Lizard Brain

I started this post a long time ago but Googling "lizard brain" took me clicking from website to website like a hungry learner on crack. I'm proud to finally be writing something. Over the weekend I read, Poke the Box. In the book, Seth Godin refers to some work by Steven Pressfield and what he calls the lizard brain. I have one. We all have one.
Scientists can identify precisely where your lizard brain lives. This is your prehistroic early being, the same brain that's in the lizard or the deer. Filled with fear, intent only on reproduction.

Steven Pressfield gives the voice of the lizard brain a name. He calls it resistance. And the resistance is talking to you as you read this, urging you to compromise, to not be a troublemaker, to avoid rash moves. For many of us, the resistance is always chattering away, frequently sabotaging our best opportunities and ruining our best change to do great work. (Poke the Box, page 18)
Sometimes my brain makes me mad. I don't want a dumb walnut sized brain running my life-but I think it is. In small thoughts (bigger than a walnut though), I'm finding that I've been telling myself I'm destined for mediocre. I tell myself I'm below average, or worse: average.

But what if I'm not? What if you're not either? What if we really-REALLY- believed that we could ninja kick our lizard brain and do great things?

I wonder how my life would look different if I were able to overcome the resistance, the self doubt, and the unsure voice.

I will beat you lizard. Maybe not this week, but each day I will take a step to overcome you!

love,
lizard fighting Hanna

2 comments:

Matt | June 9, 2011 at 9:01 PM

What if we fought them together? Do you think if we joined forces we would make more progress, faster?

Hanna | June 12, 2011 at 8:46 PM

Yes- time to launch operation down with lizard brain.

Post a Comment