Many people think so, and the key to success just got easier when I recently had the opportunity to review and be impressed by Amazing Self, a self-help course by Amanda Selby and Mark Ling. You can check it for yourself to see if you agree with me by clicking here

At first glance, there is a lot of reading here. The first issue of this 12-edition personal development product is a weighty 196 pages, so it’s definitely not what I would call light reading.

If you read the copy on the web page it makes grand promises of breakthroughs in a number of key life areas, including the law of attraction, health and lifestyle, wealth creation, relationships, and mindset. The quality of the information both within the magazine and bonuses suggests these are claims that are backed up seriously in the volume of material available in the members download area.

The attractive magazine-style layout of the Amazing Self magazine offers a range of articles in each of the 4 sectionsof Health, Wealth, Relationships, and Mindset, written by a number of authors from within the Amazing Self stable. The articles were thought-provoking and contained a number of actionable tasks that I could apply immediately to my life.

To add further weight to this course, Amazing Self hosts an interview with a special guest each month, called the Amazing Journey Sessions, with guests coming from a range of disciplines and fields. The first interview is with best-selling author and founder of Simpleology, Mark Joyner as he shares his secrets to success. If the first interview is anything to go by, I eagerly look forward to future interviews.

In addition to the magazine, internet entrepreneur Mark Ling hosts two videos each month as part of the Abundant Wealth Series. Mark is already well known online for his work with Affilorama, so his wealth-generation and business advice is already well proven and is a highly valuable course component.

Amazing Self has also embraced the concept behind the law of attraction to full effect by releasing 6 bonus visualization videos with the first issue, and one new video to follow each month. It’s a powerful and simple action to follow to visualize and help manifest your life goals and take you a step closer to achieving them every day!

One thing I am sure of is that Mark Ling and his team of specialists have created a course that is really going to deliver your dream life if you apply it.

Amazing Self has assembled a team of renaissance people with expertise in every area of life: dating and relationship coaches, health and fitness experts, wealth creation gurus, self made millionaires, marriage counselors, self-improvement authors, life coaches, plus regular guest interviews from industry-leading experts!

If you are looking for a no-nonsense guide to reaching your goals and dreams, I highly recommend you check out Amazing Self for YOUR self here.

The way we view our experiences affects the inner voice we all hear from time to time. Of course, the inner voice can appear in non verbal ways too – It can appear in the form of a feeling or sensation.

Have you ever felt like trying something new but didn’t because you had the feeling that you would not be good enough? Well, that is your inner critic doing its usual trick of holding you back and putting you down. If you ever experience this type of feeling more than an ‘I can do’ attitude then it’s time to return to your inner coach again. 

Why again, you ask? The answer is because our inner coach is the loudest voice inside us as children. Think about how daring you are as a child. Consider all the new things you are willing to try and the people you are happy to give the benefit of the doubt to. The inner critic sneaks in and sets like concrete as we get older and become more cynical, more worldly wise – or so we think. 

The inner critic is the part of you that sticks to playing safe, to not speak to that cool looking person in a bar or to not have the nerve to ask your boss about a raise in salary. It is up to you to decide what you would rather have, between having an inner coach or an inner critic. Your inner coach is encouraging, constructive and empowering while you inner critic is paralysing, destructive and submissive. 

Obviously we need to be able to consider our behaviour in a constructive way, and yet so many people end up by putting themselves down. One of the best ways to develop the inner coach is through relaxation. Maintain a positive attitude when times are tough by visualising or thinking about something relaxing. Take a few moments to imagine a favourite place, floating in the sea or lying in bed, and you’ll switch into a calmer physical state.

In today`s confidencelink `discussion` I want to help you focus on your own `inner coach` which follows on neatly from the last post that you have read. 

This is crucial when it comes to controlling negative thoughts and programming. Our minds are a constant buzz of activity. As you read this for example, your mind is also processing many different bits of information some of which are significant while others are less so. Your brain is receiving information from all of your senses plus what`s taken in from all of your surroundings. 

On top of all that you have to absorb this article too!!

However,the mind is not just a simple sponge because it also has to interpret all of the information it receives. Human beings are not just walking calculators because we actively engage with the information  we receive. More often than not our memory of something that has happened is not a perfectly accurate record. A lot of what we remember depends upon how we were feeling at the time, what else was going on, who we were with and what our values were at the time.

The last point is the most interesting one of all because it means that out experiences are shaped by what we believe to be true instead of what we know to be true. The type of values and beliefs we have embedded in us determines the filter we use to process our memories. People with very optimistic values, for instance, will tend to draw the positives out of an event and vice versa. We therefore live in a strange circle whereby our experiences shape our beliefs and our beliefs shape our experiences.

When it comes to examining our point of view, we must take into consideration the subjective nature of recollection. It is fortunate that we have the choice of actively engaging with our sub-conscious to change our record of events. A lot of therapeutic intervention involves getting an individual to take an alternative point of view of an event. It is a bit like getting a pessimist to see the half empty cup as being a half full one. 

If you have ever suffered from a negative experience, upbringing or traumatic injury, then remember that a point of view is never set in stone if you are struggling to get over it. Don’t feel that bad events or a dreadful childhood must condemn you to a life of problems.

Many people survive troubled family situations. The majority of adult children of alcoholics do not repeat their parent’s drinking patterns. The same is true of adults who have survived families troubled by mental illness, chronic marital problems, racial discrimination and poverty.

 NOTE – Some children naturally rebound from knock-backs with their self-esteem intact. If you need help doing this now you’re an adult, talking to a therapist can help.

In the second part of this discussion we`ll take a closer look at the `inner voice`.

 For those who don’t have it, confidence is a very elusive subject to describe. Typical confident behaviour is seen as extroverted, outgoing, sociable and optimistic. However, even those people who possess these characteristics may be a lot less confident than their appearance suggests.

You may be surprised to know that many successful people, even celebrities, visit life coaches andhypnotherapy professionals to help them with confidence issues. These people may exhibit many of the behaviours we associate with confidence, but they are often putting on an act.

 Surely though if it sounds confident, acts confident, is perceived as confident, then it must be confident?  Well, clearly this isn’t the case, yet superficial confidence is a state of being that many aspire to. In order to understand confidence fully, we need to dig a little deeper, look at the real meaning behind true confidence and then attain it.

Although these things can certainly help, confidence is not something that arrives with a certain salary or social status. All manner of people may possess confidence that others do not because it is a highly subjective process. If you are lacking in confidence, self assuredness is lacking somewhere.

Fortunately for you help is at hand. Over the years, experts have refined techniques that boost confidence and firm up your self conviction. There are a range of options out there such as cognitive behavioural therapy, Neurolinguisitic programming, hypnotherapy and life coaching to name but a few. Some of the more basic techniques you can use without the need to pay for an expensive therapist Of course, if your issues are severe, you should consider visiting an expert, particularly if your lack of confidence is causing depression.

 One of the aforementioned techniques is known as ‘visualisation’ .

Visualisation is a process whereby the mind ‘rehearses’ an event with the intention of replicating it in the real world. It is one of  the easiest and most effective techniques to pick up and run with straight away.

 Do you know anyone who you envy because they are calm, cool and confident. If so, ‘borrow’ their personality: Pretend that you have one of the positive attributes of this individual.  Then imagine the difference between the way you are feeling now and how you  were before. Imagine the difference this new attribute would have  in your life. This may sound a little silly and childish, but  believe me when I say it can be very effective.

 No matter how successful they are, people lacking in confidence tend to rubbish themselves repeatedly. This may take the form of false modesty, for instance rubbishing themselves, refusing to take credit for an event. If you are one of these people, you need to think about changing your internal script.

 The internal script contains the lines your inner voice reads from. We all have that little voice inside of us, guiding us through the world, making sense of the events around us. But few people know that this voice is not as random as it may appear at first; in fact this voice is conditioned by past behaviours, habits.

 If your inner voice is putting you down all the time rather than building you up, it is your inner critic. An inner critic is not concerned with anything other than to put you down, make you feel small, prevent you from developing your true potential. You need to turn your inner critic into an inner coach, a confident voice that guides you instead of criticising all the time.

Hypnotherapy is one of the best techniques for reconditioning the inner critic. Many people have the old prejudice of hypnotherapy being about a funny man waving a watch in front of your eyes. Well, it aint quite like that. The success of modern hypnotherapy can be seen in the millions of people whose lives have been changed as a consequence of it. Put simply, hypnotherapy allows for accelerated reconditioning, undoing years of bad mental habits over the course of a few weeks, months.

A visit to a hypnotherapist or investment in a self help guide can have a major impact on your life. To have confidence, we need to feel empowered. From using the power of the mind, we can become so much more than we expected, more calm, less anxious, more confident.

The human race has had to absorb and adapt to more change in the last hundred and fifty years than at ANY time in its combined history.

Is it any wonder therefore that there are soaring levels of anxiety in a society that, for example, makes small children take exams and appears to place so much emphasis on what it considers to be the perfect physical appearance? 

Stress and anxiety are introduced to us at younger and younger ages. Although they may not be forced down coal mines or up chimneys anymore, people today are introduced to expectation and pressure from a younger and younger age. 

As we grow up and enter the rat race of life, new anxieties emerge – getting a job, starting a family, having enough money. Increasingly, people live more isolated lives away from traditional support networks, they live in cities which render them anonymous. Although this is now part and parcel of modern life you can learn to deal with it. 

Anxiety is a feeling of dread and apprehension. It is destabilising. Anxiety is a mentally paralysing experience. It is, however, far from just being a mental experience, for anxiety causes intense physical effects within the individual. These include symptoms such as accelerated heart rate, sweaty palms, mood swings and feelings of nausea. When you suffer from anxiety, the world seems quite frightening. 

When you hear people say things like ‘It’s just anxiety’ the implication is that anxiety is somehow a minor experience.  If you do suffer from extreme physical sensations or just feel concerned, visit your medical practitioner.

Your thoughts are what make you, because your behaviour is influenced greatly by how you think. Anxiety can create a vicious circle of thought and behaviour. Fixing anxiety means changing your way of thinking. Anxiety is a product of fear so facing you fear is one of the most effective methods of dispelling it.

Telling yourself that something is awful, terrible, or horrible increases levels of anxiety. You should remind yourself regularly that few things that happen to you are really that terrible. Try renaming events with softer adjectives such as unpleasant or unfortunate. Remember, the manner in which you think will affect the way you feel about the world.

To beat your anxiety, resist the temptation to solve every problem you think causes it. Accept that doubt is always going to exist in some shape or form and think about how you think, not what you think. Overcoming worrying thoughts involves being at peace with all thoughts that enter your mind. 

Let’s think about some of the most common anxieties that exist within our society. Panic attacks are very intense bursts of anxiety in the absence of actual danger. Panic attacks appear to the individual to come out of the blue and are accompanied with strong physical sensations. The panic element sets in once the individual becomes fearful of these sensations, creating a vicious cycle.  

To conquer panic attacks, sufferers need to enter into situations they have been deliberately avoiding and resist putting fears about them to the back of their mind. Be mindful that the sensations you receive are not life threatening. Face your fear and remind yourself there is nothing to be afraid of. 

Agoraphobia is another common anxiety that exists on many levels.

Some people are slightly agoraphobic in the sense that they get panicky about being in new situations or around new people; other suffer from something more debilitating – intense agoraphobia. The World Health Organisation defines agoraphobia as a cluster of phobias (irrational fears) related to leaving home, entering shops, being in crowds and public places, or travelling alone on buses, trains or planes for example. 

Agoraphobia can often lead to a change in behaviour where you deliberately avoid situations which cause you anxiety, such as only leaving the house with a friend or partner, or ordering groceries using the Internet, rather than going to the supermarket. This change in behaviour is known as avoidance. 

If you suffer from agoraphobia you should consider cognitive behavioural therapy as a treatment.   In recent years, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has achieved success in treating people with agoraphobia. CBT is a type of psychotherapy based on the principle that the way you feel is partly dependent on the way you think about things. CBT teaches you to behave in ways that challenge negative thoughts – for example – thinking that a panic attack will occur if you are in a certain environment.

If would like to see a video on the power of your mind visit;

http://tinyurl.com/45cf5sb

Brought to you by www.confidencelink.com 2011

Our minds are a constant hive of activity. As you read this, you are currently processing many different bits of information, some are significant while others are less so. Your brain is receiving information from all of your senses taken from all of your surroundings. On top of all that you have to absorb this article too!  However, the mind is not just a simple sponge because it also has to interpret all of the information it receives. 

Human beings are not just walking calculators because we actively engage with the information that we receive. More often than not our memory of an event is not a flawless record. Much of what we remember depends upon how we were feeling at the time, what else was going on, who we were with and what our values were at the time. The latter point is the most interesting one of all because it means that our experiences are shaped by what we believe to be true instead of what we know to be true.  Values also change. As we experience life in general, our attitudes to life change to reflect our different point of view.  For example parents, or older people in general, will ALWAYS criticise the younger generation as being lazy, noisy, etc whilst totally forgetting that they were young once themselves.  It`s all a matter of perspective, where you view the argument from.

The type of values and beliefs we have determines the filter we sift our memories through. People with very optimistic values, for instance, will tend to draw the positives out of an event and vice versa.  We therefore live in a strange circle whereby our experiences shape our beliefs and our beliefs shape our experiences. When it comes to examining our point of view, we must take into consideration the subjective nature of memory recall.

It is fortunate that we have the choice of actively engaging with our subconscious to change our record of events. A lot of therapeutic intervention involves getting an individual to take an alternative point of view of an event. It is a bit like getting a pessimist to see the half empty cup as a half full one.  If you have ever suffered from a negative experience, upbringing or traumatic injury, then remember that a point of view is never set in stone should you be struggling to get over it.

Don’t feel that bad events or a dreadful childhood have to condemn you to a life of problems. Many people survive troubled families. The majority of adult children of alcoholics do not repeat their parent`s drinking patterns, and the same is true of adults who have survived families troubled by mental illness, chronic marital problems, racial discrimination or poverty.

 NOTE – Some children naturally rebound from knock-backs with their self-esteem intact. If you need help doing this now you’re an adult, talking to a therapist can help.

The way we view our experiences affects the inner voice we all here from time to time. Of course, the inner voice can appear in non verbal ways too – It can appear in the form of a feeling or sensation. Ever felt like trying something new but didn’t because you had the feeling you would not be good enough? Well, that is your inner critic doing its usual trick of holding you back and putting you down. If you ever experience this type of feeling more than a ‘can do’ attitude then it’s time to return to your inner coach again.

Why again, you ask? The answer is because our inner coach is the loudest voice inside us as children. Think about how daring you are as a child. Consider all the new things you are willing to try and the people you are happy to give the benefit of the doubt to. The inner critic sets in as we get older, more cynical and worldly wise. The inner critic is the part of you that sticks to playing safe, to not speak to that cool looking person in a bar, to not have the bottle to ask your boss about a raise.

It is up to you to decide whether you would rather have an inner coach or an inner critic. Your inner coach is encouraging, constructive and empowering while you inner critic is paralysing, destructive and submissive. Obviously we need to be able to critique our behaviour in a constructive way, and yet so many people end up by putting themselves down.

One of the best ways to develop the inner coach is through relaxation. Maintain a positive attitude when times are tough by visualising or thinking about something relaxing. Take a few moments to imagine a favourite place, floating in the sea or lying in bed, and you’ll switch into a calmer physical state.      

There`s a brand new course that is rocking the self help world. It’s a touch, shall we say, different. But it will change the way you see social situations forever!  you can access a preview here;

http://tinyurl.com/45cf5sb

www.confidencelink.com 2011

A common perception of someone who is resilient is of being unemotional and detached. Of course, as we shall see, there is a hell of a lot more to being resilient than just being the ‘strong silent ‘ type.

 You see, it isn’t that resilient people are unemotional per se.

What resilient people are capable of doing is mastering their mind to the point where they have conquered their impulses.  Resilient people are good at regulating their emotions. They tend to stay calm, rather than react violently with tears, anger or fear. Learn how to keep yourself physically calm and you will be better equipped to cope.

The  first step to developing a resilient mind is to learn how to control your physical reaction to an event. There are loads of techniques out there for controlling your breathing and heart rate.

You may want to consider doing something advanced like Yoga or Tai Chi. These forms of exercise are brilliant for developing mastery over the physical condition. However, this is not essential, there are many other resources available on the internet or library that can teach you about breathing techniques.

For many people, hardship is regarded as a personal issue.  Anxiety, stress and impulsive behaviours often stem from an inability to cope with the difficulties of life

Resilient people don’t see themselves as victims, they don`t dwell on an issue, they problem solve – they work out what they need to do to get over what’s happened to them.

 Move on to problem solving as soon as you can. Talk to people and think about practical steps, such as finding a support group.

Sympathy feels good, and sometimes it’s tempting to be a victim and tell people how bad your troubles are but problem solving will be more constructive in the long run.

 Don’t feel that bad events or a dreadful childhood have to condemn you to a life of problems. Many people survive troubled families.

The majority of adult children of alcoholics do not repeat their parents’ drinking patterns, and the same is true of adults who have survived families troubled by mental illness, chronic marital problems, racial discrimination and poverty. Some people naturally rebound from knock-backs with their self-esteem intact. If you need help doing this now that you’re an adult, talking to a therapist can help.

 If you have gone through some personal difficulty, be proud of the fact that you are still standing;  rather than getting upset about the injustice of the event Something bad happened – but you survived. Try to find things about what you did or how you responded that you can be proud of, find your strengths, and buildself-esteem from the achievement.

 It is important to distinguish between feeling low and suffering from clinical depression. Feeling low or down is something we all experience from time to time. It’s a common response to sad or difficult events and situations. Depression is when these feelings are persistent or so strong that they prevent you from doing the things you would normally do.

 Depression is often an illness. If you’re depressed, the usual feelings of sadness that we all experience temporarily remain for weeks, months and years. They can be so intense that daily life is affected. You can’t work normally, you don’t want to be with your family and friends, and you stop enjoying the things you usually do.

 If you’re depressed, you may feel worthless, hopeless andconstantly tired. In most cases, if you have milder depression,you can probably carry on but will find everyday tasks difficult.

If you’ve had depression and/or anxiety in the past, even if they weren’t formally diagnosed, seek help immediately. You’re more likely to have an episode of depression if you’ve had one before.

If you would like to see a free video on the power of your mind visit

 http://tinyurl.com/45cf5sb

To start with what is Self Esteem, how could we describe it?

 It is generally accepted that the phrase Self Esteem is the title for how we look at ourselves, how we see ourselves in the scheme of life.  If someone appears to think rather a lot of themselves they are described as having high self esteem.  If for some reason we think less of ourselves then we are considered to have low self esteem.  This is a very broad, sweeping description but it is sufficient for our purposes.

 Self esteem comes into almost everything involved in day to day life from the way that we consider ourselves physically such as “I`m looking particularly good today” or “I look awful in these clothes, what will everyone think?” all the way to how we think of ourselves internally.  By internally I mean whether we consider ourselves to be a `good` person or a `bad` person who no-one else would want to know as a friend.

The description of self esteem that we have discussed above is only a very general one but I hope that it is specific enough for you to see that our self esteem, what WE think about OURSELVES, can have a huge impact on how we live our lives.  How we look at ourselves will either propel us forward OR hold us back.

As well as bringing you FREE hints, tips and suggestions I will be seeking out more advanced methods, courses etc for those wishing to build on their new-found confidence and abilities in life.

I hope that you enjoyed your visit to theconfidencelink.com and that you come back regularly.

Copyright confidencelink 2011