As you may know, the field of neuroscience is burgeoning with new discoveries, confirming the fact that we can’t simply think our way out of fear. The neuro-chemical reaction is far too powerful. It overrides the mind’s ability to think reasonably and effectively.
In my TEDx Talk, Boost Resilience: Take Charge of the Inner Critic & Inner Worrier, I discuss fear-based thinking and what we can do about it. Our brain fires up in ways that are similar to what happens when a smoke alarm goes off despite there being no smoke. When the alarm goes off, we automatically get scared and start looking around to identify what’s wrong. It takes some time to figure out that there’s a false alarm. By that time, we’re all stirred up with worry and panic. That’s the workings of our Inner Worrier in a nutshell.
That Inner Worrier doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It’s got a support system and that’s our Inner Critic. The Inner Critic blames and shames us. It makes up stories to explain frustration and disappointment. At first the stories are simple, “it must be my fault.” As we develop language, we elaborate, making up more complex stories, all fiction like the fairy tales we know so well.
We live Under the Influence of our emotionally-based stories and don’t even know it. We think our stories are truths. That they tell it as it is, when, in fact, they don’t. They’re myths.
To protect ourselves, we need to manage our fear-based thinking so that fear doesn't manage us. We need to hear our Inner Worrier & our Inner Critic – because if we don’t hear them, we can’t do anything about them. We need to recognize the stories & the fiction they spin. And we need to resist giving credibility to these inner stories.
When we do this, we can empower ourselves with more courage, boost self- confidence, sustain a sense of well-being and fortify resilience.
Hear TEDx Talk, Boost Resilience: Take Charge of the Inner Critic & Inner Worrier ...click on The Resilience Group for more on courage, confidence & resilience & facebook.com/developingwomenleaders
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