In my previous post, I introduced the first of my 4 Deadly Ds – Derail – just one of the techniques the brain uses to keep us safe, or put another way, to keep us and our lives exactly the way they are today.
The brain equates the familiar with safety. And change, or the unfamiliar, well, that’s just dangerous.
The brain is a fabulous tool. Sending warning messages of “DANGER” is a good thing when it perceives something as dangerous. Decide to take a short-cut at night and walk through a dark and isolated park – you want your mind to generate warning signals!
But decide to go for a career change or decide to embark on an exercise routine. What happens? All those “DANGER” messages come up to keep you as you are today. And they aren’t exactly helpful in moving you in that direction, are they?
So we need to pay attention to our mind’s tricks.
Last week I spoke of Derail – that’s the first Deadly D. It’s the big, scary messages that the mind will throw at us to stop us dead in our tracks. This is where all the “DANGER! DANGER!” messages launch big time. And where the mind comes up with the scariest scenarios to stop us even before we start.
But what if we manage to set aside those thoughts – recognise them for what they are – and stick with our decision to do or be something different?
Well, that’s where technique #2 kicks in.
Dissuade.
This technique is a bit more subtle. Dissuade is where logic tries to sabotage what’s in our hearts.
It appears as your logical friend – “Yes, I hear you, but do you really want this? I mean, look at all the good things you have right now. Do you really want to rock the boat?”
The mind will try and talk you out of the changes you want to make. It will focus on what you might lose and completely ignore that spark inside of you that holds the joy of achieving that change you want.
And this is where we find ourselves listing the pros and cons of pursuing what we want. It’s our mind’s way of trying to convince us that we really don’t want that change, do we? Truly, really?
Doubts come crashing in.
Have enough of those doubting thoughts, or get caught up in paralysis by analysis, and the brain wins.
You won’t take any action in the direction of your dream.
Remember: Dissuasion is a trickster. It makes you question your own desires, your inner voice, your spirit.
However, if you overcome that analysis paralysis and put those doubts back in their little (or big) box, then the mind will go to Deadly D #3.
And we’ll look at that one next week.
