A successful industrialist, educator, writer and a business advisor, Shiv Khera is a self-made speaker and motivator who has touched million lives through his inspirational work. A charismatic personality that inspires and encourages people, he is an Indian-origin speaker whose self-motivated personal messages have travelled across the globe.

In this video, he has laid out the traits of winners with inspiring examples of a wrestler and high-jump champion. Watch the video and learn how can you turn a weakness into a strength?

“The best idea will not work unless you work the idea.”

Even winners lose sometimes; great champions are known to have bitten the dust and have been humbled by defeat. However, what separates a true champion is the innate tendency to shrug off the occasional defeat as a mere obstacle in their quest for the ultimate victory.

Take for example, Roger Federer. He has crossed the age of 30, an age when most would expect tennis players to go downhill; he hadn’t won a Grand Slam for a couple of years and was becoming a lot more used to defeats at the hands of other top notch players on the men’s circuit. Increasingly, Roger Federer was being branded a ‘has been’ – an all-time great of the game, nevertheless- but someone who was past his prime and unlikely to be a serious championship contender at the Majors.

But, beware the man who truly believes! Beware the man who is prepared, who continues to put in loads of hard work with total commitment, dedication and unflinching determination– victory is never too far for such a person. A person like that hardly fits in on the side of the vanquished; it is inevitable that he will find himself a victor, sooner rather than later.

That is precisely what happened at Wimbledon 2012. Roger Federer overcame sceptics to win his 7th Wimbledon championship, in the process dashing not just the hopes of Andy Murray but also of entire Britain. In his post-match conference, Federer made a telling statement, “I never stopped believing.” He said he always knew that he was good enough, he was preparing hard, putting in the hard yards and playing great tennis too; so, it was only a matter of time before victory would be his.

That is the power of belief. Even when one’s confidence may get shaken at times, a strong foundation of belief provides the requisite strength to hold everything together and take one towards success.

Chant the “I Can” mantra
“Yes! I can” is one of the most important mantras for a winner; an amazingly powerful mantra that can propel one to the seemingly unscalable heights of success.

- Jeet Victor
Jeet Victor is an inspirational writer who writes on a range of topics related to winning, success, motivation and self-actualisation.

The prolific writer has written several motivational books which emphasizes on achieving your personal goal by making strategies. He has spent around 25 years to identify why everyone doesn’t achieve happiness and financial success? Hill laid out 13 principles of success in the form of philosophy in his motivational self-help debut writing, “Think and Grow Rich”. As a publisher, he owned a media house that has published few of his works. Think And Grow Rich’s second edition, a rework and a compressed version of the original, was released in the year 1960.

As a person, Hill was a versatile man, a contingent entrepreneur who became an author and later on a leading advisor to some of the United States’ millionaires and also to Franklin D. Roosevelt, The President. He always preached about personal beliefs and its role in success. Hill’s last work “You Can Work Your Own Miracles” got printed after he departed in November of 1970.

“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.”

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”

In my case, I always believed in the power of positive thinking, but never practiced it when in difficult situations. Like me, there are several people who learn the important lessons of life the hard way.

Few years ago, when I was diagnosed with a rare skin disorder, which had no cure, I went into a self-imposed exile. As the disorder was progressing with each day, I shunned the world out of the fear of isolation and antagonism from the society. Although, I knew stress and negative thinking was weighing down the treatment results, I couldn’t stop myself from imagining me in a rotten state. This mental breakdown perhaps made my family introduce me to this life changing book named, As a Man Thinketh.

Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: —
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking-glass.

For me, these inspiring first lines by James Allen set the tone of a book that could literally change my destiny. The book tells us that our thoughts control our actions and make us what we are. If our thoughts are pure and generous, our actions would be so and if our thoughts are loaded with greed, we would come across as a selfish and paranoid person.

“As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,” not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”

Consider the case of a plant. Without a seed, a plant would not come into life. Similarly, the seeds of your thoughts are responsible for any act you do. Even the unplanned or spontaneous acts are a mirror to your thoughts.

“As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called “spontaneous” and “unpremeditated” as to those, which are deliberately executed.”

James Allen’s practical way towards life has inspired several millions of people to attain success in their endeavors. As a Man Thinketh is a book that stresses the power that each individual has towards shaping his/her own character and living with peace and happiness.

“As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.”

In short, all of us possess the power and wisdom within us to transform ourselves to what we aim to. Luck or destiny is not what determines your life, it your thoughts that has brought you to this state and in future also it will guide you to what you visualize.

“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it.”

As you sow, so shall you reap… if you can understand this, your life would change overnight. It has certainly for me. Whenever you feel like you are stuck, re-visit the book and learn your lesson. After all, you are what you think of yourself…winners swear by this phrase As a Man Thinketh…

Few days back, when I read this quote which is by the way written by a very successful US plastic surgeon, motivational author, and creator of the Psycho-Cybernetics self-help book, Maxwell Maltz, I thought it must be so easy for him to churn out such motivational lines. Obviously, for a guy who has tasted success in multiple roles as a plastic surgeon and then as an author with a bestseller self help book, quoting on success and the power of self-image must be easy. But, isn’t this quote profoundly inspiring? You bet it is.

Have you ever come across a situation when it becomes difficult to keep your bicycle steady due to some problems in the tire? You are trying hard to keep the bicycle steady, but it continues to veer to the left or right. The same thing happens when we try to attain a goal without aligning our self image to the goal. No matter how hard you push, you would not achieve the goal unless you readjust the tire.

This is what Psycho-Cybernetics, a classic self-help book, talks about. According to the author of the book, most of us fail to succeed in our goals due to the mental picture we have of ourselves.  Each of us has a mental image of ourselves that defines our perception of what we think we are. These perceptions are based on our belief that we have developed through our past experiences. May be in your childhood you developed a belief on others reaction to some particular situation. These beliefs of what sort of person we are stays with us forever and we don’t bother to question much on these.

Escaping your self-image is not possible. If you believe that you hate public speaking, you won’t be able to enjoy it and if you think exercising is beyond your capabilities, you will not be able to lose weight and keep yourself fit. Likewise, if you nurture a self-image of being a failure, you would unconsciously find an approach to turn an opportunity into a failure. To achieve your goals, there is no other way but to modify your self- image. According to Maltz,

• Self-image determines your personality and behavior
• It controls your action
• It defines the boundaries of what you can do and cannot do
• Modifying and expanding your self-image means expanding your limits of capability

Once you are able to get rid of your negative self-image, you will be able to hold up an image of the intended target. Your behavior and personality will automatically adjust in a course of time to attain the target.  It is obvious that change of our self-image cannot be done overnight, as stated earlier, experiences has the power to mould your self-image. That means if you consciously picture yourself as a success, your brain as well as nervous system will guide you to the process automatically for all events in the future.

Therefore, if you want to achieve success in your goals, visualize the right self-image.

On stage, he comes off as quite confident. Watching him, you’d think he was loaded with self-esteem.

In fact, the opposite is true. And at a recent presentation, he let his audience in on this personality “flaw” right from the start.

Now I wouldn’t recommend doing this all the time. If, for example, you are delivering a sales presentation to a room full of businessmen, playing the “low self-esteem card” could backfire. Your listeners might think: “Gee, does this guy need a hug or something?”

But in my friend’s case, it helped him bond with his audience immediately.

Why? Because he was giving a speech at a self-improvement seminar. He knew his audience — and he knew what they would respond to.

His eager listeners almost certainly thought, “WOW! This guy has his own image problem. And yet, he’s accomplished all his goals. If he can do it… so can I!”

But though my friend has proven that you don’t need high self-esteem to be an effective speaker (or a successful entrepreneur) — he’s also shown that you need to be able to present your material with aplomb and conviction.

Fact is, your audience starts checking you out the minute you step on stage.

They look at the way you’re dressed and the way you move. But it’s the way you deliver your speech that makes the biggest impression on them.

Telltale signs that you have low self-esteem:

• You stand up there and just read off PowerPoint bullets.
• You don’t make eye contact with your audience.
• You use unnatural hand motions.
• You speak softly, and your voice tends to trail off at the end of a sentence.

Whether your self-esteem is high, low, or somewhere in the middle, you can learn how to turn on the switch when it’s “show time” and put on a splendid performance.

It starts with knowing your subject inside out. When you feel like an expert, you will exude self-confidence from every pore.

That said, here are four tips to help you give one great presentation after another — and keep getting asked back.

1. Deliver One Big Idea

As Michael Masterson often says… every effective communication is based on one BIG IDEA. Create a speech that has one BIG IDEA and it will stand out in the hearts and minds of your audience.

Worried about length? Don’t be! You do not have to deliver a long and exhaustive speech for it to make an impact.

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address — with just 271 words — is one of the most quoted and most powerful speeches ever given. Imagine: In less than 3 minutes, Lincoln not only summarized the Civil War, but redefined it as a struggle for freedom and equality!

2. Speak in the Moment

Practice, practice, practice… so the words, as Shakespeare said (when he was alive of, course) are spoken “trippingly on the tongue.” Do not give a canned speech or read your presentation. Outline your important points, know them, and then speak to your audience as if it is one person sitting across from you and hanging on every word you say.

3. Tell Stories

Don’t quote boring industry facts and figures. Any “B” speaker can do that. Be an “A” speaker. Capture your audience’s attention with a story. If you are giving a speech on customer service, for example, tell them a customer service horror story. They will LOVE it!

Tell the truth… but embellish the anecdote a bit (using dramatic license, and adding humor if you can). The idea is to eventually lead your audience to the conclusion that you (or the product/service you are selling) have the solutions to their problems.

4. Fake It ‘Til You Make It

That’s what most top-gun speakers did in the beginning. With enough stage time, you’ll internalize what you need to know to overcome your self-confidence “issues.” And then, it will be second nature to come across as cool, collected, and in control.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.By Peter Fogel.

After World War II, a small group of people gathered with its leaders in a burnt-out departmental store in devastated Tokyo. They had nothing but the strong belief that they could develop technologies that would help rebuild Japan’s economy, which had been destroyed by the war. Those twenty people had the conviction that even though Japan did not have sufficient natural resources, it did have the necessary people-power.

The company they founded amid the debris was Sony, an immense success story today. What kept Akio Morita, the CEO of Sony Corporation, going was the Power of Self-confidence.

Self-confidence is an attitude which helps to build a positive and realistic perception of ourselves and our abilities. It is about expressing our assertiveness, optimism, enthusiasm, affection, pride, independence and trust. Though we may be inspired in a moment to achieve something great in life, self-confidence is not built overnight. It is the affirmation and reaffirmation of positive and self-empowering beliefs. Our self-confidence is shaped by what we repeatedly tell our subconscious mind.

The law of self-confidence says that whatever you believe with certainty will become your reality. If you repeat something over and over to yourself, your subconscious mind starts believing it to be real. It cannot distinguish between positive and negative things. If you say to yourself ‘I can’t’, it will believe it; if you say ‘Yes, I can’, it will believe that too.

‘Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.’
—C.W. Longenecker

All great achievers, all self-made millionaires and anyone who ever achieved anything worthwhile started with self-doubt. Most of us begin with doubt and an inferiority complex. Every man or woman who has ever achieved anything worthwhile went through a phase where they had little or no confidence. But they did not give up. With courage and faith in themselves, they one day set out on the long journey towards their goal.

Be it an interview, an examination, an instance of public speaking or anything else, you can ‘feel’ the situation you are about to face—and, more important, prepare yourself for it—beforehand. The more you put yourself in real-life situations, the more your confidence will grow and the better your performance will be. So practise, practise, practise and your self-confidence will get a boost.

Self-confidence is formed through positive beliefs. Self-confidence comes through repetitive affirmation. It is strengthened by positive thoughts that give us courage and confidence to do things right. As you start believing in yourself, your self-confidence builds up.

Two Action Steps:

Step 1: Say to yourself daily in the morning as you get up: I’m building upon my self-confidence today and feel myself changing and improving each day.

Step 2: Say to yourself daily before going to sleep: I dream and have confidence in my dreams. I believe I can fulfil my dreams.

Success Mantra: Have full confidence in your powers. Keep telling yourself that your future will evolve just the way you want it to—and that this will happen sooner rather than later.