Category Archives: how to be confident

A Poor Young Boy and The Dog story.



A few days ago I landed at the Bombay Airport (India) and took a cab to my scheduled destination in South Bombay.

I was enjoying the busy traffic with people rushing in every possible directions then we got stranded at a very busy intersection.

As we waited for the signal to turn green, my eyes met up with a poor young boy, about 12 years old. He removed a piece of bread from his pocket and took a bite.

As he was about to take his next bite, a stray dog wagged his tail looking at him. Without hesitation, he sat down and put the bread on the road for the dog to eat.

The dog sniffed the bread and walked away. The boy waited until he was sure the dog was gone then he picked up the bread and ate it!

My heart cried and wanted to walk up to the boy but before I could open the door the signal turned Green and our car drove away. I kept thinking about the boy and later during my evening meal I realized that I was thinking of approaching the boy but never did, I could have stopped the car and walked up to him which again I never did.

All I did was “thinking” and this poor little boy who had only one piece of bread without any hesitation sharing it with the dog, though he himself seemed to be very hungry.

I learnt one of the biggest lessons in my life which that boy taught me without a conversation. He taught me to share with love and happiness. I am so blessed to have learnt this beautiful lesson from my ‘little unknown master’. It is my moral duty to share this incident with all my friends across the globe and be blessed with happiness.

Thank you friends for making this world a beautiful place to dwell.

By Dr. Derrick Angelsz
India’

#9 Have a growth mindset

So, you may be asking yourself “What exactly is a growth mindset?” Well, a growth mindset is an actual, demonstrable psychological phenomenon. It turns out that many long-term successful individuals possess certain characteristics that they share with other long-term successful individuals. This set of characteristics has been termed a “growth mindset”. Now, some people, who tend to achieve less than their full potential, also possess a set of characteristics that they share with other under-achievers. This set of traits has been dubbed the “fixed mindset”. Most people, more or less, fall into one camp or the other.

People with a growth mindset tend to have a desire to learn from life. This desire leads to the ability to embrace challenges, to overcome setbacks, to see effort as worth the results, to accept criticism and to admire and learn from the successes of others. These behaviors allow native intelligence to grow throughout a lifetime. (Hence, the name.) People with a growth mindset are believers in free will and this belief allows them to achieve their goals time and time again.

People with a fixed mindset tend to have a desire to appear smart, with a corresponding fear of looking foolish. Their desire leads them to avoid challenges, to give up easily, to see extra effort as wasted, to ignore or reject criticism and to envy and begrudge the success of others. These behaviors tend to limit native intelligence to a fixed amount. (Again, hence the name.) People with a fixed mindset often plateau early in life and fail to have, let alone reach, fixed goals.

The good news is that a growth mindset can be cultivated fairly easily by changing some critical behaviors. First of all, you have to decide to choose growth over stagnation. You also have to be willing to take positive action and begin to accept challenges and criticism and learning from both. An excellent way to begin is by developing the philosophy of “yet”. This simple step simple attaches the word “yet” to the end of every negative thought, as in “That will never work, yet…” or “It’s probably not worth going, yet…” This simple trick opens up the possibility for growth and that possibility leads to changed behavior that actually does cause the development of the growth mindset.

#9 Have a growth mindset

So, you may be asking yourself “What exactly is a growth mindset?” Well, a growth mindset is an actual, demonstrable psychological phenomenon. It turns out that many long-term successful individuals possess certain characteristics that they share with other long-term successful individuals. This set of characteristics has been termed a “growth mindset”. Now, some people, who tend to achieve less than their full potential, also possess a set of characteristics that they share with other under-achievers. This set of traits has been dubbed the “fixed mindset”. Most people, more or less, fall into one camp or the other.

People with a growth mindset tend to have a desire to learn from life. This desire leads to the ability to embrace challenges, to overcome setbacks, to see effort as worth the results, to accept criticism and to admire and learn from the successes of others. These behaviors allow native intelligence to grow throughout a lifetime. (Hence, the name.) People with a growth mindset are believers in free will and this belief allows them to achieve their goals time and time again.

People with a fixed mindset tend to have a desire to appear smart, with a corresponding fear of looking foolish. Their desire leads them to avoid challenges, to give up easily, to see extra effort as wasted, to ignore or reject criticism and to envy and begrudge the success of others. These behaviors tend to limit native intelligence to a fixed amount. (Again, hence the name.) People with a fixed mindset often plateau early in life and fail to have, let alone reach, fixed goals.

The good news is that a growth mindset can be cultivated fairly easily by changing some critical behaviors. First of all, you have to decide to choose growth over stagnation. You also have to be willing to take positive action and begin to accept challenges and criticism and learning from both. An excellent way to begin is by developing the philosophy of “yet”. This simple step simple attaches the word “yet” to the end of every negative thought, as in “That will never work, yet…” or “It’s probably not worth going, yet…” This simple trick opens up the possibility for growth and that possibility leads to changed behavior that actually does cause the development of the growth mindset.

#10 Be confident

Nothing succeeds like success, right? Sure. However, true success comes from confidence and confidence, in turn, comes from success. They each revolve around the other in the ultimate symbiotic relationship. However, this is not a “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” kind of proposition. Confidence definitely precedes success in the order of appearance. That’s because of the quiet assurance of true confidence, as opposed to mere cockiness, serves to lay the foundation for reaching a goal. In this way, confidence is more of an outward manifestation of an inward persona than it is a pose or an affectation. Cockiness, on the other hand, is simply an outward shield that masks an inward insecurity.

As a business owner, you need to be confident of yourself and your product or service. People react positively to a confident person, especially if that confidence is real and a part of that person’s soul. In order to develop this type of true confidence, there are several things that you can do.

First, always remember that confident people are able to take a stand on an issue or a decision not because they think they are right, but because they are not afraid to be wrong. They see a difficult situation as an opportunity for growth. Finding the right solution to a problem is more important than being right. Therefore, if they are wrong they will be the first people to admit it and move on.

Confident people often listen far more often than they talk. They are more interested in hearing different information and opinions than they are in broadcasting their own. They also are never afraid to admit fallibility and ask for help. They know that other people’s knowledge is their greatest strength. Finally, they understand that success is a team sport. They know that any goal is achieved through the efforts of many, not the will of the few. Therefore, they share the spotlight of success and shine it on others far more than they shine it on themselves.