Hack Your Confidence with Body Language | Social Intel Brief

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0:53Today, we're breaking down how a single shift in posture can change your mood, your confidence, and the signals you send before you even say a word.

1:11Now, confidence isn't just mental, it's embodied. The fastest way to hack your confidence isn't with affirmations or mantras, it's with body language. Stand tall, open your chest, take up space, and your brain gets the message. I'm safe. I'm powerful. I belong here. AJ, this was one of the very first concepts that I learned when I got into self-development. And I was amazed just how much putting some conscious effort to it changed not only the way I felt, but my outlook on interacting with people. What most people don't realize is that your default body language creeps up over time through your disposition, your worldview, your experiences, your knowledge about what's going on.

2:02And we all know that life is not easy. So you're going to take a lot of hits. You're going to take a lot of rejection. There's a lot of redundancy and absurdity to life. If you're not careful with this, after a while, and this happened with me, my body language got worse because it just wasn't conscious for me. And then correcting it and making that a conscious effort every day using what we'll be talking about with body checks changed the way I felt, made me feel good. And then I noticed that that body language was reciprocated in the people that I was speaking to. And the minute I changed it, people realized, hey, did you change?

2:54I didn't change. All I did was made a few adjustments and standing up taller and putting on a smile. But that shift in default changed the way that I felt about myself, changed the way I interacted with other people. And they noticed that change because they felt differently talking to me. And I can't tell you how many of our clients walk into our training with slumped body language, eyes down, shoulders rounded. And here's the thing. They're smart. They're successful. But their body language is actually telling the room, I don't belong. And with these simple shifts that we're going to tell you, you can actually, as Johnny said, have people responding to you differently immediately, which just reinforces the confidence boost.

3:40Everything around us and due to the technology that we have, all of these forces are working to destroy our body language. We have chronic foam posture now that is running as an epidemic with Gen Z and millennials. And of course, if you're sitting at a desk all day, that's doing its job as well. So you have to counter the forces that are making you smaller. Now, this is called embodied cognition. The idea is simple. Your body doesn't just reflect your mind. Your body teaches your mind how to feel. So when you stand tall, your nervous system interprets that posture as safety and strength. Now, when you slump, your brain interprets that as threat or defeat.

4:27It's like the brain is watching the body for cues, right? You cross your arms and look down, fold in on yourself, and your brain says, we must not be doing so well. open up shoulders back palms visible and the brain says we're good we can handle this you ever notice how when you suddenly need to hire it feels like you needed that person yesterday oh yeah scrambling to post on job sites hoping the right people see it and that's a nightmare that's why i like indeed when it comes to hiring indeed is all you need their sponsored jobs actually help you stand out your post jumps right to the top of the page for candidates you want so you can hire fast And it really works.

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6:24You can even use your own phone, keep your number, and bring all your contacts with you. No hassle. Mint Mobile is unbeatable at this pricing. Ready to say yes to saying no? Make the switch at mintmobile.com slash charm. That's mintmobile.com slash charm. Upfront payment of$45 required, equivalent to$15 per month. Limited time new customer offer for the first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on an unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. And the studies back this up. So in a 2015 trial, people asked to sit upright during a stressful task, reported higher self-esteem, less fear, and even showed more confident nonverbal behavior than those who sat slumped.

7:09And then another study in 2021 found that upright posture boosted positive mood and processing speed compared to stooped posture. And the best part, you don't need a 20-minute meditation. You can hack this in seconds. Walk into meeting upright, shoulders back, chin level. you instantly feel more alert and other people feel your confidence well before you speak. Research on power posing, expansive body language like standing with your hands on hips, feet apart, actually shows increased self-confidence and even risk tolerance. Meaning some studies even suggest hormonal shifts like higher testosterone and lower cortisol, though that's been debated.

7:51But what is clear is the psychological effect. People feel stronger, more capable, and ultimately more willing to act. And that's why you see athletes on a field, arms out, chest up, taking up space before a game, even before it starts. They're not just hyping the crowd. They're programming their own brain, right? They're saying, I'm ready for this. And it works off the field, too, before a pitch, a date, even a tough conversation. So here's the loop. Posture first, number one. Stand or sit upright, shoulders back, chest open. Number two is eye contact. Look at people like you belong, not at the floor.

8:35Number three is get comfortable taking up more space. Don't shrink. Expand your stance slightly and gesture with your arms. And number four, facial cues. We want to relax your jaw and let that real smile through. When you do this, your body is telling your brain, we got this and confidence follows. I love it because it's simple. You don't have to win an argument in your head. You just need to win the battle of gravity. Get upright, open, expansive, and the rest follows. Now, here's a pro tip. Use doorways as cues. Every time you walk through a doorway, reset your posture. Get those shoulders back, chin level.

9:18That's what's called our doorway drill. What makes this difficult is having your posture on your mind at a conscious level. And there's many different ways to do this. Our client, Jim, he recognized that he would always forget about the body check. And this was something that he realized helped him greatly in a few meetings. so when and when he didn't do it he was self-conscious when he did do it he felt great so uh he put pink post-it notes around the office like before he left his office cubicle before he walked into certain rooms he put them around the house and this was a constant reminder for him to do that body check and what happens is the more that this is on your conscious brain and you're actively doing this for yourself.

10:17After a few weeks, you've changed your default setting. So now it becomes something that you don't have to think about anymore. You're now wired to when you're walking in or out of a room that you stop, put your shoulders down and back, stand up tall, put a smile on and walk through. And the more you do that, the more that default is set and you will feel overall better. That's my favorite part. Confidence isn't just in your head. It's in your body. What's easier to control? Your mind, your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings or your body language. Now, if you want to know how others are reading your signals, take our free influence index.

11:05It shows exactly how your presence and body language are landing and where you can level up. Head over to theartofcharm.com slash influence to take it today.

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