psychologist & author
We’ve all encountered someone who speaks with confidence and charisma, drawn in by what they say. Whether it’s listening to a podcast or meeting someone in person, there are those people who are just utterly convincing, so much so that we’re almost bewitched by their words. But why?
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to have taken hold of our inner most fears, accelerated recently by the introduction of ChatGPT. But do these recent leaps forward in AI mean that we are all doomed? Recently a number of the leaders I work with have been asking my view, as a psychologist. This is not as crazy as it may sound after all psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour, cognition (aka intelligence), and emotions.
Did you know that 80-92% of our efforts to change behaviour fail? That means that when you say you’re going to eat more heathy food, cut out alcohol, exercise more, be less grumpy with your partner, most of the time most you won’t actually do it.
Have you ever drawn a blank? While in front of family and friends drawing a blank may leave us feeling embarrassed, perhaps irritated, and frustrated in an environment of colleagues or strangers the emotions this can provoke are quite extreme.
‘How well do you really know yourself?’ A hugely significant 95% of us think that we’re self-aware, but the reality bears a stark contrast with 10% to 15% actually knowing who we really are (Eurich 2017). Although we believe that we know the image we see starting back at us from the mirror, the way we position our story on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat, what our co-workers and friends think of us, in reality we spend very little time actually reflecting on who we are or asking people for honest opinions about the impact we’re having on them.