Aha Moment Monday
Did you ever have a great idea then almost immediately stop yourself in your tracks?
Maybe the idea was to call a prominent person to ask for their time, to solicit venture capital for a new model you created, gaining more twitter followers or to write your first book.
When the idea popped into your head you were enthused with what the result could mean to you; then, before you had a chance to take just one step, you called yourself off.
Why do we do that? It’s like we stand in our own way!
It’s actually not your fault. It’s the amygdala at work; the brain structure that’s responsible for autonomic responses associated with fear and fear conditioning.
It’s like a “first responder”. It looks for potential threats with a “safety first” attitude. It means well, protecting us from danger. The problem is, when we buy into its warnings. the little bugger can shut down our best ideas before we’ve had a chance to massage them.
What’s worse? The more often we experience a specific fear, the stronger the distress signals! The more often we hit a wall trying to get in front of influential people, finding capital, acquiring fans or publishing, the greater the cumulative effect of “memory” and the greater the fear of trying again.
So, what’s the answer? Do we allow our first response to control our course of action?
Aha – we regret the things we don’t do more than the things we do
Your life movie should be more than your tale of survival. Perhaps your hero isn’t the amygdala that is keeping you safe, but the prefrontal cortex; your rational, decision-making and more evolved area of the brain, or PC if you will. This is where the real thinking occurs. You see, you have the power to assess those fears and decide if they’re real and worthy of conceit, to completely override them or anything in between . Your rational brain, your PC, is your gift of growth.
“Fear is stupid. So are regrets.” ~ Marilyn Monroe