you love. Use not only your sense of sight, but whatever is applicable in your imagined scene. Do your visualization everyday, ideally upon waking up and before going to sleep.

Partner your visualization with an affirmation – affirm that you have what you want right now. You can say “I am happily working in my dream job,” or something like that. Soon, you will attract events or circumstances that will lead to your dream job – or you might get an inspired idea on how to get your dream job.

Do your affirmations and visualizations everyday and you will surely reach your goal.

Remember, Live your Life By Choice, Not By Chance.

Turn Your Thoughts into Reality!

Is there anything you desire that you feel you cannot have? Is what you want always far from your reach? Anything you want is yours for the taking if you can just tap into the power of your mind. With imagination and belief, you can turn your thoughts into reality. Below are some tips to help you turn your thoughts into reality.

Desire it. Passion is a strong bridge between you and what you want. Ask yourself – how much do you really want this thing you are thinking of? Is it something you can do without, or something you are really passionate about? Passion is power.

Be specific. Be very clear about what you want. What you get is only as clear as what you want. If you want a house, see it very clearly on your mind – the architectural design of the interior and exterior, the garden, and more. Set a deadline. When do you want to have that house?

Visualize. This is arguably the most powerful tool of the mind. Be the director and leading actor in your own movie. Walk through your dream house, see the sights, smell the scents, feel the feeling of being there. The subconscious brain does not differentiate between a real experience and an imagined experience. So, once you vividly imagine a scene, you are close to letting it manifest into reality. Visualize daily.

Believe. Fear and doubt stand in the way between you and your dream. Should you feel any doubts, believe that the universe will give it to you. The universe is overflowing in blessings and abundance if only you ask and believe! What you believe, the universe gives. If you believe that you will get it, the universe will give it to you. If you believe you won’t, then the universe won’t give it to you.

Take inspired action. From your daily visualizations, you may suddenly get a spark of an idea of how to get the house. Or you might meet a person who knows where you can buy your dream house. At these moments, don’t hesitate. Act!

Follow these steps and you will prove that you can indeed turn your thoughts into reality!

www.successuniversityworld.com

If you watch this video, you will see real people that are making a difference in their lives….Why not you??

After watching this clip go to the….top right of this page and click to get started.

We look forward to being able to help you.

On Purpose

What do you consider a natural yearning within you? I would jump out on a limb to say that your answer to that question would be the same answer that a great number of people on this planet would have. Let’s think about what drives people.
What changes their behavior to achieve a deep rooted goal? What are the things that people chase for a lifetime (sometimes)? What is it that you could get excited about
and see yourself doing for the rest of your life?
Is it to earn a ton of money? Is it to serve people in a very unique way? Is it to love your family as much as humanly possible - to take care of them like no one else can? What is the Natural Yearning of the Human Spirit?
All of the above probing questions can be answered by this one fact.
Take any group of people who have made seemingly automatic transformations in their lives and analyze the common factors. Among them would be a sense of purpose.
Purpose is a driving force that propels an individual to stay up late and get up early.
Purpose is the food that feeds the natural yearning of the human spirit.
Purpose is a deep thirst for an individual’s accomplishment. Not only for accomplishment but for meaning - a meaning that seems to pull, push, guide and lift one out of any situation or circumstance that is not consistent with the definition of
his or her goals and, more importantly, who he or she is not.
If you don’t have a purpose written out for your life, your are missing out on a very key tool for living success.
Writing down your life purpose is a great way to review why you’re doing what you’re doing and consistently stay focused.
Your Purpose should be written with positive potential poised and positioned as a predictable probability.
In other words:
1. Spend at least 20 minutes in a quiet place relaxed and focus on what your purpose is.
2. Write your purpose.
3. Don’t try and make it a perfect purpose/goal. None of us are perfect and there’s no sense setting yourself up for a fall.
4. Make it a concrete purpose.
5. Make your purpose attainable.
6. Take at least 1 step each day to fulfill your purpose.
Remember, this is your life’s purpose. This is what you’re about. There is no other person that can or will realize your purpose like you will.
Your purpose can and probably will change in some degree each year. Do an annual audit and see if your written purpose needs a revision. It may. That’s okay. It’s your purpose.
Make it worthwhile and make it yours.
Give it 100% every day.
Note: Review your purpose on a daily basis for the first 3 weeks after writing it. Beyond that, review it once a week.
Spend time writing your purpose. Focus in a quiet place for at least 20 minutes before writing anything. This is important.
Also, when writing your purpose, it can be as long or as short as you want it.
The main thing is to actually write it down. Enjoy your newly acquired purposeful life!

www.selfimageimprovement.com

Is It Okay If I’m Happy?

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” - Albert Schweitzer

How many of you out there can honestly say that you are happy? It all depends on how you define happiness. In the West, people could be said to be more materialistic – putting a high personal and emotional value on material wants. They keep acquiring more and more things, thinking that each new acquisition makes them happy. But there are still people who, despite their material riches, are not happy.

“Happiness” for some people might be a new car, or a new house, or a collection of CDs of their favorite artists. It could be more money in the bank or a personal yacht. But such “happiness” is fleeting and, once you get in the habit of acquiring things to make you happy, is an expensive habit to maintain. You fall into the trap of wanting more and more things to sustain the feeling of “happiness”. That kind of “happiness” is prevalent in our world today – which may explain why stores are full of things and gadgets that are supposed to make us content.

Think of the late billionaire Anna Nicole Smith, who died of a drug overdose. If she was really happy having billions of dollars to spend, why would she resort to using illegal drugs? Perhaps there was something missing in her life which she thought illegal drugs could supplant. Of what use are her billions of dollars to her now?

Perhaps Albert Schweitzer was right when he said: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

A good example of someone who knew that service to others is the way to happiness is the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She found happiness by serving the outcast of Calcutta, India. And not only did she find happiness, she also made many friends in that country – including Indians who were not Catholics but Hindus who supported her mission.

So, if you wish to gain happiness for yourself, try serving other people who are in need of your help. Maybe there won’t be monetary gains, but the psychic rewards will overwhelm you.

Go ahead and try it and let me know.

Remember Live Your Life By Choice, Not By Chance.

www.selfimageimprovement.com