This is just out: my conversation with Professor Ian Robertson, clinical psychologist and neuroscientist at Trinity College Dublin, on confidence:
Ian Robertson - How Confidence Works
About the episode In this conversation, Professor Ian Robertson discusses the importance of confidence and how it can be developed. Confidence is the belief that one can take action towards creating a desired outcome, and it has profound effects on the brain and behavior. Ian Robertson emphasizes the role of
Daniel Matteo
Not an episode to be missed!
Plenty of take-aways on:
- Why confidence matters (and why competence is not enough)
- How confidence works as anti-depressant, and mood & performance enhancer
- How to build confidence (I'm sharing the highlights below 👇)
- Why there is a gender gap in confidence
- How to build collective confidence without being a populist
In a nutshell, here are the 5 levers for building confidence:
- Define the specific domain in which you want to be more confident ✅
- Set goals that are at the sweet spot: not too large ("I want to become MEP"), not too small ("I want to say hi to my cat") 🎯
- Mentally rehearse the specific steps of your action. This focuses your attention and meandering thoughts to what is needed. Top athletes are known to do this 🎨
- Reframe anxiety as excitement. They have the same symptoms, but you can actively change the emotion by repeating to yourself "I feel excited". And excitement feels better + allows you to perform better. Sounds like unfounded positive-talk? Yes, sounds like it, but plenty of studies replicate this effect 🥳
- Take action. Small steps that are out of your comfort zone. A bias for action increases likelihood of valuable experiences, chance encounters, sense of accomplishment or familiarity with failure. 🎬
Hope you like this episode - as always, I appreciate your feedback below (👍 or 👎?) or simply reply and let me know your thoughts.
🎙️ My latest podcast
Ian Robertson - How Confidence Works
About the episode In this conversation, Professor Ian Robertson discusses the importance of confidence and how it can be developed. Confidence is the belief that one can take action towards creating a desired outcome, and it has profound effects on the brain and behavior. Ian Robertson emphasizes the role of
Daniel Matteo📚 What I read & listen to
How Confidence Works: The new science of self-belief - Ian Robertson
🖋️ My favourite quote
‘The road appears with the first step" - Rumi (from Ian Robertson's 'How Confidence Works')
"It is easier to act yourself into a new way of feeling than to feel yourself into a new way of acting." - Harry Stack Sullivan (from Ian Robertson's 'How Confidence Works')