One day when I was around my early to mid twenties, I went to the hairdressers for my monthly trim. This woman enquired about whether I had heard about the tragic car crash that had recently occured. I hadn’t and she then went on to describe what had happened.

Three young men who were all aged twenty-two, were on the way for an evening in the local public house. One of them decided he would drive and on the way there, partly due to the fact that he was driving too quickly, he lost control of the car. His vehicle had then careered straight into a large tree, all three of the people in the car had died at the scene.

She continued that one of the men which had died, had worked in the butchers, which was only two doors away from her shop. She described the man in question, which turned out to be a person that I knew, just to say hello to. I actually saw him on most mornings and we often smiled at each other, and would say something like, hi there.

Later on when I was at home, I started to think even more about this particular person. Even though he was friendly, he always looked quite stressed and did not seem that happy. If he had known what was about to happen to him, I am sure he would have made the most of the time he had left.

It should not have taken this kind of tragedy to bring me to my senses, but it did. Morbid as it is I pondered on the thought that we all have to die at some stage and that none us know when that day will come. I am sorry if that is a bit morbid, but it is true. Not all of us will live until retirement age and our lives could end tomorrow.

I have always been a bit of a worrier; mainly about my speech I suppose as I had a stuttering speech impediment. I did eventually manage to gain fluency via an intensive one-to-one stuttering therapy course but even then I started to worry about business; I work for a composite door company and for a business cost reduction specialist on a part time basis.

I now have learnt to stop stressing so much – life, I have now learnt, is just too short.

Up until a few years ago many of my friends and family used to call me “a stress head”. Why you may well be thinking? Well quite simply because I seemingly stressed about anything and everything.

So what was the cause of all of this stress? I suppose if I am truthful the majority of my problems at the time came about due to the fact that I had a stutter. This speech impediment had developed when I was at the age of four. As you may well imagine it is something that destroyed my overall confidence levels. Therapy for stammering, at the time, was less than impressive which did not exactly help the situation.

My low self-esteem had a bad affect on many areas of my life, not just my speech. I would worry about what other people thought of me, I would stress about my height and my weight. I was so desperate, for whatever reason, for people to like me. I have to say that this now seems so bizarre however at the time I was being plagued by an army of demons that had taken over my brain. It even affected my career which is within the cheap mobile calls and cheap holidays industries.

As I entered into my twenties I decided that enough was enough. I could no longer live in this way – there surely had to be more to life than this.

There was only one person who was going to get me out of the mess that I was in and that person was me.

I started to work very hard at learning how to increase self-esteem for example. I watched the way in which great fluent talkers spoke and tried to compare it with the way that I spoke. I hoped this would result in me finding the solution to my stuttering problem.

Progress was far from quick however after around a year of battling against my demons I did manage to overcome the stutter and I did manage to discover ways to stop me stressing – it is all about attitude and the way we approach life – think positive and believe in yourself!

Do you lack confidence? Are you looking for advice and tips that could enable you to increase your self-esteem? If you have answered either or both of these questions in the positive then this article may well be of interest to you.

Up until the age of about twenty-one I always seemed to have a lack of self-belief. In truth I did not particularly like myself. I was quite envious of what my friends and family had. They seemingly had it so easy where as for me life was a constant struggle. What I needed was to some how gain confidence.

I had a stutter you see which did make life unbearable at times. I did eventually, at the age of twenty-two, manage to achieve fluency which of course was a great relief. I had however already spent the previous eighteen years struggling to cope with a stuttering or what is also known as stammering problem that virtually destroyed my entire confidence; it also meant that life was quite tough working where I did as a personal injury claims clerk.

At the end of the day I realised that the grass is always greener and that I had to start to realise that I was one of the lucky ones. I had to stop being so hard on myself and at the same time work towards improving the areas of my life that I was not happy with.

I also needed to become a more care-free person – less stress etc. My whole approach to life had to change; I was now going to start to think in a positive manner.

I was attempting a huge overhaul of the way in which I lived my life, it was far from easy. In the end however the hard work and determination did pay off; I am now able to talk fluently with a new found confidence.

I hope that you will also be able to gain in confidence; I will be happy to help in any way that I can.

As a successful businessmen I am now involved in various projects including one which offers Currys voucher codes. This is a great deal fun and I continue to do this for some time to come.

Charisma is all about people’s perceptions; if you follow these steps you will be able to generate right sort of perception of yourself.

The question of how to increase charisma is not a genetic trait or anything particularly complicated, but something that you can in fact learn through using the techniques outlined in this short guide, and more.

Some of the following tips are quite simple, but each are important to helping you change people’s perceptions of you, and in the end improve your charisma and conversation skills. Here are 4 simple tips to help you improve your charisma today:

• Learn to listen: don’t interrupt people when they are talking. This will make people a lot more at eas with you, and a lot more open. Listening is actually more important than talking yourself. This will give you feedback so you can lead the conversation in the direction you want.
• Ask questions: don’t try to bring everything back to yourself. Learn to ask questions related to what the person is saying instead of trying to turn the conversation to topics about yourself. If you can talk in terms of what interests the other person then you wil lcome across much more interesting.
• Learn your weaknesses: And then immerse yourself in difficult situations in order to grow. If you are uncomfortable in large groups, try engaging with smaller groups. Then gradually building to the sizes you are uncomfortable with. Once you do this a few times it won't seem so scary.
• Be comfortable with yourself: others will sense if you are not comfortable with yourself, and will themselves be less comfortable around you. This is a critical idea. If you enjoy your own company then other people will too - they will take their feedback from you.

Use these tips to help you to develop your charisma. However remember that the best improvement will come with practice. Simply reading books on confidence and social skills isn't enough. You will develop more in one evening talking with new people and putting your personality than you will in a month reading books on the subject. All improvement requires action – action is experience.

The more expereince you gain the better you will be at it. So get exercising your charisa now!

We have all seen those surfer types, strutting their stuff on the beach and making everything they do look effortless. I’m sure you’ve asked yourself if it’s something in the water that gives them their confidence or could it be those big surfboards that inflate their self-esteem? Well now surfing can claim the title of the most confidence enhancing sport of all, after new research from Exeter University in England proves it categorically.

Before we examine the reasons why surfing is so good for your ego, let’s explain just how the research was conducted. 20 sports were tested overall and around 200 people took part who did not take part in regular sport themselves. A psychology test was used to measure confidence and was filled in by the participants both before and after they had completed their 3 month involvement in a certain sport. The conclusion from the study was that among all the sports, the participants who had been riding the waves for 3 months showed the highest increases in their confidence test scores.

According to the students who carried out the study, surfing is a sport that promotes confidence in a number of ways. Firstly it takes place outdoors and participants are pitted against the elements. Steve Underfield of the Sports and Exercise Sciences Departments states that gaining control of outdoor surroundings is very empowering and gives people the feeling that they can look after themselves even somewhere traditionally outside of their comfort zone. Additionally, due the very physical nature of surfing, participants usually dramatically improve the way they feel and look, which naturally boosts their confidence. Surfers are often made to look even more healthy by the all-over tan that they often pick up from being outside in the sun for much of the day. Another reason that surfing helps people become more self-assured it that it has ethos of laid back, happy-go-lucky confidence at all times, which is something that rubs off on new comers very quickly indeed.

Runner up in the list of most confidence building sports was cycling, so if you’re in need of an ego boost grab your surfboards or mountain bikes, get outside, and start training today

If you’re anything like most of us, you’re probably feeling a bit uncertain about the way things are going at the moment. The credit crunch has hit everyone hard and for many people that means their confidence has taken a real battering. And if you think about it, that’s what it all boils down to really – confidence. Credit crunch or no, anyone can make a success of themselves if they just have enough confidence that it can work.

You know the sort of people I mean – good looking guys, perfect hair, smooth clean-shaven skin, expensive suit, completely confident both in himself and his business… Most of the time it feels like there’s no way you could ever compete with that, but the truth is it’s all about feeling good about yourself. Give your self esteem a little boost on the most basic level, and you’ll be amazed at the difference that it could make.

A lot of what makes us feel self-conscious is purely physical. If you feel comfortable with the way you look then you’ll find yourself worrying less about the little things, and you’ll have more time to spend thinking about what’s important. A lot of men don’t bother with a skincare routine, but using skin products can actually be one of the easiest ways to quickly improve your self confidence. If you’ve ever suffered from acne or blotchy skin – both of which are often stress related – then using a product from somewhere like Ren will quickly help to clear this up, leaving you feeling more confident from the second you walk out the door. Their range of skincare products are all made from natural ingredients and work to protect your skin and boost its natural softness and function.

Choose the right aftershave that compliments your individual style and scent. The really well-known popular brands are often overused and can seem a bit tacky, so it’s better to go for something a bit more classic and understated like one of the great individual and fresh fragrances from John Varvatos.

When you’re buying a new suit, one which is tailored to fit you will not only make you look great but you’ll feel amazing too. You can’t go wrong with Armani, their suits are classic and immediately identifiable – they may be expensive but they’re worth every penny as you will feel as good as you look and you’ll be oozing confidence when you step out wearing it. Everyone knows if you look gerat then you feel great, and if you can be confident in yourself others will have no trouble placing their own confidence in you too.