You do not have to look far to find war and negativity, do you? There is always something atrocious being reported on the news - if you care to watch it. Indeed, most of us spend the majority of our days warring with ourselves!

Until we, as individuals, can find peace of mind, how can we expect society as a whole to live in harmony?

The most amazing thing I've found about enthusiasm is that it is infectious! By simply being more positive, you will find that people enjoy being around you and will come to you for advice because you won't be putting energy into their problems, you'll be looking for solutions. If you were to inspire just 5 people and they were to do the same (and so on), you could create quite an impact, couldn't you?

The place to start is your thoughts. Make an agreement today to think only positive thoughts. All you need do is catch yourself when you find yourself being negative and smile - this in itself will take the edge off any negative dialogue. Another great place to start is by repeating a mantra, such as 'I am powerful beyond all belief'. The more often you repeat your mantra, the better you will feel. The best time is just before bed; in order to make your dreams as sweet as possible and first thing in the morning; so that you start your day in the right mood.

I use this one because most people only use a fraction of their ability - this is often because they lack self belief. So, you see, It is important to remind yourself how incredible you are, isn't it?

One of my greatest passions is authentic communication. You may wonder what I mean by this... One only has to listen to an automated message to understand. The one thing that can't be replaced by a machine, is the emotional connection one feels when someone is speaking from the heart.

I often meet people who mistakenly believe that raising their voice gives them an appearance of confidence. In fact, speaking overly loudly can be as detrimental as speaking in a timid manner. An overly loud voice can be jarring on the ear and generally unsettling. Conversely, a soft, calm voice reassures and makes people feel comforted.

Have you ever noticed how close you feel to someone when consoling them after a bereavement or honestly giving your opinion during a heart to heart discussion? During these occasions, the voice actually resonates in the chest around the heart, so you are quite literally speaking from the heart. A great example of this style of speaking is the conscious, evolutionary author, Nicolya Christi.

It is for this reason, that I ask my public speaking students to choose their topics wisely. If you really want to make an impact, speak only about that which you are passionate.

When I was at college studying Sociology, I came across a theory known as 'the self fulfilling prophecy'. It was used in conjunction with case studies about children who were labelled as 'smart' or academically 'weak'. One such study was performed whereby a new teacher was told that a certain group of children were academic 'achievers' when in fact they were in an 'average' ability stream. These children fulfilled this label by getting higher results.

Recently, I found myself labelling my sister, as having an excellent memory. My mum often calls her 'an elephant' (apparently elephants have good memories). On this occasion, she miraculously remembered someone's name when she had met the person for all of 10 minutes 3 years previously! The same day I copied her in on an email, her response was 'they don't call you a communications expert for nothing'!

This comment reminded me about the 'self fulfilling prophecy'. Only, on this occasion, I had created the label. I remember feeling tentative about introducing myself at networking events a few years ago - was I really an expert in my field? A few years down the line and I feel much more congruent when marketing myself. You see, labels can become like mantras. If you repeat something enough times, with enough certainty, it becomes your reality.

My challenge to you, is to reassess the way you talk about yourself. This doesn't have to mean giving yourself a label or a title, it can be as simple as speaking more positively about yourself. Some of you may remember my blog about the time I so cleverly reminded myself to 'forget my trainers' :) this shows us what happens when we are not careful with our language.

There is a wonderful belief within the thinking of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) that we are not our behaviour.

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, it took me a long time to fully understand this.

Interestingly, we define people all the time: she is clever, he is shy, she is chatty... These are all just strategies. I shall clarify what I mean by this, at various intervals throughout our lives we develop 'coping strategies'. At school, some people become the 'class clown' or 'bully', others become a 'teacher's pet'. These strategies help them to function in some way. Often, teachers, family and peers confirm these strategies by labelling people in this way.

A strategy can be formed in response to a trauma. One such as fear or anxiety is your body's way of warning you that you're going to get hurt... Interestingly, strategies tend to stick- especially when we keep reconfirming them. It is unlikely that a strategy formed whilst we are at primary school would still be relevant once you enter the working world.

You may be wondering what can be done to create new strategies?

Intention is key here. A great mantra is 'confidence can be learned' or 'With every day that passes, I am becoming more and more confident in every way.' A change in the way that you speak to yourself would be incredibly beneficial.

There are lots of other strategies on my website. It doesn't matter which one you use, the important thing is that you use one that works for you.