Win the Inner Battle to Fight the Outer War

It's funny how you can read so many different books, each with their own point of view and medium of expression, but then notice that they all have the same exact overarching theme.   Not all the books I've been reading have been on the subject of charisma, but apparently, all the authors had a conference and decided to write about the same exact thing and spin it different ways.

To change the world around you, you must first look inside the world within you.  And since the world within you lives and feeds on thoughts, you must first change the way you think.  

These 2 sentences pretty much sum up the last few books I've read.

The Power of Now - Live in the moment.  Don't burden your mind with thoughts of the future or see your present through the lens of the past.  Be completely present. 

Start - The voices in your head will always be negative.  They are comfortable with the definition of "Identity" that you have right now and will say anything to convince you not to change it.  If these voices are left unchecked, they will destroy you.

The Master Key System - The world without is simply a reflection of the world within.  People try to deal with external problems with external solutions.  They try to fix effects with effects.  The cause of everything in the external world is the environment of the internal world, and here lies the root of all problems.  

       -Mah man Rocky gave me this book, and two chapters in I can already tell it is going to change my life

The Charisma Myth - Most of the power of charisma comes through in your body language.  Since it is near impossible to consciously control every minute detail of your body language, we must control our mental states to portray confident body language.  No matter how hard you try, your body language will always show your true mental state.

Now I haven't read to much of The Charisma Myth, but I can already tell I'm going to like it.  I said in another post that I wanted to learn how to control my mental states and that just so happens to be the first chapter!  

There's a passage from this book that I'd like to share with you.  It sums up the HUGE importance of being able to control your mental state as it pertains to body language:

"No matter how brief that negative expression, the person facing you is going to spot it.  And all they know is that while you were looking at them and listening to them, a negative expression crossed your face.  Naturally they'll assume that expression was a reaction to them - what they said or did, or what you thought about them."

Isn't that so true???  Haven't you ever been talking to someone and could just sense that they were uncomfortable?  The person was probably subtly portraying  negative body language, and us being completely insane humans immediately assumed it was because of us.  It could have been that they forgot to feed the cat or turn the oven off (Yes, these are both things I often think of and sometimes do).  

This idea of having a positive mental state is not only to make ourselves feel comfortable, but to also make those around us feel comfortable.  When we have conversations, we want our face to say "Hey, I am enjoying this conversation and having a great time talking with you".  

I still have to read more details on exactly how to do this, but I wanted to share with you the idea behind it.  This is the "Why" of the equation.  Next is the "How"