How Confidence Works — In conversation with Ian Robertson
Join us for a practical exploration of the new science of self-belief; led by psychologist, neuroscientist and co-director of the Global Brain Health Institute, Ian Robinson. Together we'll be unpacking the ideas in Ian's book, and sharing some practical mindsets and approaches for immediately upping our own confidence quotient.
"Imagine we could discover something with the ability to make us richer, healthier, longer-living, smarter, kinder, happier, more-motivated and more innovative. Ridiculous, you might say.. What is this elixir? Confidence"
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In his brilliant new book, Ian Robinson reveals how confidence works through drug-like effects in our brain. Confidence lifts our performance by helping us to focus on the right things, in ways that we can do them better — and creating virtuous circles of confidence that multiply our success, and super-size our original mental capacity.
And when we lack confidence, the impact can be every bit as real but in the opposite direction; derailing our growth and sometimes having a seriously detrimental effect on our performance and future.
But, as Ian will generously share in this short, practical and conversational sessional — there is good news! Confidence can be learned, and there are things we can be immediately trying to build it in ourselves and in those around us. Confidence is ultimately the driver of all action; and so better understanding it will help us approach any kind of change we want to see in the world.
Join us for a belief-building 60 minutes with Ian and others, driven by the curiosity of those along and with very transferable ideas to take away and experiment with.
What we'll cover:
• The concept of confidence and how it works
• The effects of confidence on the brain and the body
• How to practically gain confidence through habit, thought and behaviour
Who the session is for:
Anyone curious about the concept of confidence, wanting to boost their own — and help others to build their belief too.
Good to know
Why self-belief is a superpower that can be harnessed — an enlightening piece by Ian for the Guardian, expanding on the ideas from his book, and linked into Lockdown too.
Ian's ideas build nicely on those shared by fellow psychologist Ethan Kross, in a similar recent in-conversation event focussed on the thinking in Ethan's book Chatter. You can find some practical, actionable nuggets from that in your Resources section.
In How Confidence Works Ian references the work of NYU professor of psychology Gabriele Oettingen — particularly her thinking on 'Mental Contrasting', popularised in the brilliantly named WOOP model. We'll be collaborating with Gabriele in the Autumn, inviting our community to experiment with WOOP in relation to their lives and work.