I know I have self-confidence, I just struggle with the appropriate level of self-confidence to “put out there”. You’ve probably heard me say that people who have to tell you how brilliant they are seem to me to be merely seeking confirmation of their perceived thoughts. The more they tell the world how good they are, the more I want to test their claims.

I recently worked with a person who was a self-proclaimed “social media guru”. This person tweets an average of once a week, started a blog and posts about once a quarter, and posts pictures sideways on Facebook. Is that really the way to advertise your expertise?  Yet, they walk into a business meeting with their head held high and spin some self-serving story about how they can show you how social media can improve your business?

I’m not trying to dwell on this person, I just know I don’t ever want anyone to feel the same way about me as I feel about them.

Boosting my self-confidence

There is no easy way to do this that feels comfortable, I know this. I also know that I’m confident in my abilities and need to portray that.

I wanted to point out the correlation between this post being scheduled today, and receiving Klout in a couple of areas, and I’ve deleted and retyped this sentence a number of times. That may show you just where I’m at on the self-confidence scale!

There are many strategies for increasing self-confidence, and here’s how it’s going for me:

What’s not working

I’ve named my insecurities, written them down and burned the paper they were written on. They’re still there.

Celebrating my successes. I have a problem being my own cheerleader. Why celebrate something that you intended to happen anyway?

Faking it. I have been given the “fake it til you make it” talk. I refuse to portray myself as something I’m not.

I still find it hard to accept compliments.

What’s working

I’m becoming more accepting of compliments. (See above. I’m working on it!)

I have principles, and stick to them.

Affirmations work! I’m learning about afformations too …

I own my mistakes, apologize for them, and then correct them and learn from the experience

I accept myself as I am, recognizing my shortcomings

Gratitude. Gratitude rocks. You wouldn’t believe the things I’m grateful for!

My positivity meter is rising daily.

I’ll keep chipping away at it. I’m scared of becoming the “social media guru” described above, and know that if I stick to my principles I won’t. I do walk with my head up these days, rather than looking at the ground – sure, you may miss that dollar bill laying on the ground, but it’s the only way to see the opportunities around you that are worth so much more.

photo credit: Express Monorail via photopin cc

I also have to admit that it’s getting harder to blog each day. Sometimes the subject matter that was floating around in my head all day suddenly disappears the minute I fire up the laptop. Or the reverse happens, I’m ready to write, but just don’t have the time.

Sometimes I’m just lost for words.

Sometimes I want to rant and rave, but then I think that it’ll just bore people and I’ll be showing too much negativity.

Sometimes I just ramble. Like now. But it is getting better. And, even if it’s not, I’ll keep believing that it is getting better until it does.

I’ve been tapping. Not tap dancing, silly! Tapping.

EFT

Emotional Freedom Technique

We store negativity in our energy “system”, and tapping the acupuncture/acupressure points that are “channel ends” releases that negativity. Tapping can be used for a number of reasons – from the common cold to financial freedom.

I won’t go much more into it now because there is so much that has already been written about EFT on the internet, but what I will do is report on my findings as I tap away on a daily basis! I’m following YouTube videos by David Childerley – he is easy to listen to, has a very simple to follow style and is “easy on the eye”.

I haven’t been doing this long enough to give you any informed comment as yet, and it’s not something I’d do in public (it looks a little strange!) yet all the reviews I’ve read tell me that it works. And hey, the worst that can come of it is that I look a little nutty if anyone catches me in the act!

And where did the shoes go, you ask? Well, today they’re back, and, if you happen to be reading this on Tuesday night, please contain your excitement until Wednesday morning, k? Oh, and remind me to tell you about the hamster.
MANY many ladies shoes under $25, including KangaROOS and Chinese Laundry! Wednesday, 2/17 offer! Womens Shoes Under $25!
And we can’t leave the men out of this deal, either. Wednesday, 2/17 offer! Mens Shoes Under $25!
Buy a pair of shoes, or two, or three, for yourself or your valentine (oh hush, I know THE day is over, but your valentine should be your valentine 24/7/365!)
Wait! Carlos Santana makes shoes? Wednesday, 2/17 offer! Carlos by Carlos Santana – Select styles 60% off or More Today only!

And with that, I’m off to tap before bed. Positive affirmations, baby!

Ciel is convinced that we are going to become “hobos” and she won’t accept any explanation to the contrary. Paris just doesn’t even talk about it, but I have noticed that they are less and less perturbed when they hear they cannot have something they want.

What I realized today, with the help of Debbie Delgado of IdealLifeCoach, was that I was living my personal version of the Law of Attraction, which was not the correct version. I’m a blocker, but didn’t realize it until today. I thought I was walking the talk, but it turns out that it was a guarded walk, treading carefully, and the “talk” seemed to have been translated incorrectly somewhere on the way to the comprehension stage.

Now, I’m set. I’m headed in the right direction, I know what I have to do and I’m ready to do it, and let me tell you – with apologies to Dr Seuss – it comes without ribbons, it comes without tags, it comes without packages, boxes, or bags! It comes from the heart and the conscious mind, and it will be hard to block the negative thoughts initially – the first step is to recognize that they are negative thought. I’m sure that remaining conscious will get easier as I go along.

On the positive side, the habits we are practicing are still in place. Kitchen is clean, towels are hung up, table is cleared and the bed is made.

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