Body language is communication without words. It is anything someone does to which someone else assigns meaning. Not all of the “signals” a person
sends are intentional and often they are “not picked up” or misinterpreted. Nonverbal behavior is complex, subtle, and multichannel. It may be structured (following certain rules) but is more likely to be unstructured; it may be continuous, unlike language, which comes in disconnected units; it may be learnt but some functions seem innate; and it may be “right-” as opposed to “left-brained.”It is no wonder that so many people are fascinated by body language. We are all “people watchers” and amateur psychologists, partly because we have to be.
There’s a lot of power in body language – and it can define who you are and what you think about yourself. In her TED Talk, Amy Cuddy talked just about the power of body language, how our own self-worth depends on how we sit, stand, walk, talk and so on, and undoubtedly it became one of the
most famous TED talks ever. So, how is it that you should alter your body language to become more confident and have a better self-esteem? Here we decode it.
OPEN UP AND LOOK UP:
What happens when you are scared and feeling down? You tend to curl up and become a little weakling. Exactly on the contrary, when you are confident, you sit, walk and stand straight. So, as Amy also said it, make sure that you sit straight in your chair and have something that keeps your
head high.
You can place a schedule chart, some photos or anything a little above your eye level so that in a bid to look at it, you keep your head high.
Though, this may sound like too insignificant a change but as we said it, your body language can work wonders, and sometimes even without you realizing it.
TRY THESE TWO POWER POSITIONS:
Amy also gave two positions that powerful people can be seen doing often. First, stand with your hands placed at your hips. Second, sit with your feet placed at a table or desk ahead of you while your roll your hands backwards and place them behind your head with elbows pointing outward. Sure, you can’t do these while you are at a meeting but practise them whenever feasible as the change is not only limited to the time when you are doing these.
DON’T TELL YOURSELF WHAT YOU ARE NOT:
A traditional advice would be to look in the mirror every day and appreciate yourself. However, recent researches are counterintuitive. Blogger Eric Barker and professor of psychology Kristin Neff believe that you must forgive yourself for what you are not. One must not create a false sense of
self-worth. Accept what you are and you are less likely to feelhumiliated or incompetent if something goes against you.
ERASE THE PHRASE: THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS WITH ME:
The above phrase is associated to negativity that you believe spirals in your life. It is never, ever a positive spiral that you use it for. So, what you got to do is to erase it from your mind.
Instead, the next time your boss points you out or you miss your train or your size of a dress isn’t available, simply believe that these things happen with everyone every some time.
JITTERS SHOULD MEAN EXCITEMENT, NOT PANIC:
It is common to have jitters run down your body when you have an interview lined up or when you have to speak on the stage. Instead of looking at it as panic, call it excitement. If you change your perspective, you will change your world.
KNOW WHAT’S YOUR CUE:
A study pointed out that people who wore lab coats while doing a certain job committed half the errors than those who wore their street clothes. This in a way points out what works for someone to make him concentrate better, commit less errors and do a better job.
It could be certain kind of dresses, a certain music track or a certain way that you choose to smell that could boost your confidence up. Know what’s your cue and what works for you.
EXERCISE:
It could be in any form – yoga, Zumba, aerobics or Tabata. The point is that you sweat out. When you do regular physical exercise, you feel more confident about yourself in general.