That giant muscle inside your head is not necessarily your ally. Your mind wants to keep you safe. This is an evolutionary lesson from the caveman days when you might get bonked on the head with a rock for your dried rabbit stash and you needed to be constantly on alert to stay safe.
Those mechanisms inside our minds that helped us back then tend to get in our way as entrepreneurs. They show up in the form of resistance and procrastination, especially when you’re taking big, exciting steps to move your dreams forward. Big, exciting steps can be scary. They don’t feel safe. Do you know what feels safe? Doing things the same way you’ve been doing them.
But you are committed to your vision for your business. Whatever that takes. Which includes trying new things, stepping outside your comfort zone and learning to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be.
If you’ve noticed that you tend to stall out or let fear overcome action, these three steps are for you.
Step 1: Notice
The first step is to notice when you’re meeting resistance. The point when your mind says,
“Oh hell no. Not today.” (or something like that?)
Notice… Is this place possibly a similar place to where you’ve been stuck before? Are you taking on something that your mind will take any opportunity to talk you out of doing?
Step 2: Name Your Demon
If this place where you meet resistance was a person, what would their name be? What color hair would they have? Do they wear athleisure or biz cas? Do they have piercings, tattoos, jewelry?
Painting a mental picture of this mental place as a person gives you the opportunity to change your relationship to it. Instead of something inside of you, now they are a person. With a name.
Step 3: Befriend Your Demon
Imagine your demon in front of you, physically blocking your way. Look them in the eye. You’re now face-to-face with one of your demons. A demon responsible for keeping you from achieving all that you dream you can achieve.
Say to that demon, “Thank you.”
“I appreciate you.”
“And I’m choosing greatness. So I invite you to sit here while I do this work anyway.”
Imagine that person next to you. Imagine them with pom poms, cheering you on. Woah! Mine just did a cartwheel. I didn’t know he could do that.
Now you have a cheerleader where before you had a demon. Now you can take strategic, thoughtful action to achieve your vision.
