Confidence to Stand Before A Crowd by Ahtisham Khero

Academic Learning Giving you Confidence to Stand Before the Crowd

By Ahtisham Khero

Each day brings something new for you with something to learn from.  I want to share an experience that happened to me during my master degree program where I was given a very difficult assignment in completing a presentation.  The course I was taking “management decisions” was taught by a very strict teacher, so people were cautious while completing the assigned tasks.  The task he presented was to find any article related to business or management.  The article was then to be presented in front of the class giving an intro and explaining your article.  The presentation is scored out of 15 points, and it is very difficult to get full marks.  The presentation was to be completed within 5 minutes without escaping any point of the article.  The marks which you will achieve in presentation will be counted in final.  The following day after the assignment was given I spoke with my fellow and friend who I looked to for guidance.  I still was not clear on all of the guidelines so I decided to ask the professor in the next session for more details, and then could move forward with completing the assignment.  After a few days the class finally came and I spoke with the teacher during the class break.  The conversation went as follows:

I: Excuse me Sir

Sir: Yes

I: Sir, I would like to ask you about the presentation task which you had given the last week I want to know which kind of article it should be?

Sir: So you haven’t even picked the article? You know today is the last day to e-mail me what you have to present in upcoming sessions?

I: Yes, I do understand I need to have the article turned in by this evening, but if I select any irrelevant article then it will not be considered.  I thought it would be better to ask first. (I said this while feeling embarrassed).

Sir: I don’t think you will have time to get an article. If a person doesn’t know yet what he should present, and which article he should pick, and couldn’t find the article in last 2 – 3 weeks to email me, how can you find it and send it to me in one day?  You have a few hours remaining, until 2am.

(I felt embarrassed because a few fellows were listening to this and I felt he put the question marks on my abilities and felt that he was clearly underestimating my abilities.  I maintained my composure and continued my converstation.)

I: Ok sir, I have a few hours left, and I will e-mail you a few articles tonight.

The class ended at 9:30 pm.  I went straight to home and sat on my laptop without having dinner and started searching for articles.  It took half an hour and I picked a total of three articles which were lengthy.  This was going to be a challenge to present these articles in only 5 minutes but I sent all three articles instead of one asking the teacher for guidance to which direction I should go in.

The following morning I received the reply from the professor stating which one he preferred.  The heading of the article chosen was “The Leadership Skills for Managers,” and it was 12 pages from a chapter of the book. It was tough, but I prepared myself.  I completed my presentation as precisely as possible.  I perfected my presentation and started rehearsing regularly until the day of the presentation.

The professor was strict in marking but a good person by nature.  He split the presentations into two classes breaking them up by lunch inbetween.  The day finally came and everyone took their seats and awaited their presentations.  All the students who got up before me were doing fine, but there was not any really impressive presentations during the first two hours of the session.  Most of the students were speaking with paper in their hands, reading their main points and explanations.  Suddenly at 12:50pm my name was called, “Now Ahtisham.”

 I presented myself to the class in a formal dress code, looking the part.  I started to speak with confidence with strong vocal power.  I grabbed the attention of every listener in the audience. I was confident and rocked the floor with my magical presentation.  Everyone was surprised by my performance.  They were not expecting any quality work from me in doing my presentation because they perceived me as ordinary performer from the start.  And here, suddenly, they have seen something rocking, and someone who changed their perception!  Due to my body language, my vocal power, the spark that came into me, I broke down the walls to their mind and opened them up to new thoughts and ideas.  Even as I was explaining points everyone started clapping for me.  Again I was given applause as I concluded my presentation.  They applauded and congratulated me.  As I finished my presentation the professor said, “Today’s best presentation so far, I just read this article in the morning and let me tell you it consists of 12 pages which he precisely summarized without escaping anything and presented in just 4minutes 15 seconds!  Considering time limit in mind, well done!”

I felt glad as I climbed the mountain and rose to the top with the whole class liking my performance. Even today I realize that those words which embarrassed me from the teacher were only to bring out the best in me in a short period of time.  In that discussion with the teacher I felt bad and thought to prove the teacher wrong, which I did.  The teacher’s harsh words brought out the best of me.  And at the end of the day I had the satisfaction of having my presentation be the main topic for lunch that day.  Again being appreciated at lunch by my professor, and being accomplished among my peers.

5 Steps to More Confidence by Kim Somers Egelsee

Lessons From Confidence Expert, Kim Somers Egelsee, shares 5 powerful tips below to boost confidence. Kim is one of those women who bring life and light to all of those with whom she comes into contact. She is amazing! Kim is hosting our June 24th VIP Launch Event. This is "THE" networking event to attend… plus the training will be priceless! To learn more go here. If you're a Lessons From Network member and will be in the So California area, you can attend (and bring 2 guests). See details below article to sign-up. If you're not a LFN member, we've added a HUGE bonus for the next 25 people who enroll as a member. Kyle Wilson, Founder of Lessons From Network and Jim Rohn International, is creating a full training webinar all things related to creating your marketing funnel - opt in offer, redirect, sales page, download page and follow-up email campaign. This is a $497 value.  To become a member today and start benefiting from the incredible associations and phenomenal training designed specifically to help you grow personally & professionally, and connect and network with other like-minded, success-seeking entrepreneurs, small business owners, authors and speakers. Check us out! Enjoy these 5 powerful steps! 5 Steps to Boost Confidence 1.Be you. Have the nerve to be yourself. Start to check in with yourself to be sure you aren't people pleasing, holding back, criticizing, or down playing who you truly are. Start by appreciating yourself and your gifts, talents and attributes. Next acknowledge the great things you've accomplished throughout your life. Finally accept you for who you are.Yes, it's wonderful to want to grow, shift and change, but acceptance first is key. After this you can work on looking and being your best at all times, trying new things, making eye contact, and embracing your uniqueness. 2. Live opened up to love and lightness, possibilities, people, and the beauty of the world. Remain open minded that you can learn from everyone you meet. Be optimistic that your life is and can be extraordinary. Look for the good. 3. Create your own opportunities and jump into them. Don't wait for that project to appear. Start with small steps daily to get what you dream of. Ask for help, ask for connections. Ask for chances and big things. Be bold. Take risks. For some, this may mean trying a new food. For others it may be taking on a new sport, exercise or project. 4. Sort through everything you are doing now in your life, and rate each item 0-100%; 100 being that it makes you feel on fire, fueled and fulfilled. Get rid of or lessen the things on the list that aren't at least 90% to make the space for greatness, rewards and your dreams to come into your life. Next start to shape and sculpt your life by design. What about the things you are currently doing, can you be better at? What are your dreams, and are you on your way to them? 5. Talk to yourself and others positively. Throw away any negative thoughts about yourself. Treat yourself like a star and others will too.

Sunshine and Radiance Authentically Flowing by Kim Somers Egelsee

I'm feeling the fun, fluttering butterflies of anticipation, fun, energy and excitement, the curiosity of creativity and breakthroughs, and the support of angels. This retreat today will reach out, connect, giggle, deepen, strengthen, refresh, remind and invite those who are ready and know its their time to own it, be it, bless it, create it and soar!!!!!!!!!!

Own it! By Kim Somers Egelsee

Own it! By Kim Somers Egelsee

                  I dare you! I dare you today to just own it! Have the nerve to truly be you. Let out your real feelings. Radiate out your true passions. Smile. Embrace your quirks. Feel comfortable in your own skin. Wake up excited to be you and in love with yourself. This is confidence, positive power, boldness, and assuredness. If we all had it, life would be easier, more effortless, with increased excitement and enthusiasm daily. In my work coaching, consulting, and speaking, I have found this to be the #1 factor in holding people back.

               In The Confidence Gap by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, they mention ; A growing body of evidence shows just how devastating this lack of confidence can be. Success, it turns out, correlates just as closely with confidence as it does with competence. No wonder that women, despite all our progress, are still woefully underrepresented at the highest levels. All of that is the bad news. The good news is that with work, confidence can be acquired. Which means that the confidence gap, in turn, can be closed.  

             This is brilliant news. Confidence can be learned. Our brain can be trained to live in our full positive power. Wouldn't you want this? Imagine walking, talking and soaring through life exuding confidence in any and every interaction. Imagine your impact. Imagine what would change. This is great news. Now you know what you need to do. It is your time to gather, grow and gain confidence, so soon you feel more fulfilled, purposeful, passionate and inspired by life. Wouldn't it make sense to have complete belief in yourself and your own powers? Why give everyone else the credit? It is time for you to own it! Own who you truly are. Let it out and live, love and experience life in your full positive power.

           Decide today, that this is your year to shine. Hire a coach, study confident people, attend the seminars and events, read great books, take small and large steps daily to get better and better. Do it now.

Kim Somers Egelsee is a confidence expert, TV host, Tedx speaker, life coach, award winning speaker and the # 1 best selling author of Getting Your Life to a Ten+

Find out more at www.kimlifecoach.com

Our Body's Innate Intelligence by guest blogger Lesley Wirth

Our Body’s Innate Intelligence

By  Lesley Wirth

When you are gearing up to fuel your body what part of yourself are you listening to? Many of us get caught up in the cravings that our mind has, be it for sweets, caffeine, or alcohol.  We do not listen to what our body wants.  What if we took a moment and got in tune with what our body is craving? What if we listened to it as though it is its own entity separate from our emotional and mental wants? 

I remember a couple of years ago asking my body what it wanted.  What came through surprised me a little. This is what I heard:  I am your temple. I want acceptance. I want love and nurturance. I want clean air, movement, and for you to respect me. I want you to honor me by feeding me nutrient dense foods that will replenish me and make me strong. I want a highly alkaline diet so that I can perform optimally. When you eat meat, please make sure the animals were treated humanely.  This is important to me. I want what goes in me to be treated with love and want you to treat me with love.

I thought I was going to get some answer like, “stop eating Cheetos and could you please add more greens?”  I guess not.  I found out there was so much more information and wisdom for me to be paying attention to.  Today I smile as I write this because this answer was much different than what my mind wanted at the time.  I wanted to know exactly what to do and how to do it; a roadmap with all the correct turns and shortcuts. I also wanted a genie to grant me the wish of making all the changes in my diet easy for me. A Siri of sorts. In other words, I knew I was not happy with the way I had been eating but I did not want to have to make sacrifices, change, or feel challenged in any way.

Although there was a huge part of me that wished for better eating habits, there was a larger part that wanted to be jolted with caffeine and sedated with chocolate and wine. And this part that wanted to check out was afraid to fully listen to what my body wanted.  To be honest the part that wants to check out still exists in me.  It has just lessoned more and more over time.  The more inner work I do, the less it pops up.  My practice has become accepting the part of me that wants to check out. If I make it wrong and fight it, it just gets worse. If I can accept this exists within me, I soften around the whole thing; I stop judging and making myself wrong. By accepting that there is a piece of me that wants to tune out, I take my power back from it.

Food and eating has been an on-going place of growth for me. As I have continued to do my inner work, the way I eat has evolved and what I organically want to be eating and doing continues to shift. I balance pleasure and allowing myself to have things that may not be the very best for my body, with eating very nutritiously.  I do this because I want to honor my body’s guidance while also continuing to live life in a way that is not taking everything so seriously. It really is okay to allow myself the pleasure and joy of things that may not be considered the healthiest. My motto is everything in balance and as I am balanced inside my food is balanced on the outside.

The simple exercise of asking our body what it wants provides us with a wealth of information.  The next step becomes working through whatever may be in the way of us being able to step more fully into honoring it.  It has been my experience that it is never about willpower. It is always about fears.  If these fears are addressed and new ways of coping can be integrated a radically different relationship with food is possible; one that integrates honoring our body as well as our mental and emotional self.  I am here to tell you that it does not have to be either or. It really can be both. You can have it all my friend!

The head does not have the answer.  But your body’s wisdom does. Use your heart, your inner-guidance, and your intuition to lead you to the people who can help you discover the way to create an empowering relationship with food and your body. Trust those who make claims that are actually worth trusting. If someone “has all the answers,” then be weary. Why? Because YOU are the only one with your body, mind, and life circumstances that influence your relationship with food. All of this must be taken into consideration for lasting change to occur. Otherwise you might as will hit the repeat button.  I say it is time to try something new. It is time to become your own health advocate. Only you can say “yes” to investing in yourself and in your health.

If you would like to learn more about the approach that has transformed my relationship to food after 14 years of every type of eating disorder a person could experience (from anorexia to bulmia to compulsive eater) please visit me at http://www.lesleywirth.com.

Lesley Wirth, MA Spiritual Psychology

Transformational Coach and Spiritual Counselor

Secrets from a Life Coach By Kim Somers Egelsee

1.. How long have you been a life coach?I have been a life coach for over ten years.

2. In your experience, what, or who rather, is a life coach? (your definition) A life coach is someone who walks the walk and talks the talk of a successful, fulfilling, and happy life. They know how to balance things in their life, have positive relationships and are extremely authentic.  They are often trained in many different modalities with varying college degrees, and often have experience in self help or personal development.  A true coach will help their clients with issues, problems or any confusion they have, by helping them have breakthroughs as to why these are occurring, help them to change their behavior, attitude and communication, and enable them to repair, heal and improve their lives. A great coach will help their clients find, focus and get clear on what they truly want, who they are and to live their passions. They will empower  people to change their life for the better, change anything that isn't working, and heal emotions. An extraordinary coach elevates their client to push them past what they formerly believed they were capable of, and helps them get to their potential. They are an accountability partner, mentor and teacher too.

3. What makes life coaching different or unique from other forms of counseling?

Life Coaching is unique because clients  receive tips, tools and action strategies right away that can begin to change their lives that they can use forever. Often life coaches use NLP ( Neuro Linguistic Programming; which Tony Robbins is famous for), hypnotherapy, and other coaching modalities. A coach and client co-create a person's life plan, and often work together long term for focus, accountability, strategic planning and empowerment. As a life coach, in my VIP programs, I interview each client and have them fill out a questionnaire. I then develop a unique curriculum, schedule and plan just for them and use various modalities including several that I have created. This way, they have a program designed just for them like no other.

4. What can a client gain from working with a life coach?

In working with a life coach, clients can gain better self esteem, confidence, and belief in themselves. They can get the areas of their lives that aren't working so well, to a higher level, get very clear on goals, passions, life purpose and dreams, and communicate more positively and powerfully. People who work with a life coach can learn to see life in a new brighter way, increase money and success and have better relationships. They can tune in to who they truly are, and begin to sculpt their life exactly as they wish to. Clients can get to the root of why some things aren't working, get rid of fear, negativity and uncertainty, and begin to really move forward in life fearlessly and excited.

5. What are some common reasons that you have experienced for why people are skeptical about working with a life coach, and how have you (or at least attempted to) overcome these doubts?

People can be skeptical about working with a life coach because that aren't quite sure what a coach can do for them. Maybe they are afraid to open up. Often, they have met or seen someone who isn't an excellent coach, and that shaped their image of a life coach. I have overcome these doubts with people by thoroughly explaining what I offer through speaking events and workshops, my videos, website, books and phone calls about my coaching programs. When people meet me, they can see, hear and feel that I am an authentic person who walks the talk, and deeply cares about others. Additionally, feedback, awards, testimonials, possibly a book or two, and referrals all help erase any doubts people have about life coaches.

6. How can a life coach help someone stick to their New Year’s resolutions, or establish them? A life coach can help someone establish new year's goals and resolutions by meeting with them and working on fun goal setting  exercises, and going over tools for achieving goals. The life coach can work with the client all year to be an accountability partner, checking in, adapting, and coaching them through their top goals and dreams to ensure that all are achieved and that their life becomes even better.

7. What are some common issues you see in your clients at the beginning of a new year, and what are some tips or practices you use to help with those issues? Some common issues that I see in my clients at the start of the year are uncertainty and fear coming up about what they may or may not achieve, being unclear on what goals to set, wanting to make big changes, but not knowing where to begin, and being overwhelmed by all that they want in life. These clients often enroll in my 6-12 month VIP programs where we work on getting rid of the fear, becoming more powerful and confident , getting focused on what the client really wants, making space for greatness to come in , balancing their schedule, and creating an action plan. We do this through  coaching, exercises, visualizations, teachings, discussions and more.

8. If you are willing to share, what are some resolutions you have made this year and how do you plan to fulfill them? Some of the resolutions and goals I've created for myself this year include planning, hosting and speaking at three large events, speaking at many businesses, groups and corporations,  producing and hosting my own web series, Passion Power Confidence, getting more guest spots, and hosting on network television, and traveling at least 6 times a year with my family. I ensure I will fulfill these because I am fueled by my passion for each and know that they are part of my life's purpose for helping millions of people lead extraordinary lives. I have each written out in a special goal setting method, regularly evaluate how I am doing, and visualize success often. I also create a vision board for the goals, and have several accountability partners to talk with regularly to ensure my success. Additionally, for large and small steps achieved, I reward myself in both big and little ways.

9. Have you made resolutions in the past that you did not stick with? If so, what do you think went wrong and how could have it been prevented? In the past I have made resolutions that I didn't stick with and realized that this was because my " why" was not strong enough. A goal has to make you excited, feeling ignited and fuel you toward it's achievement. I now am careful to rate each goal 1-10+ and only choose those that rate a ten or higher.

10. What resolutions have you made, or have seen others make, that were successful; what methods were used to succeed? I have made many resolutions that have been successful including writing my book and making it a best seller, living fit and healthy with a vegan diet and fitness plan, and more. I have also seen clients and others achieve resolutions to lose weight and keep it off, repair a love relationship and getting a college degree. The methods used to succeed were proper goal setting, excellent support, feedback and accountability; asking for help when needed, asking for feed back from others along the way, evaluating yourself and regularly working with a coach, mentor or partner. Of course having a passion and love for what they're  going for is a strong "why" and fuels  you too. 

11. What, if any, are some changes to the way you practice life coaching that you will implement this year? Or what do you hope to improve?

This year in addition to my speaking, hosting, and writing I will be offering VIP 6-12 month coaching programs so that I can work long term with people to achieve long term results. I will use more of my ten plus life coaching methods, imagination methodology techniques that I have created and more. I plan to study more techniques to broaden and improve my coaching practice even more. 

12. If there was one thing you would want the public to know about life coaching, what would it be

To think we can always see ourselves clearly or know how others see us can be delusional . Life coaching can help with this. It can be a way to ask for help, grow, learn, achieve more and soar. 

Life coaching can absolutely help you to love your life, feel fulfilled and live extraordinary. Six to twelve months of coaching can shape, change and improve your life in amazing ways.  It can help you be who you truly are and get you to your highest potential. 

13. Any other comments to add?

I am genuinely thrilled to work with people 1:1 or in groups to help them lead and live ten plus extraordinary lives. This fuels me to always go the extra mile with helping people. My biggest reward is seeing people shift into their highest power and potential. 

 

What is a Life Coach? by Kim Somers Egelsee

A life coach is someone who walks the walk and talks the talk of a successful, fulfilling, and happy life. They know how to balance things in their life, have positive relationships and are extremely authentic.  They are often trained in many different modalities with varying college degrees, and often have experience in self help or personal development.  A true coach will help their clients with issues, problems or any confusion they have, by helping them have breakthroughs as to why these are occurring, help them to change their behavior, attitude and communication, and enable them to repair, heal and improve their lives. A great coach will help their clients find, focus and get clear on what they truly want, who they are and to live their passions. They will empower  people to change their life for the better, change anything that isn't working, and heal emotions. An extraordinary coach elevates their client to push them past what they formerly believed they were capable of, and helps them get to their potential. They are an accountability partner, mentor and teacher too.