Confidence Rises and Falls on the Fulcrum of Limiting Perspectives
LISTEN TO EPISODE 18 HERE.
Confidence is one of those life facets of life deeply rooted in one’s perspective.
Our perspectives are not fixed; rather, they are dynamic. This means that they can be refined and adjusted. Consequently our confidence levels are not fixed. They are also dynamic and therefore able to be honed and adjusted.
Neuroscientists have proven in recent years that we can create new neural pathways to generate new thought patterns and processes. When we understand and lean into this process, we can see significant shifts in the way we think and process what's happening in and around us.
Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford School of Medicine as frequently talked about the fact that our thoughts are naturally going to follow the "road most traveled." By that, we mean the most used neural pathways.
If that a particular thought highway happens to be a route lined with dysfunctional thinking, then it would be our best interest to establish some new, healthier pathways. All of this requires us to be very intentional about what and how we are thinking. In other words, we have to think about what we think about.
Understanding what we are thinking about ourselves is one of the most pivotal aspects of confidence development. Why is this? Each of us, like characters in a play is working off of a script, a subconscious narrative that tells us who we are and what role we play in the world around us.
6 Factors that Target Our Thinking
- Our associations
- Our genetics
- Our experiences
- Our skills & traits
- Our beliefs
- Our environmental messages
The cumulative collection of information across these 6 areas will shape how we see ourselves as well as our place & role in the world around us.
But what do we do if we have no idea how these 6 factors are currently influencing are thinking?
How to Think about Your Thinking (In 4 Steps)
1. Take a few days to listen to the soundtrack of what is currently playing on the mental loop of your thoughts. Are you replying old conversations from certain experiences? Are you listening to an inner voice, or are you hearing external messages? What is on the loop?
2. Consider where some of these thoughts might be coming from. It is helpful to understand the origin of certain thoughts (or thought patterns) so we can then consider how best to process them.
3. Once we have identified some of the sourcing of these negative thoughts, then we begin to work on actually disrupting and reframing them. We do this when we recognize negative thoughts and replace them with truth.
4. Find words of affirmation in Scripture and make sure to be speaking those over yourself. Not only do we need to uproot the negative, but we need to plant the good. Remember, our thoughts follow the road most traveled, so we need to make sure we are spending time paving new roads with a steady flow of new thoughts.
Personal confidence is a perspective-driven attitude that we know will greatly impact the way we engage life. If we are going to climb to the heights of God’s plans and purposes for our lives, we’re going to need to unlock new levels of courage and perspective to do so. That means we’re going to also have to dismantle some of the self-doubt and underconfidence that is keeping us from stepping into our full potential.