Nothing is Wrong With Your Brain: Part 3 (How to Begin Managing your Brain)
Welcome back! In the first two posts in this series, I discussed the difference between your Higher and Lower Brain.
Today, I want to share with you why I think that going along with our Lower Brain is often what holds us in most of our pain and suffering, and what the heck we can do about it!
A quick recap of the Lower Brain: Our Lower Brain is programmed for our survival. It likes familiarity and what it believes will keep us safe (read: alive). Its job is to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and function as efficiently as possible.
Unfortunately, the Lower Brain can only think about our immediate present, and does not have the ability to anticipate whether an action we take in the present will actually be most beneficial to us in the future.
Let’s look at the example I presented in my last post:
Situation: A 3-mile run scheduled for Tuesday morning at 6:00AM.
Lower Brain Thought: My bed is too comfy to get up; I want to press snooze and skip this run!
Lower Brain Emotion: Tired, Apprehensive, Conflicted
Action: Press snooze, stay in bed
Result: Miss planned run; feel disappointed, lethargic, and scattered; reinforce my original thought and make it harder for myself to get out of bed at my next alarm
Notice how my Lower Brain is focused on the immediate gratification in the moment, avoiding the strain of exercise, and focusing on what feels good right now: my warm, comfy bed!
Avoiding pain and extra expenditure of energy was great back in the days where we did not know if we would be chased by a predator later in the day or where our next meal was coming from. During this time, if we didn’t need to be moving around, it made sense for our Lower Brains to let us know it was important to rest and not use energy needlessly.
But this isn’t the case in our lives today.
Most of us lead much more sedentary lives that what humans had been accustomed to in the past. Instead of walking to our destinations, many of us use vehicles to transport us to and from various locations. We also expend less energy at our jobs than in the past. And most of us have access to limitless amounts of food whenever we are the slightest bit hungry.
Put simply, our jobs and gathering sustenance do not require the amount of energy, compared to human lives in the past.
Instead, we engage in deliberate exercise to produce endorphins and to keep our bodies in top physical shape.
Many of us feel energized, focused, and happy after we complete a strenuous workout. Exercise releases the same endorphins that our ancestors used to feel when they caught their next meal, or were on the go for several hours a day.
But our Lower Brain does not register that exercise is necessary for survival. In fact, it believes the opposite: It will tell us that it is useless for our survival, that it is painful, and it’s just too much work.
And our Lower Brains can be very convincing!
Notice how, as the time of your scheduled 3-mile run is approaching, your Lower Brain begins to offer you all sorts of enticing and creative debates as to why you should press snooze instead of heading out for your run.
“I have such a busy day, I deserve to sleep in!”
“The dogs are finally being quiet and cuddly; I couldn’t possibly disrupt them now.”
“If I make noise around the house, I might wake the kids up!”
“What’s the point of sticking with a running routine? I haven’t lost any weight since I started to run anyway…”
“The weather was calling for rain…I really don’t want to run in the rain!”
Personally, my Lower Brain LOVES offering scheduling negotiations: “If I don’t go for a run this morning, I will definitely go after work.”
I never go after work.
When we don’t understand that ALL THOUGHTS ARE OPTIONAL, we begin to hear our Lower Brain offer excuses of why it wants to stay nice and safe and warm, and we just believe that these thoughts are facts and we listen to them!
And then what happens?
We give up on our goals.
We sleep through our alarm.
We skip the run.
We eat 3 helpings of a meal.
We continue to yell at our spouse or children.
And we don’t get the results we truly want.
All thoughts: optional
Watch how this scenario plays out differently when you observe that all of your thoughts are optional.
All thoughts are optional means that you understand that you do not HAVE to believe any thought that doesn’t serve you. It means that even though your brain is offering you an enticing way out of your grueling run, you can redirect your brain to create the results you want (finishing your run!) by using your Higher Brain.
Situation: A 3-mile run scheduled for Tuesday morning at 6:00AM
Higher Brain Thought: I will honor myself, my goals, and my plan by completing this run, and will feel amazing all day!
Higher Brain Emotion: Determination, Commitment, Self-Love
Action: Complete run
Result: Feel energized, accomplished, and focused; make progress with training plan; teach yourself you are able to redirect your thoughts to create better results
My Higher Brain is focused on the goal set and how I will feel in the future if I work hard now.
Easier said than done, right?
You may be wondering how in the heck you start to think different thoughts in the first place. After all, aren’t thoughts automatic? Don’t they just happen?
To a certain extent, yes.
Our brain gets incredibly good at what it practices. If you have practiced a certain thought over and over—even without realizing it—your brain gets increasingly better at creating neural pathways between that thought and your emotions and actions. Eventually, these pathways become so well ‘traveled’ that they happen instantaneously, and it seems as if your alarm clock causes you to press snooze and go back to sleep.
In reality, the thought, “I want to skip my run and stay in bed,” is happening so quickly and efficiently in your brain that it seems as though you aren’t even thinking.
What would happen if you practiced the thought, “I will honor myself, my goals, and my plan,” on purpose…consistently?
Your brain would begin to create neural pathways that would make it easier…and eventually more automatic…that you think this thought as your scheduled run was approaching.
First thing’s first.
In order to be able to change your thoughts to create different actions and better results for yourself, you need to start by gaining a thorough understanding of what is actually going on in your brain.
Most of us have no idea.
Because we are not taught to observe our thoughts!
The Thought Download
I want to encourage you to start observing your thoughts and the story you are telling yourself about a given situation by completing a Thought Download. This is essentially the practice of dumping all of your thoughts about your situation onto a piece of paper. What you are doing is allowing yourself to really see what it is you are thinking about your situation. The story you have created for yourself around that situation.
By completing a Thought Download, you will get to see for yourself—in black and white—what your brain chatter looks like.
Then you get to decide if those thoughts are serving you.
Is it really serving you to believe the thought, “I’ll never be able to get through my day if I get up so early to run,”?
Is it really serving you to believe the thought, “Maybe I’m just not cut out to be a runner.”
When you decide that a certain thought, or maybe even the entire story, is not serving you in a way that creates the results you want in your life, then you get to decide to think different thoughts on purpose.
In my next post, I will share a more thorough exploration of the Thought Download. See you there!
Nothing Is Wrong With Your Brain: Part 2 (The Higher Brain)
In my last post, I talked about how our Lower Brain functions to keep us alive, and how it uses our memory and emotions to identify any potential threats to our survival and safety.
I like to think of the Lower Brain as our ‘survival brain.’ It is the part of the brain that ignites the fight/flight/freeze response, and it does a great job at making sure we are safe from any threats to our existence.
What else is in there?
The Higher Brain, in contrast, is the part of our brain responsible for all high-level functioning: effective communication, attention, impulse control, planning, organization, prioritization, decision making, and short-term memory—just the stuff that makes us amazing 😊
In this post, I share with you how the Higher Brain is different from the Lower Brain, how the two interact, and how this can sometimes be an issue.
The Higher Brain
Aliases: Prefrontal Cortex, Supervisor Brain, Logical Brain, Intelligent Brain, Thriving Brain
The Higher Brain is the part of a human’s brain that distinguishes it from the rest of the animal kingdom. It is responsible for our capacity to be rational, reasonable humans!
It is the part of our brain that wants us to thrive, to do new and exciting things, to plan for changes, and improve our lives.
It is also the part of our brain that can manage emotional responses and impulsive urges that our Lower Brain produces.
How the Lower and Higher Brains Interact
Your Lower and Higher Brain are constantly arguing for your attention.
Typically, when you feel anxious, scared, defensive, or like you’re about do die, chances are your Lower Brain is in the driver’s seat.
On the other hand, when you feel organized, focused, and in control, your Higher Brain is more than likely in charge at the moment.
Because we have approximately 50,000 thoughts on any given day, some coming from the Higher Brain and some coming from the Lower, we are in a constant state of negotiation between the two brains.
How can I learn to tell which part of my brain I am using?
The way to determine which part of your brain has control is to check in with your thoughts and emotional state: what is your brain offering you that you are believing at this moment, and how are you feeling because of it?
Example 1: A 3-mile run scheduled for Tuesday morning at 6:00AM.
Lower Brain Thought: My bed is too comfy to get up; I want to press snooze and skip this run!
Lower Brain Emotion: Tired, Apprehensive, Conflicted
Higher Brain Thought: I will honor myself, my goals, and my plan by completing this run, and will feel amazing all day!
Higher Brain Emotion: Determination, Commitment, Self-Love
Notice how my Lower Brain is focused on the immediate gratification in the moment, avoiding the strain of exercise, and focusing on what feels good right now.
My Higher Brain is focused on the goal set and how I will feel in the future if I work hard now.
Example 2: My boss asked to have an impromptu meeting about a project I recently completed.
Lower Brain Thought: She hates my work and is about to tell me how poorly I performed.
Lower Brain Emotion: Anxious, Defensive, Angry
Higher Brain Thought: I’m interested in hearing her feedback about my work. I believe I did my best and wonder if she feels the same.
Higher Brain Emotion: Curious, Confident, Open
Notice how my Lower Brain is immediately bracing for an attack and thinking about the worst possible scenario.
My Higher Brain understands that feedback is simply a person’s (optional) thoughts, and is willing to hear positive and negative feedback without making it mean anything about my worth as a person or my overall job skills and aptitude.
Where We’ve Gone Wrong
Without understanding that our thoughts come from two different parts of our brains, and that ALL thoughts are optional, we have grown to believe that all of our thoughts are facts and that we must respond to them as such.
You can imagine how that works out!
In my next post, I will outline some steps you can take to understand and manage both parts of your brain. But I want to hear from you:
What if you believed that all thoughts are optional? That all thoughts, positive and negative, are simply subjective experience of neutral, factual situations?
What if you believed that you get to choose which thoughts you wanted to commit to? And that choosing your thoughts on purpose gave you all the power you need to create your own results?
How would your life look differently?
Talk to you soon!
Nothing Is Wrong With Your Brain: Part 1 (The Lower Brain)
Can you relate?
Have you ever experienced a time where you were just sitting around, minding your own business, and out of nowhere, your heart starts pounding out of your chest, your palms start sweating, and you feel a dreadful sense that something terrible is about to happen…but you have no idea how it all started?
Or how about a time you were having a seemingly calm conversation with someone and all of a sudden, that person says one little thing that has you clenching your fists so you don’t shake them and scream obscenities in their face? Where the heck did that even come from??
I hear stories like this from the clients I work with all the time, followed by sentiments like:
“I’m pretty sure I’m just a psycho.”
“I promise I’m not a terrible person!”
“You probably think I’m absolutely crazy…am I your worst client?”
“There’s something really wrong with me.”
Here is what my answer ALWAYS is:
Nothing has gone wrong with your brain. You have a human brain that is being a human brain!
If you have worked with me before, you know I spend a lot of time talking about your brain!
I think it is so important for us to understand how our brains work in relation to our mental health and what we are thinking and feeling. So many clients I have worked with come in exasperated, sharing with me that they think there is something terribly wrong with how their brain is working.
What has actually gone wrong?
What I think has gone wrong is that our society does not teach us how to understand and manage our minds.
We learn high-level math and physics. About the history of our cultures. About politics and how to bake an exquisite cake.
But no one ever sits us down and says, “Hey! You know that feeling when out of nowhere, you feel like you’re going to die? Here’s what is going on in your brain when that happens…”
Hell, I have two degrees and several licenses in mental health and it STILL took me several years of my own research and personal development to figure this out!
So, we go through our lives thinking that when that does happen, something awful has happened, and that our brain is broken.
Your brain is not broken.
I promise.
It is doing exactly what a human brain has been programmed to do.
If society won’t teach you, I will!
I’ve put together a series of posts to help you start to understand your Lower Brain, your Higher Brain, how the two interact, where pain and suffering occur, and what to do about it!
This post is an overview of your Lower Brain.
Warning: This is by no means a comprehensive exploration of the human brain. For purposes of this post, I’m going to keep things nice and simple.
Your Lower Brain
Aliases: Amygdala; Monkey brain; Unsupervised toddler brain; Emotional brain; Unintelligent brain; Survival brain
I want to talk to you about the lower brain first. This seems to be where most of our pain and suffering come from.
Your lower brain processes emotions and responds to perceived threats. It likes to seek immediate pleasure, and avoid pain at all costs. It also likes predictability, repetition, and doing things that do not require the use of a ton of energy. Think about it…seeking pleasure, avoiding pain, and doing things we know how to do repeatedly is how the human species has survived!
Staying alive…that’s great, right?
During the days of the caveman, it made sense to have a brain that was hyper-focused on survival. There were so many threats to our safety on a daily basis back then: a lion hunting us and our family, severe weather without adequate shelter, lack of access to medical care, and so on. We constantly had to be on the lookout for things that may kill us and squander our hopes of survival and passing along our DNA.
Our world has evolved so much since then.
We have Ibuprofen (and coffee) for the tiniest headache. Weather-proof housing with heating and air conditioning. Access to clean drinking water (and Diet Pepsi). Animals don’t hunt us on the daily (ahem, this blog is not referring to you if you live in the Everglades or if your neighbor’s dog is a monster). For most of us, it is very rare that we encounter something that threatens our literal existence.
Here’s the thing:
Our lower brain has not evolved to understand that we are no longer under constant attack. It cannot distinguish between that awkward conversation you’re about to have with your boss and that hungry lion racing towards you. Its response is the same: “You’re going to die!”
Have you ever noticed your physiological response to someone who you thought made a rude comment to you, cut you in line at a store, or did something you felt was unjust or unfair? Many of us have a physical response as if we are under attack! Our heart starts to beat rapidly, we feel hot or clammy, and we freeze up or have the urge to run and hide or ‘attack’ back.
Then, when you are in a calm state, you think back to the encounter and feel like you may have overreacted? That whatever that other person said or did was really not that big of a deal?
Your lower brain believed differently!
It perceived the encounter as a life-threatening attack that you needed to protect yourself from. This is where the Fight/Flight/Freeze response comes in!
Our lower brain’s primary function is to keep us alive and safe, yet it is not intelligent enough to be able to distinguish between an actual threat and one it perceives to be dangerous.
Don’t stress! We have a better tool!
This is where the Higher Brain becomes imperative! In the next post, I will explain the functions of our Higher Brain, and you will see how we are able to use it to supervise and manage our Lower Brain. Stay tuned!
3 Honest Reasons to Stop Reading About Personal Development
Personal improvement books. Positive mindset blogs. Financial improvement podcasts. E-books on building your dream career.
This content is EVERYWHERE these days! We live in a world where an infinite amount of information, advice and how-tos are all right at our fingertips! How lucky are we?!
We are so fortunate to live in a world where the answers to literally any question are just a click away. We can change our lives in any aspect we can think of with the information that we have access to.
So what’s the problem?
The problem is that many of us—myself included—spend more time reading motivational and inspirational material about how to change our lives…and not enough time changing our lives!
I’ll give you an example from my own life. I recently left my secure job as a mental health professional with a non-profit organization and am now working to make a name for myself as an independent contractor at a private practice. In a new city. In a new state. Where I have no contacts. No reputation. No street cred. No nothing! And while I am a contractor for a private practice, the business I acquire and my income earned is almost wholly up to me.
This is the first time in my life that I am essentially building my own brand and my own business. The first time I have to learn the ropes of working with insurance companies, developing and implementing clinical policies, and billing and collecting on payments. This is the first time I have to market my services in order to obtain the amount of business I need to earn a living. This is the first time in my life I have not worked for a company that guarantees full-time pay, health care benefits, and retirement matching.
I’ve spent a good amount of time reading about the best ways to market myself and my services. Marketing materials I can use that will catch potential customers’ eyes. Online presence that will help me build my reputation and attract business.
I’ve done all the reading, and all the researching, and all the planning to make my business successful.
This information is great. And it helps me to feel like there really are things I can be doing to grow this business and not just sitting around hoping that clients will manifest out of thin air.
But the information is not going to get me to where I need to be.
I will get me to where I need to be!
As long as I put down what I’m reading and take action!
Action: Required.
Action is the integral ingredient needed to change your life. Reading about how to change your life—while inspirational—is not action. And here is where I see a lot of people getting stuck.
You start to read about a topic that you believe will help improve an aspect of your life. And then you read some more. And then, you find a recommendation in the current reading for another piece of reading that we can read about said topic (how many times have I typed the word ‘read’??). You may even do a little planning about how to put all this information into action. And then you find an area of your plan you think needs to be researched a bit more. So you continue reading, researching, planning, and reading some more.
The problem with this cycle is that you are spending all of your precious time reading, and none of your precious time doing!
So why, even in today’s world with the amount of knowledge and information you have right before your eyes, are you not using this information to make the changes you want for yourself?
I want to talk about three major reasons why I believe that so much of this reading is not computing to taking action.
You feel like you need to be 100% “prepared” to get started.
Here’s the catch-22 with there being so much information out in the world: you start to feel like you need 100% of the information out there before you can take action toward our goal. You want to feel totally certain that you are completely prepared before taking action.
Here’s an example: You want to run a marathon.
What if you spent the next 3 weeks researching everything from the best type of shoes for long-distance running, to what to eat to fuel your runs and how many nano-ounces of water you need to be optimally hydrated based on your weight, height, eye color, and the fact that I woke up last night once because I heard a dog bark in the middle of the night.
See what I mean?
What if—instead—you just….went for a run?
What will get you closer to your goal of running that marathon: heading out the door for that first run or the information about the optimal water percentage in your body?
Now. I know you may thinking, “Katie, come on. Running a marathon is a huge goal and starting to train for such a distance without any preparation is careless and will leave you injured and burned out. There needs to be a plan in place to be able to reach that type of goal.”
I agree with you on this!
My point here is that so many of us get stuck focusing on the minute details of how and why and where and when. We inundate ourselves with so much information that we start to wonder, ‘what else do I not know? How could I possibly start working toward this goal if there is still so much I still have to learn? If I start now, without ALL the knowledge…I’ll never be successful!’
You are waiting to feel motivated before taking action.
Maybe you’ve done your homework and have decided that you do, in fact, have all the information you need to get started on achieving that goal of yours! But then a voice in your head says, ‘You know what? I’m pooped after all this planning! I’ll just wait get started on this tomorrow morning when I am nice and refreshed.’
Or maybe it’s a Thursday and you tell yourself, ‘I’ll start this coming Monday. That’s when I’ll be the most motivated and ready for all these changes.’
Or how about, ‘There’s just gotta be that one article out there that is going to be my aha moment. Once I find the motivation I am looking for, I’ll ALWAYS have the inspiration I need!’
You guys!
Our primitive brains (I’m going to refer to this as the PB) will think of any possible reason to not get started right now:
You’re tired.
It’s the weekend.
Your dog just sneezed and you think he may be coming down with a cold so it’s best to wait until he’s feeling better so you don’t have to worry about him…
The truth is, success does not come from working only when you are feeling motivated and at your best. If you’re like me, it’s a rare occasion when the universe aligns and I am full of energy and inspiration, AND I’ve just eaten so I’m not hangry, AND the dogs are taken care of, AND the house is clean, AND I have the time I need to tackle that goal I want to achieve.
No.
Success happens when you take action NOW and don’t wait until you feel inspired or motivated.
The newness and excitement of a setting goal and starting to take action wares off pretty quickly when you run into the first hiccup. You don’t have wifi. It’s raining out. Your marketing strategy didn’t bring in as much business as you thought. It’s lonely.
There absolutely will be times when your motivation is running on empty. You will need to push past this and get going anyway. If you wait until perfect conditions to get started, you’ll never get started.
You are waiting to stop feeling scared before taking that first step.
Taking a step toward living out your dream is Really. Freaking. Scary.
Why is it that making changes so we can achieve better results in our lives is so terrifying?
Because we have absolutely no idea what the result is actually going to look like.
Let’s say you are truly considering leaving your job (before you do that, thought, read this). The pay is decent and you enjoy your co-workers, but you don’t feel a sense of purpose, and you have this nagging feeling that there may be something better out there for you.
You do all the research: You make a list the pros and cons of leaving your job. You read all the articles on how to quit, when to quit, and what to put in your resignation letter. You read stories of other people in similar positions who have left their jobs and feel inspired by their action. You look for alternative positions and have interviewed for several new opportunities. Heck, you may even have an offer or two lined up.
Yet you still can’t bring yourself to make the leap.
Remember that primitive brain (PB) of ours? It just LOVES when we continue the behaviors that we currently sustain. The PB likes what it knows, and it sees anything out of the norm as a threat to the safety and stability of our lives. This is true even if, ultimately, the behavior is causing us pain and suffering. According to the PB, pain and suffering that we are familiar with is always better than the pain and suffering that we are unfamiliar with.
This is why you go into panic mode at the mere thought of making a major life change. Why would you leave a job that you know how to do and that provides a steady income, when you have no idea what a new job is going to be like?
What if you resign from your current position and your boss is so mad, she walks you out the door that very minute? What if the new job is worse? What if you don’t make it through the probationary period? What if you’re not good at your new job? What if your boss hates you? What if your new coworkers conspire against you? Gosh, if you leave your current gig and accept this new job, you will—without a doubt—suck at it, get fired, and be out on the streets without a penny to your name before you can even update your LinkedIn profile!
These are the thoughts that come from our PB. Our PB is a wonderful catastrophizer. But what the PB is incapable of is visualizing more reasonable—more probable—outcomes. You will resign from your job and though your superiors and colleagues will feel sad, they will wish you well in your new career. You will begin your new job and, yes, struggle to learn new policies, procedures and ways of the workplace, but you will most likely be more than capable of taking on the demands of the new position. You will slowly get to know new co-workers and become comfortable with your new routine. And so on.
Where does reading about personal development come into play with this idea?
I think so many of us believe that there is something out there that we will be able to read, listen to, or otherwise consume that will negate all the fear and apprehension we have about pursuing our goal. “If I can just find the perfect Instagram quote that will erase all my fear about leaving this tired job, I can finally put my resignation in,” or, “I’ll be able to finally pursue my dream of starting my own company when I have enough personal development information under my belt and feel completely ready.”
I’m going to share something with you that you may not want to hear. Ready for it??
You are NEVER not going to feel scared and apprehensive starting something new. EVER.
Whether it’s starting a new job after 20 years with the same company or picking a different flavor of ice cream at the grocery store, you will ALWAYS feel some level of discomfort making a new choice if you’ve never done it before. It’s our brain’s way of trying to keep us safe. We are biologically programmed this way.
If you are waiting to feel completely confident and fearless about jumping into something new, you will never get started.
How to Walk the Talk
How hypocritical of me to write an article about not reading articles about changing your life! I know, I know.
My sincere hope for writing this is that you simply become more mindful about the idea that no amount of reading, researching, or planning will get you up off the couch and living the life you want until you commit to stepping into the discomfort of making changes.
Here are a few ways to finally be able to take the action you’ve been wanting to for so long:
Allow yourself to feel the fear….seriously.
If you take anything away from this post, I hope it’s this. You are absolutely, positively going to have some level of anxiety, fear, and/or apprehension when you decide to move forward with a change in your life. Accepting this truth will allow you to be more tolerant of these feelings when they do come up.
Most of us are incredibly effective at buffering or numbing any type of discomfort in our lives. We do so with distracting behaviors. When it comes to the uneasiness that typically accompanies setting and achieving goals, the behaviors often take form of either coming up with excuses as to why we aren’t capable of achieving our goal (eg. ‘I’m too busy,” “I’m not smart enough,” “Other people have already done this.”), or procrastination (eg. SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME CONSUMING PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION!!).
Take some time to really sit with that discomfort.
What does it feel like in your body? Does your stomach tighten up? Do you get dizzy? Does your heart start racing? Do you get a headache?
What doubts come up? Are you not actually qualified to do the kind of work you want to do? Are you convinced you will fail?
Once you really allow yourself to be with your emotions and thoughts about the fear of getting started, you will start to realize that they are just that: emotions and thoughts! They will not to harm you. You are capable to having those emotions/thoughts AND taking action. The two aren’t mutually exclusive!
Set a designated amount of time to research, plan, and prepare for your goal. Once that timer’s up, it’s time to take action!
I wholeheartedly believe that achieving most goals in life require at least some amount of preparation. That marathon you’re planning to run? Yeah, you most likely won’t perform your best running in your 12-year-old gardening shoes that your cat chewed a hole in. You may not even make it to the race’s starting line if you get lost in the woods after setting out for a run without researching a trail back to your car!
Set a specific amount of time you think will appropriate for planning your goal. Marathon runner, that means you may say one hour of research time would be sufficient to order some new kicks and plan out your first couple running routes.
Don’t worry about how far or how fast you go, or even how many walk breaks you take before getting to the end of your street. Because you know what? You just got your first run in!
Trust yourself to seek out additional information as you go along.
Throughout your journey, it is certainly wise to take some additional prep time if needed, and as you go along, you will figure out what other information you will need.
But DO NOT let too much reading, researching and planning be the reason you never get started.
The only way you will learn about what additional information you will need to continue with the success of your goal is by actually doing some of the things that will start moving you closer to your goal.
Picture this: You are several months into your marathon training…and you live in the Midwest…and summer is turning into fall. You start to realize that the shorts and tank tops you have been running in over the summer ain’t gonna cut it for your brisk morning runs anymore.
If you had been sitting your butt on the couch up until now drawing pretty running plans with your new colored pencils into your spiraled notebook and reading all the articles titled, How Running Changed My Life, you would not have had the experience of being outside in the changing climate to know that your current wardrobe needs some updates.
Learn to trust that the more you do, the more you will learn.
How I Walk the Talk
Earlier I mentioned to you how I’ve been doing all the reading and all the prep work to figure out how to build a business in mental health for myself.
One evening, I was outside cutting my grass and listening to a personal development audiobook that was discussing how people stay inactive because doing so does not challenge their current perception of themselves and the possibility of failure.
It was a lightbulb moment for me. I thought about how no amount of learning and educating myself about building a business will actually build my business unless I actually get out there and get to work!
Since then I’ve been hauling butt doing all things I know will, at the very least, get me started with getting my name out there. I knew I needed to figure out a way for people to be able to find and connect with me if they are interested in counseling services.
I’ve posted flyers.
I’ve passed out business cards.
I’ve begged the local newspaper to run a mental health-related article I wrote in their publication with my contact information at the bottom.
I’ve attended local business open houses and met other business owners in the area.
I’ve added myself to several popular mental health directories.
Are all these actions the absolute best way to market myself and my new business? I have no idea! But what I do know is that in doing all these things, I’ve learned the following:
I can feel really intimidated by doing things I’ve never done before (eg. walk into an unfamiliar building with unfamiliar people and talk myself up) and do them anyway.
I’ve walked away from interactions thinking, “That went so great! And next time, here is something I can do to make it even better.” I’m learning along the way!
I don’t have to listen to my PB telling me all the reasons I really don’t need to post the flyers with my face on them.
I don’t have to have absolute certainty that something I try is the ‘right’ thing to be doing or that it will definitely work out in my favor.
So, whether you are the potential marathon runner, the newbie blogger, the aspiring business owner, or the person that just needs to get a damn load of laundry done: Go. Now. Get up from where you are and start doing whatever it is you think will get you just a little bit closer to that goal of yours.
Not even the cutest, most inspirational Instagram quote will do this for you. It’s up to you.
PLEASE! Leave me a message and let me know what it is you have gotten up and started…I’d love to hear about your action!
Happy doing, everyone!