Self esteem building – the physiology of success

Want to change how you feel? Want to do it instantly? Try this – get up and do five star jumps, smile and shout “I feel great” five times. You might want to try this in the comfort of your own home rather than in the middle of a busy office. Okay you might feel a bit daft but you will feel different. You’ll have smiled and moved, you’ve told your mind and your body “this is different”. Your mind and body are inextricably linked. If you change what you are doing with your body (your physiology) - how you breathe, how you stand, how you talk and hold yourself – it affects your mind and will help you with self esteem building.

Picture this person, they walk slowly, they have slumped shoulders, they look gloomy, their eyes look down to the floor. What do you see? Somebody that is depressed. No one decides to be depressed but it’s not just a mental state, as we’ve seen it’s also a specific body image (or a specific body physiology). By carrying on like this they are unconsciously continuing to make the decision to be depressed.

So can we change? You bet, you can change your physiology and your state of mind in an instance. Put yourself in a position of ultimate self confidence. Imagine what a totally self confident person would look like and emulate them. Stand up tall, shoulders back, looking out at everyone, making eye contact, smiling, breathing deeply. Walk like you imagine a confident person would, not sloping along but bounding along, head held high, shoulders back, on a mission you are going somewhere not just wasting time. Try it. You can’t feel fed up or depressed with this posture. Your mind is linked to your body and it’s getting the message that you are in a state of awareness and you mean business. You are telling your body that you choose to be confident and that you are confident. By altering your body (your physiology) you are telling your mind that you are confident and that you are managing your feelings.

Make the time to invest in yourself not in monetary terms but invest in self esteem building. Start feeling the way you want to feel. Imagine you are going to get the job of your dreams, how would you feel, how would you hold yourself? Now “bottle” that feeling and your physiology. You can call on that anytime you want. You can change to a position to ultimate self confidence by changing your physiology – open the “bottle” and recreate the physiology and the feelings Remember all human behaviour is result of the state we are in so if we are feeling confident and strong we can attempt things we would have never have thought possible when we were feeling fed up and tired.

“Put your future in good hands - your own” (Author unknown).

Make self esteem building part of your daily routine. Whenever you think about it make the decision to act confidently so it becomes a habit. Make sure you stand tall, look people in the eyes, when they are speaking to you listen and look at them and when you talking maintain good eye contact with them. Even if at first you are still having to think about being confident, you will still communicate the right signals to inspire those around you. That is the amazing thing about confident body language. Change your body posture and your thinking and you can become the confident person you want to be.