Saturday, February 18, 2006

We can reach the top

high self confidence
By High self confidence level we can reach the top of the mountain. This is only one sample we can reach, we can get more and more ...again with high confidence level

The way to improve your teen's Self-Esteem

The most difficult time of childhood is often in the teenage years. During this time, children are blossoming into adults and struggle to determine the individual identity. It is no shock the teen years are the most dreaded by parents, but these fragile youngsters are at a critical time in their lives.

Often, boundaries are pushed and a teenager yearning to take that “next step” into adulthood stretches rules. Teens find themselves not only faced with emotional transitions, but also physical changes. In the midst of these physical and emotional evolutions, a teen’s self-esteem can be compromised. Parents can take certain steps in order to ensure that a child’s self-esteem is not affected by the turbulent teenage years.

The best way to improve your teen’s self-esteem is to take an active role in your child’s life. By knowing his or her interests, friends, strengths, and weaknesses, you will be aware of any problems that may arise. Starting from a young age, instill a positive attitude in your child.

Children who have a great sense of self-worth are more apt to blossom into teenagers with a great sense of self-worth. Take time to talk with your teen instead of talking to your teen. If your child believes his or her opinion or thoughts have an impact in the home front, that individual is more apt to have a greater self-esteem. Allowing your teen to have a say in decisions that affect the entire family will further impress a sense of self-worth, thus positively affect his or her self-esteem.

Children learn by example, and teenagers are no different. Teens whose parents showcase high self-esteem is more likely to exhibit self-esteem. Conversely, parents with low self-esteem or who constantly question their self-worth will pass those traits on to their children simply by their actions. The way you interact with your friends, family members, and colleagues will rub off on your children.

Individuals with low self-esteem set poor examples for their teens and should not be surprised when their teens exhibit similar actions. Children are like a sponge, so take care not to comment negatively towards yourself or others. Many teens with issues regarding their physical appearance learn these behaviors from home. Television, movies, and music play a huge part in any teenager’s life. These outlets seem obsessed with a pre-conceived idea of perfection that will most likely differ from that of the average individual. Take time to speak with your teen regarding these issues.

Interaction with your teenager will allow you first-hand information on any problems he or she may be having and make an attempt to remedy these situations. Often, teenagers are quite sensitive about their appearance due to acne or other issues. If this is the case, consider making an appointment with a dermatologist who will be able to remedy the situation.

Similarly, your teen may be interested in changing his or her appearance to best fit a burgeoning identity, but may be hesitant to approach a parent. Remember, teenagers straddle the line between child and young adult. Although they may yearn to be an adult, the child part still needs reassurance from a parent. If you as a parent feel a requested physical transformation will not benefit your teen, make a compromise. Often, teens are looking to be outrageous in order to push boundaries set by parents. Instead of lowering your teen’s self-esteem by creating a confrontation, create an atmosphere of discussion and compromise.

Open communication cannot be stressed enough. Take time to talk to your teen about their friends, classes, activities, or interests. Teach your teen to accentuate the positive instead of focusing on attributes they see as weak or negative. Instill a sense great self esteem at a young age that will continue with your teen as he or she grows. You may wish to enroll your child in self-esteem building classes or extra curricular activities that will boost their self-worth. Whatever the case, taking an active part in your teen’s life is the best way to see them through this transitional time in their lives with their self-esteem intact.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Self Confidence Can Make Students Bright!

Self-confidence comes handy in all situations of life. Be it an adult or a child or a student, everybody has lots of tasks to complete and self-confidence is necessary to perform tasks successfully. Take the case of school-going children. With so many subjects, they go through a lot of stress. Class tests, debates, term papers, assignments, presentations…the list seems unending.

Having ample self-confidence helps students undergo the stress of school and college education, thereby making a strong foundation to build their future. What is seen as the most important factor that determines the performance of students in school is neither intellect, nor energy or talent. What is? You guessed it right – it is the amount of self-confidence a student has which decides how much he will be able to use his talent, energy and intellect! Let’s see how self confidence makes students soar higher.

Self-confident students make the most of the classroom

Self-confident students are able to pay more attention to the teacher in the classroom as they develop an inherent will to succeed and outdo others. They are more focused and do not hesitate to ask questions. Asking questions in the classroom requires certain courage to stand up and interrupt the teacher to ask a question, and it requires self-confidence to do that.

On the other hand, a student lacking self-confidence might not stand up and ask the teacher to explain once more even though he is struggling to get a concept right. This creates obstacles to their learning, as many things remain unclear to them that require further guidance by the teacher.

They make lot of pals

Self-confident students make lot of pals and engage themselves in subject discussions with classmates. This kind of involvement keeps them abreast of the latest, and also acts as a platform to judge their knowledge as compared to other fellow students. Discussions also bring various viewpoints to the forefront in a common place, thereby enriching everyone by giving a multi-angle view of the topic. Self-confident students therefore gain manifold advantages as compared to other students.

Being in a group also help them know about the latest in the field of education, the latest learning software, a certain book which contains a lot of practice questions, an interactive CD recently released, an invite-only seminar on career guidance, scholarship tests of various universities, fee discount on certain courses and so on which keeps them aware of the opportunities ahead and help them tailor their efforts for specific targets while other students keep aloof and depend on whatever they can gather in a single handed way.

They are able to maintain calm while answering questions, therefore making fewer mistakes

It is very important for students to know that their result score depends upon what they write and not upon what they are. No matter how great a genius a student is, he is awarded marks on the basis of what he writes in the answer sheet at the time of examination. A little nervousness, hesitation, and lack of self-belief can let confusion descend and make it difficult for him to tackle even the simplest of questions. A confident student, however, is able to keep his calm and is able to answer questions he has not really prepared for! Such is the magic of self-confidence!

Success attracts success

The marks of term papers, applause during presentations, appreciation from teachers and the opposite sex (don’t neglect this great confidence booster!) boost confidence to help students perform even better in the final exams. Once appreciated, these students immediately get an edge over other students and close competitors and get the ball in their court. The one who has tasted appreciation and acceptance craves it even more. These students will work harder to remain in the limelight. Success, hence, becomes a habit for these students. And why not, they have the greatest weapon to take on their opponents – their self-confidence!

What Is Your Confidence Levels???

If some one asks you that would you like to be confident? Your answer may be - yes; I do want to be confident. However, this answer lacks the impact. It is too generalized. Just like everybody wants to do well in life and be rich but not many ever realize this wish. This is because to actually get somewhere in life, you need to quantify your confidence. You need to define the task for which you need to be confident so that you can execute it successfully. A mere wish to be confident won’t take you anywhere. The dream must have a deadline as well!

Self Confidence might mean different things to different people groups. For a child it might mean to be able to recite the poem to her teacher the next morning. For a business executive it might mean to be able to present the business report to the Board of Directors. For a salaried person it may be the ability to be able to make a switch over from his secure job to a new independent venture and so on.

To execute their respective tasks, these people need a certain level of confidence, which would see them through. Every task requires a minimum level of confidence to be able to be executed. Do you have a task in your mind to be done? Do you have the level of confidence required? Let us check it out!

Following is a simple questionnaire. You have to answer to these in a YES or NO

1. Does it happen too often with you that you cannot take a decision all by yourself and you seem to look for your colleagues, friends, or your spouse to sort the matter for you?
2. Do you always seem to be in perpetual need of a support system wherein you can feel secure?
3. Do you just sit and listen all the times in your office meetings?
4. Do you feel difficulty in reporting a matter to your boss or you have an excellent idea that can improve your company’s efficiency but you cannot muster enough courage to go and talk about it to your Boss?
5. Are you terrified to meet someone new? Is public speaking your worst nightmare?
6. Do you timidly accept orders from your superior even though you know that you are already overloaded and you need to say no?
7. Are you excessively concerned about what other people think of you?
8. Do you fear taking risks?
9. Do you feel dissatisfied about your appearance?
10. Are you uncomfortable in social gatherings – being amongst lots of people?

If you happen to answer these questions with a Yes, you seem to have a confidence crisis that might become an obstacle in successfully executing your tasks. Don’t Panic, as it is good that you found out since now you are aware of a potential problem of your life.

The very fact that you are aware of your confidence rating makes you ready to take further action and work towards eliminating the negative effects of low confidence levels and work towards building your self confidence.

Here are some more questions you may answer.

1. Have you accomplished anything in the past?
2. Are you the one to go ahead and break the ice at a new place or wait for someone else to initiate a discussion?
3. Do you feel you are well respected by others?
4. Do you think you have the potential to succeed?
5. Are you a happy and loving person?
6. Are you satisfied with your career graph?
7. Are you satisfied with your skills and qualifications?
8. Do you feel in control of your life?
9. Do you imagine yourself to be more successful five years from now?
10. Do you feel that you are a worthwhile person?

If you happen to answer most of these questions with a NO, you have LOW self-confidence levels.

However, a YES is never decisive and a NO is never final. One needs to constantly maintain the good points and work towards converting bad points into good points. And the good news is that it is very much possible.

It’s important that you honestly answer the questions above, since only when you realize the present status of your self-confidence would you be working towards building self-confidence or maintaining and increasing your present levels.

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