I receive a lot of e-mails regarding so-called conditions or diagnoses that individuals have been labeled with, and I felt it was time to say something on this subject. Understand, that I'm not against doctors or therapists or any other health care professionals. Many of these people are dedicated, well-trained practitioners who do their very best to help people live better lives.

Sometimes the best secrets are hidden in plain sight. When it comes to developing confidence, there is one "secret shortcut" that took me years to understand, but it's so painfully obvious that I want to kick myself sometimes for not being aware of it all along. The "secret" I want to tell to you about is acceptance.

Understanding the importance of acceptance requires a little creative thinking.

Have you ever felt like your mind was spinning on a hamster wheel? You know; you get caught in an endless loop, running over the same old fears again and again, feeling unable to just stop the ride and get off?

I think we have all felt this way at one time or another, and if you have a history of anxiety or panic issues, you have surely done a few laps on the old hamster wheel.

We all know the feeling; a negative voice begins creeping into our heads, whispering (or sometimes screaming) worst-care scenarios, reminding us of past disappointments or predicting doom and disaster for the future. And so the cycle begins...

This small negative thought begins to build, attracting more negative thoughts, and pretty soon, you find yourself feeling physically uncomfortable and in a state of worry.

As someone who has personally suffered with severe Social Anxiety, I went through several phases of learning how to deal with it and eventually overcome it: denial, hiding it, being ashamed of it, and finally, learning to accept it and work through it.

One thing that really helped was reading about someone famous, someone I admired and respected, who admitted they had Social Anxiety and even laughed about it! At the time, I felt deeply ashamed of my anxiety around people, and it really amazed me that this person could be so light-hearted about it.

It's easy to assume that our feelings determine our behavior, and not the other way around. For example, most of us assume that if a person "acts" very confident it is because that person "feels" very confident. But there's plenty of new research to prove that it also works the other way around. Many studies have shown that adopting confident body language can actually make you feel more confident!

Another great example of this mind-body commection is a study that showed holding a pencil between your teeth for 15-20 minutes (forcing you to smile) actually makes people feel happier.

So many people are looking for that "big breakthrough" in their life-one big event that will push them right over edge from where they are, to where they want to be. The irony is, the more someone focuses on making a huge (often overnight) change in their life, the less progress they usually make.

Building real confidence is a process, not an event.

Donald Trump didn't get where he is today without confidence. He's unapologetic and straight forward. He knows what he wants and he knows what he doesn't. And whether you love or loath "The Donald," you have to respect the clarity that he operates from as a leader; and make no mistake, he absolutely oozes confidence.

Trump's confidence is a by-product of his relentless pursuit of his goals.

The Law of Attraction is a powerful philosophy to create your world any way you want it. A basic tenant of this philosophy is "like attracts like," and because of this, it is really important that you feel good as much as possible in your day-today life if you want to attract more good things into your life.

But even a Law of Attraction coach such as myself can lose site of the "big picture" now and then, as the following true story illustrates:

A few days ago I was working on a video for a new project I am involved with.

Panic attacks are intense feelings of fear and anxiety that can come on suddenly. They can be associated with one or more physical symptoms, including rapid heart beat, shaking, rapid breathing (shallow breathing), tingling sensations in the arms or face (pins and needles), and feeling dizzy or light-headed, like the world is "closing in on you."

Many people fear that they will pass out or die during a panic attack, but the attacks are not physically harmful and often fade away within 10-30 minutes.