What’s Your Confidence Anthem?
How to use music to give yourself a boost
What’s one easy way to put yourself into an upbeat, confident mood…something you can do in your own home, or even as you walk down the road?
It’s having your own Confidence Anthem, a song that instantly puts you into the most fantastic mood. Think of Rocky and Eye of The Tiger, a favourite of my first boyfriend who used to box for Wales in the junior league. Or the character of John Cage (also known as The Biscuit) in Ally McBeal, who draws on the inspiration of Barry White to give him a shot of power before a big course case…or date.
The Science Behind Music and Confidence
So, what’s the science behind this? One study which concentrated on manipulating the bass in music, found that the group who were asked to listen to music with higher levels of base seemed to exhibit behaviour that was associated with feeling more powerful. This is something anyone who listens to music at the gym, or on their run, will know instinctively. It was also found that it is the music, not the lyrics, that has the most effect.
If you think about the fact that our bodies are over 70% water, and that music is vibration, then this isn’t too surprising. Dopamine, the feel good chemical, is released when we listen to music, a Canadian study observed. This just doesn’t happen when you listen, but also when you anticipate the listening…so much for the shuffle on Spotify!
This means that your own curated confidence anthem playlist can be an ideal way to boost our confidence just before an important interview, exam or even date. You might want to even create two or three lists, to stop the same one becoming stale or boring.
I’m a bit greedy when it comes to my own list. I’ve chosen the whole ELO greatest hits album! ELO instantly lifts me and make me feel happy with a spring in my step. Anything by The Beach Boys has the same impact. Your Confidence Anthem could remind you of a time when you felt extremely confident or happy, such as something that was played at your wedding, or a song from your holiday. Roxanne by The Police falls into that category for a friend of mine, reminding her of long, hot teenage summers.
I asked my personal network about their own personal confidence Anthems and found I wasn’t alone. Almost everyone has at least one song they played to feel good and the following were on the their lists:
A Confidence Playlist
Lose Yourself by Eminen
Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and The Waves
Mr Blue Sky by ELO
Simply the Best by Tina Turner
Nutbush City Limits by Tina Turner
Come Alive! from The Greatest Showman
Survivor by Destiny’s Child
Independent Woman by Destiny’s Child
Dee Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill
Proud by Heather Small
Hit That Perfect Beat by Bronski Beat
Ain’t No Man by Dina Carol
A Quien le Importa by Alaska
I’d love to hear about your own confidence anthem if you have one.
Paula Gardner is a careers psychologist and coach, Her book, The Career Pause and Pivot, is available here
References
Hsu. D, Huang.L, Nordgren. L, Rucker.D, and Galinsky.A (2015). The Music of Power: Perceptual and Behavioral Consequences of Powerful Music, Social and Personality Science, Vol 6, Issue 1, pp. 75–83
Salimpoor, V.N., Benovoy, M., Larcher, K., Dagher, A. & Zatorre, R.J. (2011). Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipating and experience of peak emotion to music. Nature Neuroscience, Published online 09 January 2011, doi: 10.1038/nn.2726
