Micro Class - Are You a Poser

You're listening to Optimize with Brian Johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, guys. This is Brian with another micro class. This one is are you a poser? Inspired by how to be an imperfectionist, Stephen Guy's great book. So are you a poser? We're going to look at some fun social media psychology research by Amy Cuddy. Here's what she did. She had people come into her lab and for two minutes they assumed one of two poses. One was what she called a power pose where the individuals had their arms out or different version, they actually put their hands on their waist. That's another power pose, right? You're standing powerfully for two minutes or you stood in a not so powerful pose. You had your arms in. You were kind of coming in and taking up less space. Power pose, not so power pose. Two minutes. Two minutes. What do you think happened? It's amazing, but they measured their testosterone levels and their cortisol levels before and after these two minutes. When they did a power pose, the participants Testosterone went up 20%. Now, testosterone is associated with confidence, assertiveness, taking risks, all the things we want to have if we want to have a great life. Cortisol went down by 25% after this two minutes of power posing. On the other hand, if you did the not so powerful posing, what happened? Your testosterone went down by 10% and your cortisol went up by 15%. That's hard to believe, but it's true. One of the things we talk about a lot is the fact that feelings follow behaviors. Too often we get it backwards. We think that when I feel better, then I'll strike a powerful pose. But the reality is your behaviors influence your feelings. We want to be really aware of that. Take action consistently and do something as simple as assume a more powerful posture. If you're feeling super stressed, you're almost always in this wilted flower little pose, sad face. It's shocking, but you can change your biochemistry by changing your physical posture. Try it out. Let's go strike a pose. Go out and have fun. Taking risks, acting with confidence and realizing and remembering that our feelings follow behaviors. Hope you enjoyed. Look forward to sharing more. See? See ya. Hi, this is Brian. I hope you enjoyed that micro class. If so, I think you'll enjoy everything else we offer at BrianJohnson. Me. Two basic things. One, our free newsletter. It's called the Optimizer. Over 50,000 people start their day with it and they tell us it's pretty awesome. And two, our optimal living membership program. This is where I put all my best stuff. 10 bucks a month for a ton of wisdom. Two primary things in there philosopher's notes plus optimal living 101 classes when you sign up, you'll get instant access to 250 philosopher's notes, which are basically six page PDFs and 20 minute MP3s where I capture my favorite big ideas from great books. The PNTV episodes are kind of a mini version of all that goodness. You'll also get instant access to all my Optimal Living classes. This is where I take all the ideas we cover in the Philosopher's Notes and boil it down to the most practical stuff you can apply today. Classes include Confidence 101, Getting Stuff Done 101, Relationships 101, Habits 101, etc. You'll also get access to what we call micro classes that I think you'll love. We aim to astonish and we're blessed to have thousands of members telling us we're helping them change their lives and and that this is the best 10 bucks they invest in themselves every month. Go to BrianJohnson ME membership to learn more. Thanks for your support and have an awesome day.