Speaker 1: 0:06

Greetings and welcome. Welcome to the sweet spot where science meets the soul. This is Trust Yourself Thursday, and I'm Dr Sweet, your host. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a board certified psychiatrist and I specialize in high performance sports psychiatry, in high performance sports psychiatry. So all week long we've been looking at the transformative power of going beyond your fear and your limitation to take action, to make a move and to win it all. Well, on Trust Yourself Thursday, we're going even higher. We're going to look at how self-trust can unlock your true potential. Let's explore the neuroscience behind self-trust and draw some inspiration from some trailblazer in history, if we can find one, and then discover a strategy or two that will strengthen your inner confidence.

Speaker 1: 1:06

Self-trust is deeply rooted in our brain's neural pathways and in our neurotransmitter systems. Those are the chemicals in the brain. Key regions in the brain that we've been discussing all week are involved in self-trust, and that is the brain's CEO. And by now you know that's the prefrontal cortex, because we've been talking about that prefrontal cortex for quite a bit. Remember, the prefrontal cortex is responsible for decision-making and self-reflection and judgment. And we talked about the brain's fear, the fear monger, right, amygdala. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not mad at the amygdala. It keeps us safe. The amygdala tells you what not to do and it's trying to protect you, but, as we know, it can become overactive. So life is lived in the balance between our prefrontal cortex trying to make good, rational decisions and our am. Between our prefrontal cortex trying to make good, rational decisions and our amygdala, which is trying to process all the emotions and keep us safe. They both want to keep us safe and it's the interaction between these two brain areas that influences our ability to trust our judgments.

Speaker 1: 2:21

And I mentioned neurotransmitters before. I mentioned these chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. They play a crucial role in this process too. Dopamine, as you know, is the reward molecule. It reinforces positive outcomes from our decisions. It strengthens self-trust when it's flowing. And serotonin it's involved in mood regulation and confidence and sleep and other good things like that. So the brain is quite active when we're trusting and trying to figure out our trust and look. Trust is critical for us to take action. Trust is critical for us to move forward. If you want to make a move, if you want trust yourself, if you want to take an action, you've got to be conscious of the fact that your brain is going to be weighing out every decision it makes.

Speaker 1: 3:19

You know Maya Angelou renowned poet, author, civil rights activist, she exemplified profound self-trust throughout her entire life. She's one of my favorite heroes. Despite facing significant adversity in her life, right and she was also a survivor of trauma and discrimination she trusted her voice and who could forget her voice, right, and the perspective that she had? And she was able to create poetry and writings and say things that inspired millions of people. She had an unwavering belief in her own worth and her abilities to overcome obstacles. Her own worth and her abilities to overcome obstacles, and that belief, that self-trust, left an indelible mark on the world, a deep impression on many of us, and Maya Angelou's journey taught us, it teaches us. It teaches us something about the power of trusting ourselves, even when the external circumstances are challenging, even when the amygdala, the fear center of the brain, is firing off and telling us run hide Right. The prefrontal cortex, that part of the brain that's the CEO, can kind of come in and help us modulate that. And you know what? Reading Maya Angelou, listening to some of her poetry and her writings, is a way of soothing the amygdala, I think, and also strengthening the prefrontal cortex just to bring it home.

Speaker 1: 4:55

So what strategies can you do today on Trust Yourself Thursday, to strengthen your self-trust? This is a skill, believe it or not, and it starts with number one. Trust this is a skill, believe it or not, and it starts with number one keeping promises you make to yourself. Absolutely. Start by setting a small, achievable goal and consistently and deliberately follow through on every little goal or commitment you make. Because every time you honor a commitment, let your yes be your yes, your no be your no. Every time you say you're going to be somewhere at 2 pm and you show up at 2 pm. Every time you make a promise and you keep it, oh man, each commitment you honor, my friend, reinforces your trust in yourself and hardens those neural networks in the direction of self-trust. So, yeah, keep promises to yourself.

Speaker 1: 5:48

The second thing is to practice, like I said before, self-compassion. You will be surprised that if you treat yourself with kindness, especially when you make mistakes, that you will find that you will be more trusting of yourself, because you will recognize that imperfection is just part of the human experience and just an opportunity for growth and you won't be so down on yourself as if something is wrong with you. Nothing is wrong with you. Things can be fixed. Mistakes are made. So lighten up and have some self-compassion, because I'll tell you, if you don't give it to yourself, you can't give it to other people. It's just that simple.

Speaker 1: 6:34

And the third and final strategy that strengthens self-trust, for me, is reflecting on your past successes. You have to regularly and purposefully remind yourself of any challenge you've overcome or any goal you've achieved. It could be small, just reflect on it from time to time. Reinforce your capabilities and your strength because you think about it. You think about what you've done, what you've accomplished, and that, my friend, is all you need Remember.

Speaker 1: 7:10

Maya Angelou once said Trust yourself, think for yourself and act for yourself, and speak for yourself and be yourself, because imitation is suicide. I'll repeat that Trust yourself, think for yourself, act for yourself, speak for yourself and be yourself, because imitation is suicide. Her words remind us that it's about embracing our authentic selves. You matter who you are, how you look, what you say, it matters. How you look, what you say, it matters. And you've got to trust your inner voice because God made you wonderfully and purposely for a reason. So you've got to believe that and trust in that today.

Speaker 1: 7:58

So, as we close on Trust Yourself Thursday, I want you to identify an area in your life where you've been a bit hesitant to trust yourself and apply the strategies we've discussed above. Identify an area in your life where you've been a bit hesitant to trust yourself and apply the strategies we've discussed above Keeping the promise to yourself, practicing the self-compassion and reflecting on past success. Try it on, just try it on, like a t-shirt and see if it fits, and then remember, take a moment to just step back and breathe. You have to be balanced, because you're the only person that has the power to make the decision to trust yourself, and that's your inner foundation. It's your secret weapon. You've got to start with you All right now.

Speaker 1: 8:47

Thank you so much for joining me on Trust Yourself Thursday. This is Dr Sweet, and if you found this discussion inspiring, please share it with others who might benefit, and let's continue to support and uplift each other as we embrace the power of self-trust. If you want to talk to me more, connect with me on LinkedIn, on Twitter, on Instagram and on YouTube as well, and Threads Now. I hope to see you tomorrow for Friday, right, tomorrow's Friday, and it's not just any Friday. We call Fridays what Finish Strong Fridays, and we've got to finish strong, so I'll see you tomorrow. Take care.