Have you ever stood at the edge of something you prayed for, worked towards, and waited years for, and the moment it finally arrived, felt a sudden urge to step back? The contract is ready, and your hand hesitates. The stage is set, and you want to hide in the wings.

In Episode 3 of Transforming Minds, Dr. Jide Johnson names what is happening: the Mental Shrinking Phenomenon, the instinct to play small at the exact moment life asks you to play big. From the ten spies who saw themselves "as grasshoppers" to what your amygdala does before a big moment, this episode explains why your mind can work against the very thing you have been asking God for, how to tell wisdom from fear, and three steps to walk past the shrink.

Your one thing this week: ask yourself honestly where you are shrinking right now. Write it down in one line, name it, and within 48 hours take one small step towards it.

Chapters

(0:00) Have you ever stepped back from what you prayed for?

(1:26) What the Mental Shrinking Phenomenon is

(2:19) Grasshoppers in our own sight (Numbers 13)

(3:20) Panic dressed up as logic

(4:16) The impostor phenomenon

(6:06) Why your mind works against you: the amygdala

(7:47) Same feeling, different story

(8:25) The seed has to crack (John 12:24)

(9:41) Wisdom or fear? One question

(11:30) Step one: name it

(12:50) Step two: reframe it

(14:04) Step three: step into it

(15:16) The world needs the full version of you

(16:06) Your one thing this week

(16:59) Recap and next week

Catch up

Episode 1, Leadership Starts in Private:https://open.spotify.com/episode/50Mt7bMaIk0r6hYzrTNNm

Episode 2, The Power of Mindset:https://open.spotify.com/episode/1lDl0OZXaUccGiQ6JwcU5y

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jide_johnson

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Numbers 13:33, the ten spies and the grasshoppers

John 12:24, the corn of wheat

Exodus 3 and 4, Moses: "Who am I?"

Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes on the impostor phenomenon (1978)

Matthew Lieberman and colleagues at UCLA on putting feelings into words (2007)

Alison Wood Brooks at Harvard, "Get excited" (2014)

ABOUTTRANSFORMING MINDS

Transforming Minds with Dr. Jide Johnson is a weekly show on leadership, mindset, and faith for professionals and emerging leaders who want to lead well from the inside out. New episodes every Monday.

Read more at emergingtransformer.com

Next week: Dissatisfaction, the Birthplace of Transformation.

Until then, mind your mind.

Transforming Minds, Reshaping Worlds.