People become what they think of themselves, good and bad.

It may sound strange to say so, but I want to talk about thieves. Not the bandit, shoplifter or pickpocket type, but the kind I like to call ‘smile thieves.’ We all know these people: You wake up happy and ready to conquer the day. You feel great, you look great. Then the smile thief appears and ruins your day with a comment like, ‘Isn’t that dress a little tight?’ or ‘What happened to your hair?’ These people rob you of your smile daily. They steal your confidence, your happiness and your zest for life on a regular basis.

Never give anyone the ability to change your day or mood. Challenges will come into your daily life and you will have to face them, but that’s different from willingly letting smile thieves wreak havoc. Often, these people are jealous of the happiness of others so they search for negatives in people like there is a reward for it.

People become what they think of themselves, good and bad. If you think of yourself as a beautiful, hard­working, successful individual and truly believe it, it will happen. If you see yourself as always struggling, living paycheck to paycheck, just getting by, that is what you will become.

You would never allow someone to reach in your pocket and steal money out of it, so why would you allow anyone to steal what is more important than money: your confidence. You have the power to make life great. If someone tries to change that with a negative comment, call them out on being a ‘smile thief.’

Whatever you do, don’t ever let anyone steal your smile.

5 or 53… It’s Easy

A smile is the most common facial expression and you can do it with as few as five pairs of facial muscles or as many as 53 (not surprisingly, it takes more effort to frown). Smiling also releases endorphins that make us feel better.

Write five affirmations that you can use each day to keep your confidence at an all time high.

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