The Audacity Effect: Why Bold Self-Belief Creates Extraordinary Results - 55

The Audacity Effect: Why Bold Self-Belief Creates Extraordinary Results

Several months ago, I released an episode on the science behind manifestation, exploring concepts like gratitude, energy, and shadow work. In this updated conversation, we're taking a deeper dive into manifestation through the lens of neuroscience, psychology, identity, and self-concept.

What if manifestation isn't about attracting what you want, but becoming the version of yourself who naturally creates it?

In this episode, I explore how the brain responds to visualization, why our nervous systems often resist the very things we say we want, and how our beliefs shape the actions we take every day. We'll discuss the surprising relationship between confidence and success, why some people seem to create extraordinary opportunities despite their flaws, and how the people who trigger us most may reveal the hidden beliefs holding us back.

We'll also talk about the role meditation plays in manifestation—not as a magical practice, but as a powerful tool for rewiring the brain, regulating the nervous system, and rehearsing the identity of your future self.

If you've ever struggled to believe bigger, trust yourself more deeply, or step into a larger vision for your life, this episode is for you.

Transcript

Autumn G Noble (00:00)

The audacity effect. I love that word audacity. It makes me think of audacious, which for whatever reason makes me go totally 1980s. But you know what? We're gonna go with it. So let's do this. Welcome back to the podcast, my friends. Today I want to ask a really important question, and that is

What if manifestation isn't about attracting what you want?

What if, in reality, manifestation is simply the process of becoming the person who creates the things that you want, which is different than just simply attracting them? Several months ago, I recorded an episode, I think last fall, about manifestation. And we talked about how manifestation is related to gratitude and energy and shadow work. Today I want to revisit that topic.

but from a completely different angle. This month we're talking a lot about neuroscience in your brain and meditation. And so I want to talk about manifestation through the lens of neuroscience. With that, we're gonna kind of dip our toes into this exploration of identity and why some people are able to create extraordinary opportunities for themselves despite having fewer credentials, fewer resources, fewer qualifications.

Than everyone around them. And last, I want to talk about the surprising role that meditation plays with respect to all of this.

So, buckle up, my friends. I am pumped about this topic. And I hope that you will leave today with a different understanding of manifestation and maybe not get that cringe factor every time someone brings up the science or the practice of manifestation moving forward. So, first let's talk about our brains. Our brains are constantly predicting our reality because our brains are designed to anticipate risk and avoid.

Pain, right? We want to seek pleasure and maintain kind of where we are. So with that our brains are designed to kind of anticipate problems.

What this means is that our brain is not simply recording reality. It's actively predicting what it thinks is coming next. Many neuroscientists now describe the brain as more of a predictive machine

Your brain is constantly asking what should happen next, what could happen next? How do I fit into all of that? What am I capable of? And all of those answers and expectations influence what we notice, what we pursue, and and what we act upon. And that is sort of that confirmation bias. Whatever our brain says in response to all those questions are going to dictate.

the data that we're receiving from our environment and what we do with that data and how we act from there. So our answers to those questions directly influence what we notice and how we show up.

Research tells us that our big, beautiful brains can process millions of bits of information per second, but our conscious awareness can only handle a tiny fraction of that information. So the brain has to filter everything that's coming at it.

And it does this to determine what deserves that conscious attention because that resource is a little bit more finite than the unconscious resources processing all the data in the background.

I think the simplest example of this is when you decide that you want to buy a new car and suddenly you see that car everywhere. The cars were always there, but what's different is that your attention has changed. You've told your brain that that data piece is significant. And so suddenly your brain is filtering your awareness and your surroundings through the lens of this is something to pay attention to. Manifestation works very similarly.

Once you start to believe that something is possible, your brain starts to notice opportunities that were previously invisible in the same way that those cars are always there and we just didn't notice them until we told our brain that's important. Once you tell your brain, this is who I want to be or this is possible for me, your brain starts filtering all the data around you to find proof and evidence and opportunities.

To support that this thing is real and possible for you. So perhaps manifestation isn't always about attracting new opportunities. I think of it more as training our brain to notice opportunities that have been there along by providing it that lens, that filter through which to observe.

the world around us and telling it what to pay attention to because this is what I want and this is what I believe is possible.

When we do that and engage in kind of theoretically imagining a dream or a possibility for ourselves, the brain starts to engage in kind of this practice and visualization, which is really good to know because our brain does respond to those kinds of mental rehearsals. This is where visualization and and visualization as part of meditation can be really, really useful. Visualization is not magic, it's

Practice, it's building neural pathways. Elite athletes have used visualization for decades, and there's a reason that they keep doing it. Research on those athletes tells us that the mental rehearsal that they go through, if they're imagining running every step of the race and what they're thinking and how their body is feeling, and they imagine completing it, maybe even winning a gold medal. When they engage in those mental rehearsals, many of the neural pathways that are used.

To visualize and kind of practice it mentally are the same neural pathways that are involved in the actual performance. What that means is that our brain, it doesn't distinguish between this is real or fake. It says, okay, this is the process I'm gonna go through. So when we're practicing, we strengthen those neural pathways. And then we're in the actual moment, those neural pathways are like, I know this one, and they just start firing automatically. The brain doesn't distinguish between practice and reality.

Similarly, studies involving basketball players has found that participants who mentally practiced free throws improved their performance even when they spent less time physically practicing than other groups.

The gist of this being our reality is really driven a lot more than we realize by our mental states. And sometimes it's not just about getting out there and physically practicing the thing. You can get more of a benefit or just as much of a benefit out of visualizing it and embodying it and starting to believe that it's true and training your brain how to fire in those instances when you're at the free throw line.

By the time you get there, your brain's like, here we go. I know this one. I've been practicing it visually, mentally, as well as physically. So it kind of up levels that physical element of performance.

Here's a very easy and accessible, I think, example of how our brain doesn't really recognize the difference between reality versus visualization and habit practice. Close your eyes and imagine biting into a lemon. When I do that, I start to salivate. And my guess is that most of you listening to this also start to salivate. Nothing is happening physically, but yet your body.

responded and your brain reacted to that mental image of biting into the lemon. Again, I'm salivating, just saying it. Because your body and your brain have sort of synced up and said, I know what happens when I bite into a lemon, I salivate. And there is no distinction between whether or not it's actually happening. And so we have to start recognizing the power of that visualization. And what if it wasn't biting into a lemon? What if it was

having that really difficult conversation with my boss. What if I practiced that and and visualize showing up the way I want to in my brain and taught my brain how to do that, how automatic my brain would show up in that moment with my boss, despite all the feelings and emotions. In the same way my brain is sort of showing up with the lemon, whether it's real or fake. And we can practice that and build those neural pathways. When you repeatedly visualize yourself succeeding at something, anything,

Whether it's giving a presentation, launching a business, speaking on stage, or just having that really hard conversation, you reduce the novelty of it. And when you do that, you reduce the threat response to it because your brain's like, I've done this a thousand times. Even though in reality, maybe this is the first time you've had that really hard conversation or done that thing, your brain doesn't distinguish. It says to you, I've done this before, there's no threat here. I know how this plays out. I succeed, I win. The nervous system.

starts to view that future as familiar. And we don't have to be reactive to it. We can be in the moment and just let the brain run as it was trained and practiced and taught to do.

I find this concept really beautiful when we start thinking about our own self-concept, how how we think about ourselves, how we imagine ourselves and define ourselves, and how our behavior aligns or doesn't align with that idea of who we are or who we want to be.

I love a good vision board. I do them all the time. They're all over my house. But truthfully, I think the most powerful manifestation tool, it's not a vision board. It's visualizing that identity, who you are and who you want to become. Because people act consistently with who they believe they are. It's the same concept we just discussed. If I believe

I'm not good at this thing, and I've trained my brain to believe I'm not good at this thing, I'm never gonna show up as being good at it. So think about it this way: if someone is trying to exercise and they say, I want to become a runner, and someone else says, I am a runner, those statements are gonna create very different behavior. One is trying, assuming failure, assuming risk, assuming struggle, and one is identifying as

I am this person.

Even if there might not be data to support that identity yet, psychology research consistently demonstrates that identity-based habits tend to be more sustainable than outcome-based habits. so if you can start thinking of yourself as that person, as that runner, whatever that thing may be for you, that is likely to yield better results for you.

Than some than someone who is believing, I want to run a marathon. I run wanna run a half a mile, right? It feels very aspirational versus very embodied, this is who I am, I'm a runner, period. When behavior aligns with identity, people experience a lot less external resistance.

So if you identify as I'm a runner and you continually show up and try and run and try and increase your endurance and all of those things, you're going to experience a lot less cognitive dissonance in doing that and following through with those daily runs or practices because you've already taught your brain to believe this is who I am. Versus if you show up thinking, I want to become a runner, I want to run a half a marathon, that

Admits to your brain that you're not that person yet and that we're trying to get there. It kind of builds in that challenge, it builds in that struggle. So when you show up to execute on those daily runs, there's going to be a lot more cognitive dissonance and there's going to be a lot more resistance internally to showing up for yourself because you're sort of implying to yourself, that's not who I am yet. And I'm trying to get there, I'm trying to get there. It just creates more resistance and actually following through versus the people.

They have the same plan, the same training plan, but already believe I am this person. Because just then the way their brain is wired, your brain is going to show up already believing it's possible versus your brain kind of having that internal, man, I just don't know. I'm going to try this thing

And what energy that creates for you as a result of those narrow pathways and beliefs about who you are currently.

This all kind of ties back to the thought model that we talked about a couple episodes before. The idea that we get to choose whatever we think about, right? A lot of us have automatic thoughts kind of running wild up there, but as you engage in meditation practices and mindfulness practices more, you're better able to more intentionally choose the thoughts and the fuel that we're giving our brain. And those thoughts are all generating emotion.

And whether we like it or not, everything we do or don't do is driven by how we're feeling.

And it's those actions driven by emotions that ultimately creates everything we have or don't have in our life.

And once we create those results, they either further support the belief or they further support the doubt.

Because the results that we create form the foundation of our beliefs. And those beliefs ultimately become our identity, and that identity becomes our reality. So, how does that fit with the example with wanting to be a runner? If you're showing up thinking, I want to become a runner, I want to run a half marathon, but you're not believing that you're that person yet. The energy that I feel when I say things like that is almost sort of.

kind of hopeless or disempowered. Like I want to be this person, but I'm just not them yet. It doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel empowering. And so I know from myself when I'm doing something that I don't believe is already within my skill set and wheelhouse, I don't really show up as my best. It's I'm sort of couching my energy. It's a very unsure, uncertain energy. So from there you can imagine how that run is going to go for me and the results that that is going to create.

So then if I show up in that energy and I, you know, I don't do a great job at my runs, and I'm still kind of buried in the self-doubt. I don't know if this is who I can become. My results from my practice and training aren't going to be great. So now I have this data of not really great results that I'm going to look at that's going to enforce that belief that I'm trying to be a runner, but I'm not a runner yet. Maybe this isn't really a good fit for me. It's just something I'm experimenting with. And so that reinforces this idea.

That I'm not a runner now, but I'm trying to be one later, which is fine. You could still get to that goal of being a runner, but you can just sort of see how that disempowering belief is going to drive you to show up on those practice runs, the results it's going to create, and what you're going to make those results mean in light of the beliefs that you already have. And that is, I'm not a runner, and the results are telling me I'm not a runner. Versus someone who shows up saying, I'm a runner and I've got this plan and I'm running daily.

If I believe I am this person and I go to execute something in alignment with that belief, like going for a training run, I'm just gonna do it. I'm not gonna second guess it. I'm not gonna believe I'm not capable of it. And that energy that I bring to that run is gonna be very different. And at the end of that run, I'm probably gonna feel very differently about what I just did. And the results that that positive energy is going to create for me is likely gonna reinforce the belief that, you know what, I am a runner.

I showed up for myself. I believed I could do it. I felt good the whole time. I didn't have any dissonance. And look at I'm being consistent. My results are really good, reinforcing the belief that I'm a runner. So we have to start really thinking about what kind of gas we're putting in the tank from a mental perspective. What are those thoughts? And what do those thoughts create for us? Because eventually those thoughts will create emotions, drive action, and create results that we will then use to decide who we are.

those results will form beliefs about our capabilities, our abilities, and ultimately form that identity. And from that identity, we'll create our whole reality.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about this kind of intersection between, you know, skill set and confidence. And is one more important than the other from a brain and neuroscience perspective or even from a manifestation perspective? And and I don't love this, but but what I'm finding and what I'm kind of concluding again and again is that confidence and belief around your abilities, even though even if you're not a great runner, but you believe you're a runner, that confidence.

Frequently outperforms competence and skill. Not forever, but at least initially, what they're finding and what I'm sort of observing in my own life is that people who believe they're capable of really big things or new things tend to outperform people who might have better skills but don't have the same level of confidence.

Right? They don't have the belief in their ability to do it, even though the skill set may be there. Maybe it's an innate skill that they have versus this other person that's not really skilled, but they really believe they can do it.

Research has repeatedly found that people tend to perceive confident individuals as more capable,

Even when their objective competence to their competitors is identical. So if you have two individuals with the same level of competence and skill, but one is more confident, research tells us that people are going to trust and value that person more simply because of their confidence. Confident people also are more likely to apply for jobs, negotiate salaries, ask for opportunities, take risks.

Or recover from rejection more quickly. Many highly intelligent people don't pursue opportunities because they're waiting until they feel ready. And I will tell you, I see this all the time in coaching. I have so many amazing and powerful women and professionals in my coaching business. And they constantly say, Well, I just don't know enough yet. I'm just not good enough yet. And it's like, you are though, you know, but we don't have the confidence and belief.

That we're there yet.

Versus at the other end of the spectrum, people who may not have their skill sets and tools, but are just really confident, they're gonna apply before they're ready and probably find themselves farther along the path just because they're continually showing up and believing in themselves and that's driving them to take a lot more action than those of us that are kind of worried that we don't know enough yet or we're not ready yet.

What this I think tells us is that opportunities will often go to people who are willing to raise their hand because they have the belief in their skill set and ability. Those opportunities will not necessarily go to the person who knows the most. And I think we can look around our world and our society and see facts and evidence to support this.

And this is where I kind of get a little tongue-in-cheek about, you know, narcissists and sociopaths. And I'm not advocating for that whatsoever, but I think it's an interesting social observation. Because if you look around at a lot of very successful people, and if you study the characteristics associated with narcissism, a lot of very successful people have some of those characteristics. A lot of narcissistic

individuals possess traits that are just useful when they're separated from kind of the harmful aspects of narcissism. Some of those useful traits of of narcissistic people are certainty around their skill set and abilities, their visibility.

And willingness to be seen and judged by people around them, and their willingness to feel publicly without letting it bother them whatsoever.

When you think about people we sort of observe or kind of think, okay, you might be a narcissist, they have a tremendous amount of belief in their ability, in their skill sets, in their capacity, whether or not that is objectively true. And if you think about it through the lens of manifestation and the law of attraction, that energy, that belief is going to create a very different set of feelings and actions and results for them than it does for a lot of.

emotionally healthy people because emotionally healthy people often struggle because we overthink, we seek permission, we need certainty and safety before we're able to act. And we fear criticism. Narcissists don't care about any of those things. And so I think it's just really fascinating to kind of look around at the successful people in our world and kind of bring that curious lens of why are they so successful? Objectively, they're not

you know, super skilled or overly intelligent, but they've created massive success and why? And I think that this is really part of it.

And again, while I'm not advocating for becoming a narcissist or anything like that, I do think it kind of invites us to consider what would your life look like, or what would our lives look like if we were willing to trust ourselves 20% more than we currently do, and be a little bit more audacious in our beliefs around our ability, maybe closer along that vein of audacity.

What the narcissists are doing. If we took a little bit of their belief and their chutzpah, how would our life be different?

Someone recently suggested an exercise that I think kind of gets at this same concept, but maybe from a different direction. And what they said was that everybody needs a villain in your life. And not necessarily someone evil, but someone who deeply triggers you. And I had a lot of people that came to mind, especially given our previous discussion on narcissists and how successful they are. But one that this person suggested that I deeply resonated with.

Her villain was Kanye West. And I thought, uh-huh, I totally relate to that. There's something about him that just really bugs And i I don't want to get into, you know, hi his drama and and history and all that, but

When I examined why someone like Kanye West can be so triggering for people, myself included, one answer kept coming back to me. His unwavering, kind of ridiculous belief in himself. Even in the light of failure and embarrassment, he has such unwavering belief in his value, his contributions, and his ability.

And again, I'm separating that from his behavior and I'm not endorsing anything that he does, but I really want to think about what creates that emotion for us and these people that really trigger us. And in thinking about that, like why does it bother me so much, that belief in him? I think it kind of begged the question, you know, is that something that I'm wanting more of in myself? And that's why he triggers me. And that's why people like that trigger me. And I think a lot of us, if we look at the people in our lives.

that really bothers bother you. I think there's a lesson there and I think there's a learning there. And I think it probably has something more to do with being more visible, being more outspoken, more open, honest, and more vulnerable with kind of who you are and believing in yourself more fully. So I want you just to consider what qualities in other people or if you can imagine your own villain, what is it about them that really bothers you?

And consider is it their confidence, their ambition, their visibility, their self-promotion without shame? And then ask, what if the traits that bother you is because you've never given yourself permission to embody them? So I always talk about jealousy as sort of a way to

shine a light on what we're wanting more of in our life. So if Kanye's audacity and wild unwavering belief in in his skill sets and ability is what bothers me, it's probably because there's a little bit of me that's jealous in his ability to show up that way for him against all odds at all times, unwaveringly. And I think that that tells me that I could probably use a little bit more of that audacity.

And unwavering belief in my ability and a little less concern for what people think about me. And so I think it's a really helpful exercise to kind of look at the people, the villains in our life that trigger us and just ask Is there something there that we're supposed to learn and maybe do more of for ourselves? And this is really at its core, it's just shadow work. The things that we often judge in others reveal our own unconscious.

beliefs and struggles within ourselves.

So why are we talking about manifestation during this month of kind of neuroscience and talking about meditation and the values of mindfulness? But I really think it does all come together because meditation trains attention. It trains our brain to kind of cut out the noise and pay closer attention to what we're saying to ourselves and what our automatic thinking patterns are.

And manifestation requires attention to that that crappy elevator music that just kind of follows us around every day and those patterned thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. If we want to adjust our thinking and leverage that thought model, or if we want to manifest, we have to understand what kind of gas we're putting in our mental tanks to begin with. And meditation helps us pay closer attention to those stories.

To those beliefs so that we can maybe dismantle them and learn how to shift them and focus that energy in a more useful direction within the thought model or for manifestation purposes. Or if we're wanting to become someone a freckle different, we have to start paying attention. You know, am I describing myself as someone who's trying to trying to become a runner? Or can I practice believing I'm a runner, I'm a person who does this.

And and noticing what comes up when we try and tell ourselves to redirect that energy because all of that is really good information to help us rewire those pathways in a way that better aligns with who we want to be and what we want to create in our life.

Studies are very clear that regular mindfulness meditation reduces stress, improves emotional regulation, strengthens our attention, and decreases activity in the brain regions associated with rumination and spinning thoughts. Most humans, we've spent a lot of our lives just rehearsing fear and worry and scarcity and self-doubt and self-judgment, and we kind of

ruminate and spin on those a lot without sometimes even noticing that we're doing it. Meditation interrupts that pattern. So you can start asking the question, what do those thoughts and repeated worries and fears and self-doubts, what is that creating for me? And is it helpful? And then from there we can sort of decide, do I want to keep rehearsing that life and practicing those beliefs, or do I want to redirect my brain towards

visualization or manifestation. Because as I said at the beginning and talking around identity, your future self is not built by what you occasionally think. She's built by what you repeatedly rehearse, which means what you repeatedly train your brain to focus on and ultimately give energy to and allow actions to flow from. So meditation, it's not about

Escaping reality and checking in. There's, I mean, obviously it's about resetting your nervous system and there's a lot of value there, but it's not about unplugging necessarily from this matrix. It's about intentionally practicing the reality that you want to create, a reality that has more peace, more ease, more intention, and more alignment. And meditation is, I think, the tool that can help us all get there.

In furtherance of this topic, I want to leave all of you with a very simple exercise that you can use today in real time to just consider some of these concepts. So I want you to take a moment here and just imagine yourself one year from now, the version of you who has created something that you're really wanting or seeking. And as you think about yourself a year from now, having created that thing or achieved that thing.

Ask yourself, how does she walk into a room? What does she believe about herself? How does she handle rejection? And how does she respond to setbacks? Is there something that she stops apologizing for? And are there different kinds of risks that she takes? So consider all of those questions in light of this person, this you a year from now who has done the thing.

And then ask yourself: is there one thing I can do this week that I've been avoiding that could help me further align with this person, this ideal me a year from now? Asking yourself that very simple step can create immediate action today in furtherance of that you and visualizing that you, that person who's done the thing, we start training our brain to believe.

That she's possible and that all the steps aligned with that path and with that accomplishment are available to us. So connecting with her, asking her, you know, what would I do? How should I be feeling in this moment? What's something I can do this week? And letting her guide you, it kind of forces your brain to start seeing her as you today and can help wire those pathways in a way to follow through.

on the steps needed to really fully become and embody her.

In some today, manifestation is not intended to be about convincing the universe that you're worthy. It's about convincing yourself from a neurological perspective. It's about teaching your nervous system that your dreams are safe, but also possible. And practicing beliefs before you have ever any evidence to believe it. So living in that state of audacity and really

Practicing the belief, like I can do this. I am this person, even though we might not have any objective data or evidence to support it yet, but allowing that belief to carry you. It's about learning to become the person who naturally creates the life that you're seeking. And that is exactly why I think meditation is such a powerful tool because every time you sit in stillness, every time you visualize that future you.

Every time you redirect your attention away from fear or worry or self-doubt and toward possibility, you're casting a vote for the person that you're becoming.

It's almost like we're building a house. And every little redirection towards belief and possibility is another brick in that foundation. So if you're ready to begin the practice of meditation or manifestation or just getting more mindful in general, I'd invite you to check out my 21-day guided meditation challenge inside becoming her. Together this month, we'll spend the next three weeks calming our nervous systems.

Rewiring limiting beliefs and practicing the identity of the woman that you're becoming, but just one day at a time, one moment of stillness at a time.

All of the information relating to the 21-day guided meditation challenge is linked in the show notes. As always, thank you so much for being here and thank you so much for sharing with the women and the people in your life who could also benefit from this information.

I will see you next week where we'll start unpacking the physiological impacts of burnout on your brain and how it actually changes your brain. In the interim, in the next couple days, I'm going be releasing a new moon guided meditation for those of you looking for a little bit of a reset but not ready to go into the full 21-day meditation challenge.

This guided meditation will be available for you here for free to honor the upcoming new moon. I hope to see as many of you there as possible. Best of luck to you this week and continue visualizing the person that you want to