Angry and Afraid, In a World I Never Made

Everyone has a little voice inside of their head that is angry and afraid. That voice is the resistance – your [sneaky] lizard brain [mind] – and it wants you to be average (and safe). ~ Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?(affiliate link)

The brackets in that quote are mine. The quote is from Seth Godin’s, (Seth’s Blog) new book. And he just became my new favorite – at least for today – business author. Come to think of it, I didn’t have a favorite business author before.

He is talking about our minds, a nasty little character who has our best short-term interests at heart.

Unschooling Your Mind

I guess we’ve been told countless times that in order to succeed, we have to develop our minds. What if I told you that our minds are already vastly overdeveloped already?

And not in the right way.

This is going to sound weird, but while you are interested in your life, success, personal growth, and happiness, your mind isn’t. Your mind is interested in short term events.

In physical events. These may (or may not) be okay. -

• Careful, don’t fall down the stairs.
• Stay out of that neighborhood, it’s dangerous.

And events that are not physical -

• Don’t trust him/her. You know you’ve been hurt before.
• That business is way above your head. You’re just going to be disappointed again.
• Who do you think you are? No one will want to read what you write.
• Grow up; get a real job.

Mind – Not What You Think, But What Thinks You

The mind I’m talking about is not some invisible, ethereal, spiritual entity. It’s the sum of all the warnings you’ve gotten from the people you looked up to as you grew up. It’s the transformation of messages about life that have been generalized to include networks of things and events that do not even apply to the current situation. It’s the collective wisdom of the world you and I have been exposed to (often called common sense).All of these “meta-messages” have been etched into our brains like warm water carving rivulets into wax.

The trouble with common sense is that it is just that – common.

Which is perfectly fine if the life you want to lead is common.

And if you’ve read this far, it may just be that common does not satisfy you.

That brings me to this – the refocus of this old brain. You and I are too good to waste. My recent illness has really brought that message home to me.

There are too many things left in this world to do. We can’t sit around angry and afraid. I am going to do all that I can to provide you with what it takes to be the uniquest you possible.

And it all starts here -

What do you want?

Really? I mean really want?

If this idea is helpful and you are interested in this journey out of “angry and afraid” sign up for the newsletter. I’ll keep you updated.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs