How To Level Up: Mannerisms & Empowerment (The Art Of How You Carry Yourself)

Now that you laid down the foundation to transform and improve your life, the first area to adjust is going to be your personality and mannerism. This part is basically about how you carry yourself. Because let's face it: yes, it is superficial but first impressions decide how people judge you most of the time. However it is also mainly not about how you look but how you treat others and yourself. It does matter how you speak, how you act and how you treat people along the way.  You cannot expect to act like a rude village idiot OR an arrogant one and come far in life.
The best way I can explain what I mean in a nutshell is that you should never feel like you are superior to anyone but also that you inferior to anyone.
It is inspired by this Islamic belief:

Source: notyourjaan.tumblr.com

Bascially know who you are and what you want in life and also believe in yourself, but don't walk through life in arrogance. You can be confident and sovereign without dripping in so much pride that it's intolerable and honestly also unrelatable. I hope this makes more sense.

There are some basic rules everyone, no matter where they come from and want out of life, should follow. It's always a good idea to hold the door open for people, being nice, smiling at them and if someone is being snobby to not mirror that behaviour.
You might want to pay attentions to these following things:

• Learn how to do small talk. It's useful in all different life situations and not only required for business but also for your social life.There are amazing videos available on Youtube. I would highly recommend watching some just to be educated!
• When meeting someone don't look at your phone. Interact with the person you are with!
• Listen to understand, not to answer.
• Have good posture. And know what to do with your hands and arms while standing
• Don't raise your voice, improve your argument
• Don't point your finger at strangers
• Don't judge others in public. Other people know: if you talk to them about other people, you will do the same thing to them!

Source: Pinterest

• Hold eye contact when talking to someone. But don't stare.
• If you have any nervous ticks (chewing your nails, biting your lips, picking your nose, dribbling your legs or other fidgeting) work on them
• Learn to say no without explaining yourself

Also, there are certain questions that most of the time in a big variety of circumstances are not appropriate:

• Have you gained weight? (except for when you know that's someone's goal they are working on.)
• Have you lost weight? you look so skinny and unwell. (Again, this sort of a question is only acceptable when you specifically know someone is actively trying to lose weight. In all other cases keep your thoughts to yourself. Remember, you never know what someone is going through.)
• Are you pregnant?
• Are you going to eat all that?
• You're not eating more than that? You must be on a diet (Again all these questions about weight and diet obviously go both ways, but I personally find it highly inappropriate and even rude to comment on what other people eat. As a picky eater with food sensitivities it frequently makes me lose my appetite.  Enjoy your meal and let others enjoy theirs without any form of comment that exceeds asking how a certain meal tastes, because this is sincere curiosity for a certain type of food or cuisine and is totally fine.)
• How much did this cost? (this question is totally fine in your close inner circle though.)
• Can you even afford it? How did you pay for that?
• How much money do you/your spouse/ your family make?
• Are those real? (this goes for both materialistic things and any body part)
• Any form of political questions. Politics can ruin the closest friendships. Just don't go there. Don't ask for who someone voted. 
• Why ate you still single?
• Oh, you aren't married yet?

Avoid those type of questions at all costs. They're almost always going to put you in a bad light, no matter your status.

You don't want to come across as a person without manners that hasn't been raised well. You want to be inspring, ambitous, cultivated, educated, beautiful from the inside out, aspiring and most importantly trustworthy. You will make no connection anywhere if people don't want to be around you and no they can trust you. Loyaly is key. Always. In any form of relationship or connection. I'm not saying you should throw your own charisma and quirkyness out of the window. Oh no, I dare and urge you to keep it! That's what makes people stay. Your uniqueness. Developing your own charm is one of the most important things to build a network of strong social connections! But sometimes being discrete and inconspicuous is the best. 

Extra tip: Improve your intellect

Source: Pinterest

In this world it's important to have your own personality to stand out from the crowd. As already explained just because you should have manners doesn't mean you can't be quirky and fun to be around. After all, your intellect is what makes you you. And the good news are improving your intellect often doesn't cost any money or if so not much. Here are some things you can start with:

• Never stop educating yourself and learn new things. Be creative and push your boundaries. Maybe try a new sport, learn how to cook or improve your cooking skills, learn a new language, try photography, editing, writing... the list goes on and on. This world is filled with things you can learn, there's never not something to learn.
• Be curious about different cultures and lifestyles and learn from the people around you.
• Read, read, read. Just because nowadays it seems old fashioned doesn't mean it's not valid anymore. In written words lays power. I would even dare to say it's more important than ever, especially because of the wide variety and excess to knowledge. No matter if you read a physical book, an e-book or listen to an audio book I highly recommend you to make it a habit to always have something to read. Explore the world of literature, no matter the genre. Classics are always a good idea or historical books as you can learn a lot from about history and humanity. Also take a look at self-improvement and self-help books. Biographies are amazing for inspiration and to learn about different people's walks in life and how they overcame the biggest obstacles. There's literally a book for everyone, so there's no excuse.
• Improve your speaking skills, work on your vocabulary; overall become more well-spoken.
• Learn about different kinds of etiquette. 
• Set goals.  Goals create structure in your life.  They make you want to achieve them, so you become more goal driven and ambitous. You will become an inspiration for others.
• Meditate. Meditation will clear your mind and make you more focused.
• Surround yourself with people that inspire you to become better (no matter in what area in your life).
• Think differently. Don't only think from your point of view. Learn how to put yourself into the situation and shoes of others. You will be able to find more and more ways to solve any sort of issue and also you will be so much better at understanding people. 
• Create an environment that makes you happy and inspired. 
• Create routines for yourself that keep you on track. 

I hope this helps and motivates you to always better yourself. You can always improve yourself, and when you do that, your life will also improve.  Always strive to be better and to evolve. Life is short, but long enough to become the best version of yourself you can possible be!