6 Steps Towards Confidence - Self-development

The modern world is changing rapidly. Achievements of scientific and technological progress benefit humanity, but we have to pay for them with deterioration of mental and physical health. How can you turn the changes to your advantage? Take six easy steps to meet them.

Extra knowledge

The capacity of the human brain as an information storage is so great that it is practically inexhaustible throughout life. But this applies to information of natural origin, for the processing and storage of which the brain is adapted by evolution. Today we most often come across artificial information, created by other people. As a result, information becomes "toxic", its redundancy immerses us in stress.

The unknown always seems to be more significant than it really is

Iris Murdoch

It is difficult for us to understand the endless ocean of the new, moreover, we are faced with the contradictions of the information found. The more information available, the more difficult it is to find the information you need.

We must make responsible decisions in a situation of information redundancy. The brain tries to protect itself from stress, and at this moment the "illogical logic" of a hasty choice or superficial (clip) thinking turns on. Any decision, even the wrong one, is a way out of the state of tension.

We strive to solve at least something - and to free ourselves from the burden of reflections and doubts, to cut the Gordian knot of uncertainty.

Game without rules

We live in a VUCA world: volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambivalence. Behind the duality, there are points of bifurcation, the choice "either - or", in which the scenario of events can radically change (catastrophe theory).

Volatility penetrates into all cells of the social organism and gives rise to such a phenomenon as "fluid modernity": everything changes in the interaction of people, nowhere can you find constancy.

To paraphrase Heraclitus, you cannot enter the same social environment twice

A person cannot be sure of anything once and for all, he cannot rely on anything completely. The rules of the social game change on the go.

Another source of uncertainty is the irrationality trap. After all, it is only in children's books that everything is simple and clear. And in real life there is always a place for illogicality and contradictions.

As new technologies emerge, previous user knowledge and skills become obsolete. People are undergoing innovative stress: they can no longer do it “in the old way”, but they still cannot do it in the “new way”. They have to relearn, which is even more difficult than learning from scratch.

Emotions instead of information

Against the background of information redundancy, uncertainty creates a "smoke screen" that makes it difficult to distinguish important information from numerous noise and interference. The lack of necessary, concrete information is compensated by the intensification of emotions, under the influence of which people begin to make decisions and act irrationally.

A person feels like in a fog, he has to make decisions “at random”. Tension and anxiety become a breeding ground on which, alas, various diseases begin to grow.

We cannot live in society and be free from other people's emotions, as they reinforce our own experiences

And not only in personal communication: the media also use stirring up emotions, and on the Internet it turns out to be one of the leading mechanisms for managing user behavior.

Back to the childhood

Dealing with uncertainty causes age regression, because it reminds our brains of the state of a small child who is constantly faced with the unknown.

As in fairy tales, where the hero is faced with a choice: "Go there - I don't know where, find that - I don't know what." And as a result, he makes a spontaneous, irrational decision: to go wherever they look. The consequences of such a “return to childhood” are confusion and reduced criticism, as well as magical thinking and belief in miracles.

Contrary to logic

A person acts unreasonably from an ordinary point of view, since he does not rely on common sense, but on emotions. There is a cognitive shift from rational decision-making mechanisms to irrational ones.

An adult, like a child, experiences a decrease in criticism: he readily accepts controversial, dubious, and even obviously unreliable information on faith. And since in the current state of society, the uncertainty of prospects is common, a cognitive shift already arises in the mass consciousness.

This is where the epidemic of irrationality begins, the desire to find simple solutions to complex problems.

Curiouser and curiouser

The so-called magical thinking awakens and, as a result, belief in miracles. A person is ready to believe in anything, in any (even imaginary) possibility of solving problems.

Pseudo-religious sects are multiplying like mushrooms after rain, promising enlightenment and happiness to all those who suffer. Pseudo-psychological trainings are flourishing, the participants of which are instructed on how to change their lives in 90 minutes.

6 steps to change

How to tune in to life in an ever-changing world? Obvious and incredibly useful things will help.

STEP 1

Maintain information hygiene. Do not spread your thoughts on numerous media. Do digital detox from time to time, take a break from the internet. Maintain critical thinking.

STEP 2

Take good care of yourself. A person can find the most important decisions only within himself. Trust mindfulness, balance, and mental clarity in all circumstances.

STEP 3

Pay attention to what is certain. Specific objects will become a lifeline to keep afloat in the vast ocean of uncertainty.

STEP 4

Feel your boundaries, feel more stable. Remember that there is your own "I" and there is a body. Self + body awareness immediately helps to ground. The techniques of body psychotherapy and meditation are built on this.

STEP 5

Think about loved ones. It is very important to feel the community of feelings, support in any circumstances.

STEP 6

List your goals in life that you have already achieved. From them, as from a mosaic, the already realized part of the meaning of life is formed.

This set of resources will help you return to adulthood, dispelling anxiety and uncertainty. It is only important to pay attention to that part of reality in which the glass is half full.