12 top tips for increased confidence and productivity
by Mervin Straughan
August 2021
There are some great pieces of advice and plenty of tools for personal growth so here are 12 tips to help you get results and feel more confident personally and professionally.
1. Have a life purpose
Purpose gives your life meaning. It affects how you view your job, your role in society and your life as a whole. Studies show that people with purpose grow old in a more fulfilling way. In his international best-selling The Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey told us that while it's okay to retire from a job, it’s vital we continue to make extremely meaningful contributions to life.
2. Your subconscious is always listening
Your subconscious mind is alert 24-7, always listening for your next command. And, get this, it’s unable to take a joke and stores everything and acts on it. Make sure you give it good instructions and avoid self-talk that damages and demeans your capabilities.
3. Spend as much time as possible in the present
Avoid sleepwalking through life. Stop being fixated by the past and avoid rushing headlong into the future. Living in the present makes you conscious of everything you’re experiencing. Take in the beauty of nature around you, the kind actions of others. Be in the present when you eat – eat slowly and use all your senses to enjoy your meal.
By all means, take what you can from the lessons the past have taught you and plan for the future, but make sure the major part of your life is rooted firmly in the present so you're aware and growing.
4. Express gratitude
Being thankful for what you have – no matter how small – affects how you feel. Each time you’re grateful, it moves you to a more positive state. It’s also good for your wellbeing and it helps to build resilience.
5. Surround yourself with the right people
It was the late great business expert Jim Rohn who said: 'You’re the average of the five people you spend most time with.' Whether we like it or not, we’re influenced by those closest to us. They have an influence on our confidence and self belief and our decision making.
This emphasises the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who believe in us and want us to succeed. And we need constructive feedback and a few reality checks every now and again. It’s useful to do an audit of those we spend most time with and gauge what influence they’re having.
6. Develop a growth mindset
When you encounter a setback, ask yourself: 'What can I learn from this?' This is one of the components of personal grit which research by US psychologist Angela Duckworth says is the best predictor of success in life. Grit is said to be more powerful than IQ and natural talent for getting you to where you want to be.
7. Recognise that happiness is a byproduct rather than a goal
As the Greek philosopher Aristotle told us, it’s a byproduct of how we live our life. To live life well, we need to live our purpose and develop as we make our journey and rise to challenges. The risk of making happiness the goal is that it might lead us to take the ride and miss out on the challenges that force us to strive and grow.
8. Be proactive
If you’re stalling on a course of action, draw two columns on a sheet of paper. Label one the prize for taking action and the other the price for inaction and weigh them against one another. Sometimes the prize will be a big one and sadly, sometimes the price for doing nothing will be, too. While there will be some occasions where doing nothing is the right option because you’re waiting for more facts and a clearer picture, in the majority of cases, fortune favours the brave.
9. Clear the clutter
There are many practical and psychological reasons to avoid clutter. For one, the extra effort to find something slows you down and, in extreme cases, it poses health and safety risks.
Psychologically, each of these items is making demands on your attention and energy.
And some will leave you stuck in the past. If you have a basement or attic or both, pay attention as some experts say these represent your past and your aspirations. So, if your basement is crammed, you’re stuck in the past and if your attic is crammed, your aspirations are being stifled.
Do a regular sort and get rid of stuff you don’t need in a responsible manner. Reduce what comes into your home. Only bring something new into the house if it’s useful or beautiful.
10. Forget multitasking
Why? Because it doesn’t work. Brain science studies show we don’t multi-task. All that happens is our brain switches between the tasks that compete for its attention. The brain has to take stock before starting a task so it just means you’re slowing yourself down. And here's a startling statistic; some studies say multitasking adds as much as 40 per cent extra time to what we’re doing. It’s an own goal.
11. Get your dreams and ideas out of your head
You need to get them written down so that you're aware of them and can take stock. Sometimes we forget what’s buried inside our heads as Miller's Law tells us. Named after the psychologist George Miller, it states that we can only hold, on average, seven items in our short-term memory, so, little surprise that stuff gets buried.
Life coaching clients often marvel at their long list of goals they’d forgotten until a coaching process helps to identify them.
Unless goals are written down, they’re just dreams.
12. Write by hand
On the subject of getting things out of your head, write them with a pen, pencil or a stylus rather than typing them on your keyboard. Research tells us that handwriting helps retain and retrieve knowledge more effectively. The handwriting action forces the brain to slow down and give more time to what’s being put and to make links between pieces of information. While typing might give you the edge in a speed contest, handwriting will make sure it’s stored and recalled better.
There are many more tips but these are personal favourites. Every little helps.