Thursday: Strike a ‘Power Pose’ to Feel More Powerful
Your DBC:
According to award-winning Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy, “our body language governs how we think and feel about ourselves.” This means that when we take on a powerful stance, it can actually make us feel more powerful. Pretty cool, right? Your task today is simple, spend at least two minutes in a power pose. The more times you can do this a day, the better! Power posing has helped me tackle impostor syndrome over and over again in my career. To this day, I sit in power poses, I stand in power poses and it works! My favorite power pose is standing tall with my legs strongly hip-width apart with my hands on my hips. I call this my Wonder Woman Pose and strike it any time I need to give myself a boost in confidence. Watch her 20-minute, full Ted Talk on power-posing here
Helpful tips:
Tip #1: Decide if you want to sit up or stand, then make yourself take up as much space as possible. Stretch out your hands and your arms. Spread out your legs. Sit or standup tall. These stances show high power. When you collapse in on yourself like hunching over or folding your arms, it reinforces a feeling of weakness. Try out several positions until you find one that feels comfortable to you.
Tip #2: Set reminders on your phone to take a pose for two minutes regularly. Reminders are a great way to start new habits. We all get busy during the day and forget to take these steps, so let technology be your reminder!
Tip #3: Try power-posing before your next big meeting for 2 minutes and see how you feel. Even better, also make yourself big during the meeting and see how you carry yourself in that meeting. It’s something I did all the time early on in my career to boost confidence and now it’s something I naturally do because I AM confident!