Tag Archives: Self-help

Gillian Anderson to Write a ‘Revolutionary’ Self-help Book for Women

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that former (and future) X-Files star Gillian Anderson is set to write a self-help guide for women titled WE.

Anderson who stars on the British crime drama The Fall, is teaming up with journalist/activist Jennifer Nadel to write a book targeted at women (and anyone who identifies themselves as female).

WE, which publisher Atria is describing as “revolutionary,” will hit shelves (both physical and digital) in 8th March 2016, which of course is International Women’s Day.

Also read: Gillian Anderson Says She Would Not Rule Out Another Same Sex Romance

Anderson explains that her and Nadel’s book will aim to, “Provide a path to inner freedom and happiness.”

call-out to all women around the world – and by women I include girls, transgender, anyone who identifies themselves as being intrinsically female…that we need to stick together and stand up for each other and not compete against each other.”

Nadel adds…

There is a point at which everything intersects – the psychological, the spiritual, the material, and the political. WE is about taking a journey to that point, and when we reach it suddenly everything becomes possible.”

Anderson has been a champion for women’s right supporting reproductive freedom, human rights and raising money for neurofibromatosis research, a disease that killed her brother. Nadel, her new co-author, wrote a book about Sara Thornton, a British woman who was convicted of the 1989 killing of her abusive husband and whose case became a flashpoint in the debate about how the courts should deal with domestic violence. She’s also been an activist for families who had a relative die in police custody and was a Green Party candidate for parliament.

You can read more about this ambitious new project on The Hollywood Reporter.

 

The Mystery of Confidence Solved

Confidence is a rare commodity. Only few of us have a lot of it and everybody wishes they had more of it. Confident people seem happier, more fulfilled and more likely to get to the top of their chosen profession. But what’s the secret? What can we do to boost our confidence?

One: [tweet_dis]Don’t make excuses. Confident people take responsibility for themselves, and they don’t blame others for their misfortunes. In this sense, confidence is closely linked to courage.[/tweet_dis]

Two: Embrace fear. Confront the things that most scare you and your confidence will grow and grow. Nobody gets to where they want in life without taking a few risks. Anyway, you often find that your perception of something is a lot more scary than the reality of it. As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’

Three:  [tweet_dis] Avoid too much comfort. Dreams die a quick death when you stay in your comfort zone, so take expeditions out of it as often as you possibly can.  [/tweet_dis]Whether this is travelling to new and challenging destinations or meeting new people, you have to keep diversifying your experience or your self-confidence will start to atrophy.

Four: They don’t procrastinate. Confidence and commitment go hand-in-hand, that’s a fact of life. There’s no use in lazing around and making excuses for not doing what really has to be done.

Five: Be yourself – genuinely and proudly. People who are too obsessed with what others think of them will never gain the confidence they need to strike out on their own. Individuality and the bravery to be yourself will give you a bedrock of confidence to help you achieve anything.

The Secret of Happiness in 5 Easy Steps

What is it that happy and fulfilled people do that makes them so different to failures and depressives? A new book, 1000 Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently by spiritual advisors Marc and Angel, seeks to answer that question.

Here are their top five tips for a happier existence:

  1. Spend time with people you have fun with and who love and respect you. You will have a much better time in their company and won’t feel pressure to impress or conform to someone else’s expectations of you.
  2. Don’t avoid life’s problems and challenges. You shouldn’t be a slave to your problems, you should be able to overcome them by confronting them head-on. Action and discipline are the key requirements here. Don’t ignore or evade the trickier aspects of life as this will mean you are living in a state of denial. Ultimately that will only lead to misery.
  3. Be honest about everything. You can’t live a fulfilled life without being honest about what you want, what you need and who you want to be with. The Ancient Greek adage ‘know thyself’ is so important here – you cannot begin to be happy unless you know who you are and are satisfied with it.
  4. Make yourself your main priority. This isn’t about being selfish, it’s about taking care of your needs. Far too many people invest all their energy in trying to please others or change their lives, when in fact they ought to focus on themselves first.
  5. Be yourself – always and forever. Everybody is an individual and there’s no point trying to be someone else – that’s a surefire recipe for un-happiness. You have thoughts and feelings that are completely unique and you should be proud of that.