Built, Not Born: The Real Truth About Confidence: Why Playing Small Is Learned—and So Is Power

If your thoughts have been hijacking your peace, keeping you stuck in loops of self-doubt, overwhelm, or anxiety, you’re not alone—and you’re not broken. You’ve just been running on autopilot.

Grab my free “Unhelpful Thinking Habits” worksheet—a quick, powerful tool to help you identify the mental traps you’ve been falling into (like catastrophizing, mind-reading, or over-personalizing), and learn how to rewire them on the spot.

This is about reclaiming your mindset so you can think on purpose—not by default.

Download it now and start breaking free from the thought patterns that no longer serve you.

In this powerful episode, Dr. Julia Bowlin dismantles the myth that confidence is a personality trait and reveals the truth: confidence is built, not born. You’ll discover how your self-doubt was trained into you—and how to untrain it using neuroscience, psychology, and subconscious rewiring. Through real-life stories, cutting-edge research, and two unique hypnotherapy techniques—including Parts Integration—you’ll learn how to stop shrinking, start leading, and finally trust yourself.

This episode is not about tips. It’s about transformation.

May you be happy, healthy, and fulfilled.   Dr. Julia

Scientific & Psychological Citations

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2. Bang, D., & Fleming, S. M. (2018). Distinct encoding of decision confidence in human medial prefrontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 21, 841–843. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-018-0142-3

3. Huang, C. (2022). Social comparison on social media: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 11(3), 749–762. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2022.00042

4. Gray, J. A. (1982). The Neuropsychology of Anxiety: An Enquiry into the Functions of the Septo-Hippocampal System. Oxford University Press.

5. Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.

6. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.

7. Siegel, D. J. (2010). The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration. W.W. Norton.

8. Erickson, M. H. (1980). Collected Papers of Milton Erickson on Hypnosis.

9. Andreas, S., & Andreas, C. (1987). Heart of the Mind: Engaging Your Inner Power to Change with Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Real People Press.

10. Neff, K. D. (2003). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2(3), 223–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309027