LEAWOOD, Kan. (PRWEB) September 11, 2018 -- After 30 years of studying confidence, Kansas Psychologist Bernard J. Sullivan, Ph.D., discovered that lack of confidence isn’t usually caused by childhood neglect, rejection, or criticism or by failures and mistakes. And true confidence doesn’t come from succeeding or thinking positively or being loved or smart or strong, or repeating, “I think I can, I think I can.” Because what we know and think has little influence in the primitive part of our brain where true, genetic confidence, and the ancient system that suppresses it, reside.
“Confidence Beyond Measure: The Science of Believing in Yourself” reveals that a primitive brain system generating inborn confidence was necessary for early humans to climb their tribe’s pecking order to claim the most food and the warmest part of the cave. Today, this brain system automatically reacts to every challenge and opportunity, sending a raw, physical, deeply pleasurable, jungle confidence exploding through people. Dr. Sullivan named this strongest human feeling alpha confidence.
Most people can’t consciously feel alpha confidence because early human tribes in which everyone felt too important to be a follower and constantly schemed and fought to be chief were weakened by the spread of unchecked hatred, vengeance, and violence—bad for tribal survival. Humans have walked upright for seven million years—through 350,000 danger-filled generations—in which these conflict-ridden, dysfunctional tribes would again and again be easily extinguished by tightly knit cooperative tribes. If most members inherited brain systems that suppressed their alpha confidence with self-doubt and self-criticism, they would feel vulnerable and band together as worker bees loyally following a leader and would survive more often to pass on these suppressive genes.
So, when alpha confidence makes people feel, I’m a force of nature. Nothing can stop me, instantly these feelings trigger an inborn suppressive system that makes them feel I’m not strong enough, smart enough, or worthy enough. It secretly wraps most people in an invisible straitjacket of self-doubt, self-criticism, and a litany of other negative feelings to choke off inborn confidence before they can feel it consciously. So self-doubt, self-criticism, and other negative feelings aren’t weaknesses. These disempowering feelings made ancestral tribes much more likely to survive in their harsh world by decreasing too-many-chiefs competitiveness and increasing stabilizing, productive worker-bee cooperation.
Dr. Sullivan’s simple visualizations can retrain the brain to release alpha confidence letting it explode past failures, weaknesses, or memories of painful childhood experiences.
Dr. Sullivan has been in private practice for 41 years. He founded the country’s first psychology/self-improvement store, The Creative Mind, and has published articles in major psychology journals. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the National Register of Psychologists. He lives near Kansas City. Psychologist Bernard J. Sullivan, Ph.D. 913-451-2843 [email protected]
Bernard J Sullivan PhD, http://www.BernardSullivanPhD.com, +1 (913) 451-2843, [email protected]
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