How to be Liked More

It’s reasonable to say that most people actually want to be liked, and enjoy it when people hold them in high regard!

Often when we go about day to day activities, we’re our own worst enemy when it comes to how other people perceive us. A lot of the time the desire to be liked or wanted comes second to our established character traits and idiosyncrasies - the very things that turn other people away!

So here are 5 quick beginner tips on improving your likeability!

1. Stop talking about yourself so much - people don’t always want to hear about you! I know, this one sounds pretty obvious, but you would be amazed at the amount of people who talk non-stop about themselves. Nothing is more of a turn off than sitting in a staff room with one loud skwarker talking about her hair, her money, her daughter’s dance recital, her sore throat…

2. Look into people’s eyes and smile - have you ever been at a dinner party, where you’re having an ‘ice-break’ conversation with someone? You know, “so…. what do you do?” etc. As you’re telling the person about how you work for Bank of England, you notice their gaze is on something else in the room. This sends out a big signal called “I could really care less about what you are saying, who else can I talk to instead of you?”

3. Mimic the person’s facial expressions - this can help establish a rapport with the person. If they look upset, don’t start smiling! Lean your head to the left slightly if that’s what they are doing. You’ll find you establish a greater connection with the person & improve your likeability.

4. Develop really good listening habits - blurting something out before thinking about it has caused so many problems for people! Sometimes part of being a good listener means thinking about what you’ve heard before you speak. If you want to be liked more, really listen to what people are saying to you. Be slow to respond, and show that you’ve heard what they said by reiterating things they have said.

5. Give compliments where they are due - some people find this hard to do. Just as it takes strength of character and practise to be able to say “I’m sorry” when it’s due, you also should make a deliberate effort to give people praise and thanks where it is due. This can be done in a variety of ways - send and email, send some flowers, tell a third party about someone while the person is listening.

Improving your likeability and character is not an overnight thing. But, you can start today to make some changes! Start with these 5 tips, and make a deliberate effort to be someone people like to have around!

- Article posted in Life Choices
Read more from this author at:
Will It Change You? www.willitchangeyou.com
-Your Portal for Personal Growth-

How Learning From New Cutting Edge Success Programs Will Ensure Your Success

There are huge numbers of success programs online and in the shops that claim they can change your life forever but how many actually work? Unfortunately not many do.

What Is The Reason Why These Success Programs Fail To Deliver?

The failure is very rarely the information supplied. There are literally hundreds of superior success programs offered in written format by highly experienced authors. If the person who had read the book and acted on the advice given then they would have achieved outstanding success. Books that contain success programs can be best sellers so why is there such a poor success record for the majority of the readers?

Some Don't Read - Most Don't Take Action!

Studies show that over 80% of people that obtain success programs in written form will not get to the end of the book. The second alarming fact is that over 90% of readers that complete the reading of book format success programs will not act on the advice given. So how are success programs best presented?

Success Programs In Audio Format Are The Best

These days people have less and less time on their hands but still everybody wants to be successful. It is commonly understood by those that want to be successful that learning from those who have done it will give them the best chance. But written success programs containing hundreds of pages are won't appeal to most and too time consuming. But listening to audio success programs is a very convenient and effective way to absorb the material.

Audio Success Programs Are Great But………

Almost everybody will listen to all of their audio success programs but there is one big problem – most of them don’t perform the recommended actions. Many take comfort from continued listening instead of taking action. Why is this so? Well their success is their own responsibility so if they don’t take action they don't have anybody to answer to. Nobody is there to watch them, ensure they have fully absorbed it and give crucial assistance to them if they are stuck (a common symptom of not taking action). What is the answer to this?

A Few New Success Programs Are Addressing This Problem

Smart success coaches have changed their approach and a handful of success programs have been launched with built in follow up and support systems at a completely reasonable price. The results from these success programs are very encouraging. People have reported life changing results from these success programs because they have someone watching over them.

Most people can’t afford thousands of dollars to attend a success seminar even though this could have life changing consequences for them. Thanks to the proliferation of the Internet, success programs with support and follow up systems are a much cheaper and effective option and are already having a major impact. You owe it to yourself to check them out.
By: Graham Bowall

A successful entrepreneur, Graham Bowall has helped many people to make a success of their lives. He was one of the first people to develop success programs with built in support systems. You can check out this winning concept and download part one of Your Self Miracle free by visiting =>http://www.selfmiracle.com

Make Sure Dreams Are Your Servant, and Not Your Master

In effective goal setting, using dreams to establish ideal outcomes is a critical step in creating the vision and purpose that become the building block for goals. When used that way, dreams are your servant.

But when the word dreams is mentioned, many people are turned off - to them dreams are a waste of time - a trip into fantasy. They feel dreams are not for the real world. They see dreams as taking away from action and accomplishment.

The line between dreams as the servant and dreams as the master is a thin one. Rudyard Kipling, in his masterpiece poem "IF " wrote a verse that says "If you can dream, but not let dreams become your master...." Going even further, Cormac McCarthy, in his novel, "The Road" says: "When your dreams are of some world that never was or of some world that never will be and you are happy again, then you will have given up."

You can think of dreams as a resource, a servant - a special place where you go to create thoughts that can serve as the first step to accomplishment. Or they can become your master - taking you to that soft, fuzzy place where you can escape from reality and think great thoughts that have a really low probability of ever happening. For most people, dreams are both a servant and a master.

How do you know if your dreams represent real possibilities, or are a place to escape from reality - to fantasyland? Do your dreams replace action - or do they create action and persistence to get through the tough times? The answer to those questions isn't always so clear cut - sometimes our mind plays tricks on us.

Take the Lottery dream as an example. A New York Times article states that the dream of winning stimulates the same brain circuits as actual winning does. The article goes on to state that " in brain imaging studies of drug users, as well as healthy adults placing bets, neuroscientists have found that the prospect of reward activates the same circuits in the brain that the payoffs themselves do." It's easy to keep the Lottery dream alive - just buy a ticket and keep those brain circuits buzzing. And at odds of 147,000,000 to 1 for each drawing of the Powerball Lottery, you may be a winner. Nothing wrong with taking that chance. At least not until the dream of winning the Lottery replaces dreams that have the potential for real action and accomplishment.

Realize that your conscious mind can only think about one thing at a time. Dreaming of never were's and never will be's uses up conscious thought at the same rate that thoughts of opportunities and accomplishments do. It's when those never was, never will be dreams take up space better devoted to dreams of real world possibilities that dreams become a problem - when they become the master of time and energy.

Every minute spent on those kinds of low probability, low commitment, low risk, low investment dreams takes away from the time available to dream about real possibilities, solutions, tactics and strategies and rewards for accomplishment. Dreams that are the master do nothing to increase personal feelings of worth and ability - they do the opposite. By placing value on chance - as in the Lottery dream case - rather than personal accomplishment - they diminish beliefs of personal ability. And they are sneaky - often they become a habit of thought that just kind of happens - and they create a view of the world that isn't at all accurate.

How to be sure your dreams are your servant - part of your real world - and not let them become your master?

Ask yourself these five questions.

1 - Do you find yourself thinking about the past - and how it could have been, should have been, or would have been different?

2 - Do your dreams take you away from the probable and the possible?

3 - Do you find yourself dreaming about a future that has no relationship to your life so far?

4 - Do you dream about being someone other than yourself ?

5 - Do your dreams require your "willful suspension of disbelief" ?

If you answered Yes to the questions, realize that dreams, at least part of the time, have become your master. And those dreams that are your masters take away from achieving success in the real world.

Choose to examine your thoughts and apply the five questions. It's tough - particularly if dreams have been the master for some time. Be convinced that the conscious examination of dreams can and will lead to a more effective,successful life.


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Andy Cox helps his clients select and develop teams and talent. He focuses on helping leaders and emerging leaders define and develop their skills and talents using goals. He can be reached at http://www.coxconsultgroup.com , or at acox@coxconsultgroup.com

6 Personal Development Steps to Success

I offer this practical personal development guide to success for all those who have tried before yet failed. It doesn't matter where you are now in your your own personal development or or where you wish to go. It matters very little how far reaching your personal development goal is or how hard it appears to be to attain. No matter what you want to achieve rest assured that some else has achieved something similar beginning somewhere close to where you are. If they did it so can you!

If you follow the 6 personal development steps set out before you, you will be achieving your personal development goals very soon.

Step 1.
The first personal development step is essential! You must be clear about what you want! When you begin to set personal development goals ensure you have a very definite arrival point. Some people when they want to better their lives look around for the path of least resistance. They have no real idea of what they want from life but just know they want to improve it. They therefore look at many different things and try many different personal development approaches without every really devoting themselves to one objective and never achieving success. There is no personal development!

If you live in New York and wish to visit San Diego you do not begin by looking at the most convenient and easiest route before you decide your destination! You just decide you want to go to San Diego!

It is the same with any personal development goal. No matter how hard or unreasonable your desire may seem you must always follow your heart! Have a clear definition of what success means to you. Set you personal development goal now by deciding exactly what it is you want from life!

Step 2.
Narrow the personal development goal down. Get specific. Deciding that you are going to visit San Diego is all well and good but the city is extremely large. Where in San Diego do you want to go? Be specific in your goals. For example, wanting to lose weight is a reasonable and achievable goal but it is too vague. Set a target for your weight loss. Do you want to lose 5 pounds, 10 or even 20 pounds? To achieve any kind of personal development you must be specific!

Step 3.
Write your personal development goal down. Make in concrete by putting it on paper. Place it somewhere where you can see it everyday. It makes the goal real and acts as a reminder of what you are working towards. This is why company's have their mission statement in giant letters where every employee can see it! Create your mission statement and on it place your goal.

Step 4.
Create a personal development plan. Look for ways that will help you achieve this goal. How did others achieve similar results? Did they learn lessons from experience which you can also learn without having to experience the learning as they did? Use the personal development journeys of others. How did other people do it? Learn from their mistakes and use them for your own learning. Someone else may have failed hundreds of times in their personal development before they learned to do it right. You don't have to be the same. Just follow the final plan they used to succeed!

Step 5.
Once you have a personal development plan break it down into smaller more easily achievable goals. Each day should not pass without you being a little closer to achieving your goal. No matter how the small the steps are just take them and ensure you are taking them in the right direction!

Step 6.
Create a mental picture of success. Picture yourself enjoying the personal development achievement of having already acquired your goal. Feel all the positive emotions that come with this success. Review this mental picture first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Personal development step 6 is often overlooked yet it is one of the most important of the personal development steps. By visualizing your goal attainment you are programming your mind with the blueprint of success. This will keep you motivated in times of self-doubt or frustration.

Follow these 6 simple steps and personal development and success are guaranteed!

About the Author:

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