The Brain, and why you get more of what you got
Starting a businesses can be uphill battle. Not because of the strategies or the economy, but because of the brain’s relationship to survival.
To get simplify something pretty geeky, there are three major parts of the brain: the lizard (survival) brain, the emotional brain, and the thinking/rational brain. While it may sound like we have three brains, we don’t. These are just three major systems that have smaller sub-parts; like the amygdale, or hippocampus. Most of the time the lizard brain, and emotional brain talk behind the logical brain’s back for survival sake, “that guy seems sketchy, walk on the other side of the street!” We may not logically think about why we’re crossing the street, we’re simply responding based on millions of little data points we’re not even conscious of.*
While this is great sometimes, it can trip us up when we’re to learning new skills, trying new things, and developing new relationships, because our brain rapidly filters our sensations, and puts it in buckets related to survival… based on our emotional state and what it knows we’ve already been able to survive, “Hey, you’ve never survived implementing a marketing strategy! Wouldn’t you like to watch Dr. Who instead?? We know we can survive that!” So, even though I know reaching out to people who’ve already -asked- for my services won’t kill me… there is a whole fear/resistance process to get through before that phone call.
This is why people often don’t change, until what they’re doing starts to really hurt. We have to convince our own brains that we’re going to survive the new behavior. This is why practice and the collaborative process has made such a huge difference: I get to be surrounded by people successfully navigating the processes I’m afraid of. We develop strategies of dealing with the fear. It becomes easier to keep moving forward, when I see Dena, Heather, and Sheila surviving too.
Which is good, because even though I like Dr. Who, I don’t like it -that- much. Next time, tips for dealing with the lizard!
Good luck!
Kaye Porter
* To learn more about this process, read Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink
(cross posted to thework101.wordpress.com)
