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It's the 10% Happier podcast.

I'm Dan Harris. Hello, everybody.

Did you know which single mental attribute, according to scientific research, can

make you richer, happier, healthier, smarter, more motivated, and more

innovative. Confidence. Confidence makes your brain work better. It boosts your performance. It

elevates your mood. And it is contagious. In other words, it spreads to other people. Of course,

there are many questions to ask here. How do you get confidence and how do you manage the risk of overconfidence?

Today I'm talking to a neuroscientist who has done a deep dive on this issue.

Ian Robertson is a professor emeritus in psychology at Trinity College, and he was the founding director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience.

Ian has written five books, the latest of which

is called How Confidence Works. He's got a lovely Scottish brogue, as you will hear. In this conversation,

we talk about what confidence is actually, how to boost confidence, the dangers of overconfidence

and how to guard against those dangers, the role of anxiety and failure, the Oscar

effect and why Oscar winners tend to live longer. I found this fascinating. How to reframe anxiety

as excitement. I found that incredibly useful in my own life. The role of gender, race, and class

when it comes to confidence, the importance of creating some distance between you and what Ian calls

confidence saboteursurs and much more.

We'll get started with Ian Robertson right after this.

Before we get to the show, I just want to mention that the dump it here journal that my wife and I created and that sold out double quick, it's back in stock.

Just go to Dan Harris.com

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