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Do you sometimes wish you had more opportunities in life? If so, it might be time to start paying attention to existing opportunities that you are missing. It’s easy to miss potential opportunities when you’re busy with day-to-day life.

Positive psychologists have shown that people who take opportunities are the people who notice them in the first place. You can change your awareness so that you’re able to catch opportunities when they present themselves.

In my work as a success coach I’ve noticed that women who take opportunities use the principles of positive thinking. If you want to do this there are four key steps you can take to make sure you’re checking out each doorway. Read more

Don’t let success pass you by. Learn how to make the most of opportunities in your life. Hear how to spot potential opportunities and grab hold of them. Find out how to expand your networks and get more support from other people.

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As the year comes to a close, I wish you the joy of learning and positive thinking. Whether the year has held huge success, or many challenges for you, December is a great time to pause and reflect. Experience is what makes you unique. Your ability to learn from, and reflect on, that experience is what makes you stand out.

Here are my favourite questions for ending the year on a learning note:

• What have been the most memorable experiences of the year?
• How do you feel about those experiences?
• What have you learned about your strengths?
• If you imagine using those strengths in the next year, how will you do things differently?
• What are you grateful for?
• Who will you share that gratitude with?

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Do you want to master the art of positive thinking? You’ll find food for thought in this short video featuring ten quotes from outstanding practitioners of positive psychology and NLP. The video will build your understanding of positive attitudes and how they develop. It will also give you lots of tips for changing your own thinking habits.

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Do you secretly fear you’re not up to doing your job? If you experience these feelings frequently, there’s a good chance you might be suffering from ‘imposter syndrome’. This is a strong and pervasive fear that you don’t really have what it takes to succeed.

So, if you think that you’re suffering from imposter syndrome, what can you do? Here are five ways you can use NLP to boost your confidence and stop imposter syndrome in its tracks.

Meta model challenge your internal dialogue

The meta model is a linguistic toolkit for challenging limiting language. People who suffer from imposter syndrome tend to have highly critical self-talk. You can use meta model questions to challenge this type of self-talk and shift to more constructive inner dialogue. To do this reword definitive language like, ‘I don’t know how to do this’ with alternative statements like ‘I can find out how to do this’. Also work to banish perfectionist self-talk. Instead of saying, ‘I will work back and finish it properly’ say to yourself, ‘I will finish it as well as I can, given the time constraints I’m under’. Listen to my free podcast Beat Imposter Syndrome with NLP for more advice on practical tips. Read more

Are you plagued by negative self-talk? Then it’s time to change your thinking habits. Find out how in this inspiring video on how to think positively, even in tough situations. Learn how to shift your negative self-talk by using cognitive reframing techniques. Change what your inner voice says and the tone you use when ‘talking to yourself’.

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You, or someone you know, needs help developing greater confidence or self-esteem. You’ve heard some people saying that training is an effective approach. You’ve read that coaching might help you see things differently. One of your friends is a keen advocate for counselling. How do you decide which approach will work?

First, it helps to understand the difference between the three approaches. This ensures that you’re working in a way that you feel comfortable with. Training is a group process which focuses on providing models and techniques for workshop participants to try out together. Because it is a group approach, you will find this most useful if you are willing to participate in class conversations and small group activities. Read more

If you’ve been told ‘just think positive’ you probably know how hard this advice can be to take. I’ve worked with thousands of people who want to be more confident and more positive. There are five things I know can help you ‘think positive’ in an easy and natural way.

When you hit problems, shift into solution-finding mode

I’m a big fan of being solution focussed. This means taking your attention away from the problem and looking for ways to solve it. There are five principles to keep in mind here:

• Resist asking ‘why’
• Ask ‘how can I solve this?’
• Focus on coming up with as many potential options as you can
• Be creative.
• Turn off logic while you brainstorm.

Taking this approach will program your unconscious mind to generate lots of ways of sorting out the problem. The more often you take a solution focussed approach, the easier it becomes to think this way. Read more