Yippee! It is a brand new day - the first day of a brand new year! How exciting and so much to look forward to. I am hoping that this year is not only the beginning of a New Year for you and me, but also a brand new page in a brand new chapter of our lives. Happy New Year!

Let us start the New Year filled with Confidence that this is going to be the best year ever!

On that note - let's talk about confidence - Real Self-Confidence.

What are the characteristics of true confidence?

Let's face it - sometimes you will meet someone that seems to be really confident and on top of things... someone that others seem to look up to, and then they will turn around and belittle and humiliate someone else. He or she will say something horribly cruel or demeaning and you will realize that their confidence is just a facade.

Real confidence does not feel the need to belittle or disparage someone in order to prove a point... or even worse, to prove their own self-worth.

True confidence is gracious and generous, giving and kind... Real Confidence has NO need to prove itself.

Someone with Real Confidence is trust-worthy and reliable, and consistent...

Let us face it... we are all very confident in certain areas of our lives, and then in other areas it is difficult to feel quite so confident. It is true that you are the most confident in your area of expertise, whatever it may be - and when you are in a familiar setting, it is much easier to display true confidence.

To me, the most important area you want to work on being the most confident in is you! When you are confident in your self and self-assured as a person, you can be successful in anything you do.

In Society today we tend to put so much emphasis on physical appearance. There are all kinds of procedures and cosmetics to help us look the best we can.

A little bit of Botox here and some Collagen there, Face lifts and tummy tucks, oh, and don't forget about the rows and rows of skin care products there are to choose from.

Now don't get me wrong - I am not against any of the above-mentioned. We do what we can to stay young and attractive. But the thing is that with all these creams and procedures you won't necessarily be a happier more radiant person.

If you are an unhappy and pessimistic person, no amount of surgeries or creams in the world is going to change the way you see yourself in the mirror or at the same time what others see when they look at you.

The thing is, what we most often do not realize, is that your physical appearance can be greatly influenced by your attitude, personality, your poise, your inner self and most importantly - self-acceptance....

Your hands are tools of expression.  Just like with your facial expressions, your hands are very instrumental in expressing how you feel.  You use your hands every day as a mode of expression - they are huge part of your body language signals.

Not only that, but we use our hands every day for hundreds of tasks.  Your hands hold your pen to write, they have to move fast to type, they open bottles and jars... maybe you are a massage therapist and you use your hands to flow healing energy and you need gentle strength...

Most of you received my email last week about the little mishap I had with my hair. Actually most of the orange washed out after a day or two and after realizing how drab my hair was looking I decided that today was the day I needed to go and get my hair done. So off to the Salon here on the ship I went...

While sitting there and having my hair done, I watched as people came in and out. I was there for quite a while as I needed color and cut.

But it struck me that every single person that walked in looked tired and drug down, or totally preoccupied and hopelessly lack luster...

Yesterday while dining at a quaint Greek restaurant with an amazing view and delicious food on top of the volcano in Santorini, Greece, I was marveling at how many beautiful people there are. Pretty womanly faces and handsome men everywhere. Bodies that have been worked out and impeccably dressed. People from all over the world - tourists and locals.

Santorini - Greece

But it struck me right away how much more stunning and striking majority of these people could be if only they were just made aware of how they carry and present these beautiful bodies and lovely faces to others.

There are attractive people everywhere, but very few of them have been made aware of the power of their posture and their body language. They are totally unaware of the fact that they can all be even so much more stunning and noticeable. So much more magnetic and appreciated. More respected and cherished by the people they interact with.

Sometimes we just need a little reminder that we are special and that by simply improving our posture we can be even more startlingly eye- catching and impressive.

That is what the Pizzazz Factor does... it puts you in touch again with your greater-self, the part of you that went to sleep and now needs a serious wake-up call. Somewhere along the line the monotony of life kicked in and you forgot that there is a part of you that strives to be noticed, the part of you that wants to stand out and be remembered.

Today I am writing to you from beautiful Sunny South Africa.  It is so good to be home and to see my family... this will be my first Christmas at home in seven years and I am treasuring every moment with my loved ones.

I know a lot of you can't even imagine a summer Christmas, but that is what I am used to - sunshine, beaches and barbeques.

Late this afternoon at sunset my mom and I were sitting outside on the patio drinking tea and chatting like old times.  We were talking about many things but one of the topics that came up was self-criticism.

My mother in her infinite wisdom reminded me how hard we can be on ourselves.  We can be so quick to find fault and criticize ourselves, and the truth is that others very seldom see what we see - we are really our own worst critic.

When you look in the mirror there are a myriad of things you can find wrong with your own appearance. I know I do... or I should say - I used to.

I'm always telling you that you should not compare yourself with others because you are your own unique person, but the other big mistake we make is to judge ourselves way too harshly.

You need to be friendly to yourself - go easy on yourself and remember that other people very seldom see the faults and so-called imperfections that you see when you look in the mirror.

You need to start today - right away - when you look in the mirror, to seek out the good and the beautiful things about yourself, no matter how small.  Focus on those, accentuate those and know that others will only notice those.

We get so hung up on our insecurities that we end up hiding behind them, and when you do that, those insecurities come to the forefront for everyone to see. But when you concentrate on and accentuate your good points, and you concentrate on those - that is what others will see - and believe me, you will also feel a whole lot happier!

Stop right now being so hard on yourself, stop being so critical of your own appearance. -  don't get me wrong, you should look after yourself and dress up and eat healthy and make yourself look the best you can... and once you have done that, you can know that you can feel confident.  Your confidence is what others see. That confidence is very attractive and alluring.



So stop being so critical... you are unique and you are special - when you have that attitude, that is exactly what others notice!

The Pizzazz Factor brings out the best in you... when you walk, talk and live with Pizzazz, those little so- called imperfections fade into the background and all others see is your unmistakable confidence, pride and your powerfully magnetic presence.


P.S.  Practice every day in front of the mirror to see the best in yourself.  Make it your goal to pick one attribute in yourself every day - write it down and see your list grow as the weeks go by.  Remind yourself during the day of that list and smile every time you think about it. You are beautiful!