• Home
  • ABOUT
  • RESOURCES
  • UPDATES
  • MORE GENIUS!
  • CONTACT
post

10 Steps To Get Beyond Crippling Self-Doubt

By Harish Leave a Comment

7. Self-Doubt And Body Language

“So when I tell people about this, that our bodies change our minds and our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior can change our outcomes, they say to me, “I don’t — It feels fake.” Right? So I said, fake it till you make it.” -Amy Cuddy, TED talk

The more I read about body language, the more I get convinced that low confidence levels and high self doubt and other unfavorable states have specific body language patterns to go along with them.

In a fascinating TED talk, researcher Amy Cuddy says that the difference in non-verbal expressions between people who feel powerful and those who feel powerless are many.

Cuddy says that when you feel self-confidence and personal power, you open up, occupy more space by stretching out and make yourself big. The opposite is true when you feel powerless, you tend to close up, shrink and make yourself small.

The example she gives is when athletes run across the finish line, they have their arms up in a V with their chins up in a non-verbal gesture of victory.

Cuddy says in her TED talk:

“But our question really was, do our nonverbals govern how we think and feel about ourselves? There’s some evidence that they do. So, for example, we smile when we feel happy, but also, when we’re forced to smile by holding a pen in our teeth like this, it makes us feel happy.”

Cuddy says that when we feel powerful and confident, the levels of the hormone testosterone go up and the stress hormone cortisol go down.

To test this idea, she had people come into the laboratory and spit into a vial after which they assume power poses or non-power poses for two minutes. After the poses, people were asked how powerful they felt on a series of items and given an opportunity to gamble. Finally, they are asked to give another spit sample.

High power poses for the study included poses that open up like hands on the back of the head and legs up on the desk or one leg over the other, and standing with hands on the waist and legs apart or “the wonder woman pose.”

Low power poses included folding the arms and making yourself small with legs and hands folded and looking down, and touching your neck and sitting down.

Cuddy found that people who assumed power poses were more likely to gamble, had a 20% increase in testosterone and a 25% decrease in the stress hormone cortisol. People who assumed low power poses were less likely to gamble and take a risk, had a 10% decrease in testosterone and a 15% increase in cortisol.

In another study, Cuddy had participants assume low or big power poses before a stressful job interview where they are recorded and judged. After 5 minutes of the stressful interview, they had four people or coders look at the recordings that were blind to the conditions or the poses participants had posed before the interview.

Surprisingly, the coders selected the participants who assumed the high power poses before the interview to hire and not the low power posers.

Cuddy says:

“So two minutes lead to these hormonal changes that configure your brain to basically be either assertive, confident and comfortable, or really stress-reactive, and, you know, feeling sort of shut down. And we’ve all had the feeling, right? So it seems that our nonverbals do govern how we think and feel about ourselves, so it’s not just others, but it’s also ourselves. Also, our bodies change our minds.”

Action Tips:

When you experience self-doubt, take a break and assume power poses by yourself to increase power and decrease stress.

Understand your non-verbal communication when you feel stressed, doubtful and fearful. Chances are that you are making yourself smaller with arms crosses and assuming low power body language.

Yes, fake the body language to feel more confidence and personal power.

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10

Filed Under: ABUNDANCE, MORE AWESOMENESS!, RADIANCE Tagged With: life, personal development, self-doubt

Comments

  • Google Plus
  • Facebook
  • Wordpress
Loading Facebook Comments ...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow me on Instagram for more Inspiration!

View this profile on Instagram

Launch Your Genius | Inspiration and Creativity (@launchyourgenius) • Instagram photos and videos

ABOUT ME…

Mee!

Hello and welcome! My name is Harish and I am a writer, scientist, teacher, and personal development expert. Launch Your Genius is dedicated to helping you realize your true potential and purpose. I explore topics such as creativity, innovation, productivity and happiness—as well as the barriers that prevent us from becoming our best selves and doing our best work.

Read More…

AS SEEN ON:

Screen Shot 2013-04-18 at 12.58.36 PM 

RESOURCES

Popular Posts!

  • rumi quotes 12 Amazing Life Lessons From Rumi! 54.5k views | 1 comment
  • 14 Amazing Life Lessons From Chinese Proverbs 40.2k views | 0 comments
  • 71 Powerful Ideas And Quotes On The Path To Success! 30.1k views | 0 comments
  • Whatever You do or dream...begin it 14 Ideas And Quotes on New Beginnings 24.8k views | 0 comments
  • 10 Ways To Make The Impossible Possible! 24.5k views | 13 comments
  • love by Hafiz 12 Transformational Life Lessons From Hafiz 23.9k views | 0 comments
  • imagination 7 Steps To Unleashing Your Imagination! 22.6k views | 4 comments
  • The Amazing Power Of Love: Quotes And Musings 22.6k views | 0 comments
  • love 13 Effective Practices to Deeply Love and Appreciate Yourself-Part 1 20.8k views | 4 comments
  • marcus aurelius 16 Awesome Life Tips from Marcus Aurelius 14.7k views | 0 comments
  • Gratitude and Appreciation: In Words And In Pictures 14.1k views | 9 comments
  • 11 Timeless Ideas On Happiness! 12k views | 4 comments
  • 12 Life Tips From The Amazing Pema Chödrön! 11.5k views | 7 comments
  • abundance 21 Things That Highly Abundant People Do Differently-Part 1 11.2k views | 19 comments
  • science success 12 Science Laws And Theories To Enhance Life Success -Part 1 11.2k views | 11 comments
  • ralph waldo emerson quotes A Guide To Living Life from The Wisdom Of Ralph Waldo Emerson 10.2k views | 0 comments
  • maya angelou 21 Amazing Life Tips From Maya Angelou 7.3k views | 0 comments
  • embracing vulnerability Allowing Vulnerability: 7 Life Tips From Brené Brown 7.1k views | 0 comments
  • perseverance 17 Ways To Recharge Your Perseverance! 6.4k views | 0 comments
  • 25 questions to spark your CREATIVITY! 5.6k views | 0 comments
  • 14 Life Tips From The Amazing Louise Hay! 5.6k views | 4 comments
  • 14 Timeless Ideas On Creativity From Walt Disney 5.5k views | 0 comments
  • Self Confidence of Light From Within 21 Life Hacks For Unshakable Self-Confidence 5.5k views | 0 comments
  • huna principles of life The 7 Amazing Life Principles Of Huna! 4.9k views | 0 comments
  • 21 Life Tips From The Timeless Wisdom Of Lao Tzu- Part 1 4.5k views | 0 comments

Archives

Copyright © 2025