We all feel anxious from time to time, but sometimes those feelings of anxiety blossom into something more: a panic or anxiety attack.

If you have experienced feelings of anxiety, here’s how you can tell if you might be having a panic attack.

When you are having a panic attack, you may find it hard to breathe, or feel short of breath.

This can be a scary feeling, and can cause your other symptoms to become more intense. Whenever you are feeling short of breath, try to calm yourself and take several deep breaths and see if that helps.

Along with shortness of breath, you may find your heart pounding rapidly and you may find yourself feeling faint. If you are experiencing a severe panic attack, you may even feel like you are dying.

Not everyone experiences every symptom of a panic attack. There are natural ways to handle stress and anxiety. If these do not work for you, consult your doctor.

If your symptoms of a panic attack have come on suddenly, you could have an undiagnosed thyroid problem. If there are no underlying physical reasons for your panic attacks, you may need medication to help you with this problem.

In Dale Carnegie’s own words: “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain…and most fools do…” This in essence is what criticism is all about, and how we take criticism depends on our general attitude towards life, and how we see ourselves.

When someone criticizes, for instance, some work that you have done, even though you have put in several long hours to complete it, you may think, “Why is it that he is smarter than me? Am I that stupid?” or you may think, “I have had enough. I quit!” or, “I will kill him for what he has said to me! Who does he think he is? I know better than him!!!”

Don’t worry; these are all typical reactions and there is nothing at all wrong with you. However, it would help you greatly if you were to learn a few tips on how to handle criticism and take things in your stride.

• First and foremost, learn to enjoy criticism. Take everything with a sense of humor, and also make up your mind that you will try to avoid making the same mistake the next time.

Many of us have to struggle to become assertive and stand up for ourselves. If you have taken this positive step forward, congratulations!

You may notice that those around you may be having a bit of trouble adjusting to the new you.

Here are some ideas that may help you grow comfortable with the newness in yourself. Do not be tempted to go back to the way you were to please others.

Others will adapt and become more comfortable with you as you become more comfortable with yourself.

Remember that asserting yourself takes practice. You may want to plan ahead what you will say and how you will to say it. It is possible that you may have come across as being more aggressive than you have intended. Practice will make sure that you have just the right effect.

State your ideas and positions clearly, but directly. Know where you are willing to give ground and where you won’t. The more forethought you have, the more comfortable you will be expressing yourself in a new way.

Do you recognize any of the following things about you?

• You seem to be stuck in a sort of life that you have never wanted or asked for, and you want to do something different.
• You want to move on, but you have no idea of how to attain the level you want, or even what you have to do to get there.
• You are aware of your own potential, and would like to apply this towards achieving more, but you do not know how to do this.
• You feel that you lack the clarity and the commitment to carry forward the things you need to do in order to taste the fruits of success.
• You feel that you are too busy doing something that you never wanted to do in the first place, and feel that you are doing something really wrong in your life.

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, then you do need a change in your life, a change that will give you self motivation and push you on the path towards success.

How exactly do you propose to bring about this change? Here are some tips for you:

There is a difference between being shy and having a social phobia. The terms are often used interchangeably, and that is a shame.

Shyness is more at the level of a habit that you can learn to manage on your own. A phobia is, by definition, life debilitating, and should only be dealt with in a professional setting. Be sure you know the difference.

If you have a problem with shyness, there are a number of steps you can take to help relieve your anxiety and become less shy.

Here are a few hints to start you on your way.

• Remember that almost everyone has experienced shyness during their life. Admit to being shy. Someone worth talking to and spending time with will work to ease you into the setting and conversation. Someone who doesn’t isn’t someone you should bother spending time with.
• Practice being interested in people. Talk to other people, and ask them questions about themselves. Focus on understanding and remembering their answers.
• A key way to overcome shyness is to try to focus your attention elsewhere. When you are focused on something outside yourself, such as another person in conversation, or an activity, you are less likely to feel shy.

Several organizations work under the mistaken assumption and myth that fear can be one of the best motivators for their employees, and that one of the best leadership styles may be that of instilling fear of the leader in the minds of the employees, so that they perform according to the leader’s specifications.

As a matter of fact, using fear as a motivator may turn out to be more detrimental to the organization than the management would have realized if they had sat and thought about it deeply.

For instance, when an employee fears his employer, it will create unnecessary stress and tension in him, and this will in turn mean that he will burn out easily, and also become de-motivated about his work and about his organization [Employee Motivation]. This in turn will become detrimental to his performance and lead to great employee dissatisfaction.

Furthermore, the employee will probably try his best to resist the leader’s directives asking him to improve his performance.

However, at the same time, one has to be aware of the fact that fear to a certain extent can prove to be an excellent motivator.

When you’re feeling sad, you may wonder if you just have “the blues,” or if you are suffering from depression. How can you tell the difference?

The most basic distinction is that depression is a clinical diagnosis of a potentially life-threatening disease.

The blues is a milder state, one that is more transitory and often more of a feeling than a diagnosis.

You should be aware; however, that there is a form of depression called Dysthymia that is a type of chronic depression and sadness.

Dysthymia is sometimes called the “Eeyore disease”. Patients with Dysthymia may experience periods of sadness lasting several years, and they occasionally develop clinical depression.

If you have been feeling sad or blue for several months and you don’t seem to be able to lift yourself out of your bad mood, it is time for a visit to your health care provider.

Several physical illnesses should be ruled out. After that, it may be time for a mental health evaluation. There are many medications available today that can help lift depression, including some that have a mood brightening effect that are particularly helpful for patients with Dysthymia.

When you persuade people, it means that you are getting them to do what you want them to do, and the more successful you are at persuasion, the better your results would be.

Take for instance the reason why most of us do not lie or cheat: it is simply because someone, at some time, persuaded us that this is the wrong thing to do.

If you want to become one of those people who seem to be persuasive enough to convince people into their way of thinking, then here are some tips for you:

• You must, at the outset, believe in yourself completely, and in your abilities and talents. This in itself may act as a persuasive factor.
• Sit down and analyze all your strong and weak points, and know them fully. Decide what you want to do about your weak points, and then go about improving on all your strong points, so that you may be able to project yourself as a strong, confident and capable person who would do a good job of persuading other people into following your line of thinking.