To have got to my age and realised that self improvement is a good thing?

[googlenut]

Ok bit contrived to put in this topic but not sure where would get traffic. Ok always been a bit of a chugging thru life kind of person. But have found myself in my more advanced years on a career path that I love. And it is demanding more and more of me - public speaking, leadership, confidence, drive. I think I lack in a lot of these skills as never been really bothered before, but love my job and want to work on being the type of person who installs confidence in people.
So what have been the best books, courses or life events that have made you make great strides in these areas? Or do you think people are just born with these skills?

I was born fabulous.

Seriously though, I think seeking self improvement is an important part of growing up. That life events and learning from mistakes, rather than books, and the people you meet are most important.

Having said that, I don't think people are born with these qualities, they're all learnt.

Ok tell me how to be fab too!!

You are fab read your OP!

Aww bless u but I need to be fabber!!

I really like Michael Heppells books, they are on amazon. I find them quick and easy to read with lots of ideas.

Ooh great will look him up!

best things I have done recently have both been learning new (and entirely unrelated to my career) skills. In my case learning to ski, which then gave me the confidence to (finally) learn to drive. Both things taught me so many new things not just about the particular skill but about myself and my strengths and weakness, and and each accomplishment gave me a bit more confidence in my general life. So you don't need books, just pick something you've always wanted to try or feel scared of trying!

Good advice. Thought I might learn to play the piano! Also public speaking is my big scary thing so conquering that would be a biggy!

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For public speaking, have a look and see if there is a toast masters near you. Its basically a public speaking club - you can follow their course and do a talk every few weeks on which you'll get feed back, but they also do other exercises to get you going. Its good fun and relaxed, well my group was, and helped with self confidence hugely.

Thank you - I've heard of toastmasters and heard good reports.