The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance – What Women Should Know

by Katty Kay

Confidence is the purity of action produced by a mind free of doubt.

What I’ve realized only recently is that by refusing to take credit for what I had achieved, I wasn’t nurturing the confidence I needed for my next career steps,”

they display a lot of nonverbal and verbal behavior,” Anderson explained. He mentioned their expansive body language, their lower vocal tone, and a tendency to speak early and often in a calm, relaxed manner. “They do a lot of things that make them look very confident in the eyes of others,” he added. “Whether they are good or not is kind of irrelevant.”

One of the variations is made up of two short strands, which is fairly rare, but people with that genetic hand process serotonin badly, magnifying their risk of depression and anxiety. Another version contains a long and a short strand, which means better, but still inefficient, serotonin use. The third variant contains two long strands, which allows for the best use of the hormone. The people with that variant, scientists believe, are more naturally resilient, which is a key criterion for confidence.

He has found, for example, that the monkeys with genes rendering them more resilient, or less anxious (the longer strands), tend to be more willing to engage with others, to take risks, and to become leaders of the group. In other words, they show more confidence in their actions. His description of the complex social structure of the rhesus is fascinating and includes patterns of behavior that sound suspiciously like office politics. The leaders focus on alliances and occupy the best real estate; their corner office is a corncob case near the pond. They make their power position clear with a silent, open-mouthed stare at minions and challengers. The smartest up-and-comers are obsequious; the most effective genuflections are grimaces with teeth bared or rumps shoved in the air. The monkeys that have the other versions (the shorter strands) of the serotonin gene don’t always exhibit behavior as dramatic or as incapacitating as depression. But, right from birth, Suomi has found them to be less engaged, fearful or clingy and, as they grow older, they are the ones that are less willing to play in risky ways.

confidence trumps IQ in predicting success.

It’s the effect of nurture on nature that really matters and makes us who we are. In many cases, nurture is so powerful that it can alter nature’s original programming, turning genes on and off, as it were.

The most astonishing science, with profound promise for cracking the confidence code, proves that all of us can rewire our brains, even as adults. Orchid or dandelion, good mother or bad—when we change our thinking and develop new mental habits, that effort creates physical changes in our brains.