Every morning, I wake up around 5 or 6 AM. I go downstairs and make a pot of coffee. Then I begin to do everything I can to avoid my work. I check my email, but nothing important is sent to me at that time. Then I check my text messages, but I know nobody is awake to text me. Then I check to see how many people liked my Instagram stories from yesterday, but does it matter? No, it doesn’t, but I am avoiding it because that’s how my brain is wired.
As people, we seek the path of least resistance and relative motion, to mitigate the risks that disrupt our sense of safety and equilibrium.
Why do we do this? Why do we avoid our work? Why do we settle for cheap and quick indulgences, even though we know that they won’t satisfy us?
The answer is that we avoid, seek safety, and are afraid for our lives because our “lizard brain,” as Seth Godin puts it, tells us to. He further says,
“The lizard is a physical part of your brain, the pre-historic lump near the brain stem that is responsible for fear and rage and reproductive drive. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because her lizard brain told her to.”
When threatened, the “lizard” or limbic brain tells our nervous system to react so we fight, freeze, or run away.
Though the ability to recognize threats it’s valuable to our survival, the lizard brain it’s not rational And has difficulty distinguishing the difference between an actual threat or a perceived threat that is truly a non-threat.
This becomes a big problem in our daily life when we desire to try something new, but the “lizard” tells our bodies that “We don’t do that.”
“Speak up for yourself.”
Lizard: “We don’t do that.”
“Run an extra mile.”
Lizard: “We don’t do that.”
“Ask for a raise.”
Lizard: “We don’t do that.”
“Share your ideas.”
Lizard: “We don’t do that.”
Why do we avoid important things?
And the reason why we do not do those things is they are risky. There might be loss involved. People might think of us differently. We might not get the outcome that we want.
How many times have you settled for the way that things are because you’re afraid of what you might lose? For myself, I miss opportunities and procrastinate on projects for fear of failure. Inevitably, in these moments we choose failure by default. We choose to never get what we want out of life from inactivity.
So after I make my pot of coffee and procrastinate in every possible way, I turn on the shower ice cold. Then I tell myself that though I feel like I’m gonna die, I will be fine. And as the lizard tells me that “we don’t do this,” I tell it “Yes we do. We do now.” Then I get in. I always feel like I’m gonna die, but then I breathe, relax and then I’m fine.
When you share your next idea, people might crucify you, but they cannot kill your spirit. When you speak up for yourself, it might not be received well, but at least you’re learning how to fight for yourself. When you ask for a raise, you might not get it, but at least you know what you’re worth. And when you choose to love, you might get heartbroken, but you will learn, that your heart is ever-expanding with capacity for love.