No, I'm not a Seth Godin stalker, but perhaps we all should be...

I do realize that I have been talking a lot about Seth Godin lately, but I can't help it. Do you remember when you were a teenager and you had such angst about life? Well, for those of you in your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties (get the picture?) - you know that the angst changes, but never goes away. As a matter of fact, I think I go through a crossroads of life every decade. At least it keeps me on my toes, right?

So it isn't that I am at a huge crossroads, but I do feel as though I'm at my own tipping point and I can decide to push myself over the edge or I can let my "lizard brain" win out and stay safely in the corner, clocking in and doing my job... never making waves, never attempting to do more, better, onward and upward. Of course, I don't REALLY have a choice because of who I am. Who I am always wins out against the lizard brain instinct. Let me take a minute, for those of you who don't know, to explain what I/Seth Godin means by lizard brain.

Your lizard brain is also known as the resistance. According to Seth Godin in his newest book, Linchpin, he has this to say about your lizard brain:

"The lizard brain is hungry, scared, angry, and horny.
 The lizard brain only wants to eat and be safe.
The lizard brain cares what everyone else thinks, because status in the tribe is essential to its survival.
A squirrel runs around looking for nuts, hiding from foxes, listening for predators, and watching for other squirrels. The squirrel does this because that's all it can do. All the squirrel has is a lizard brain.
The only correct answer to "Why did the chicken cross the road?" is "Because its lizard brain told it to." Wild animals are wild because the only brain they possess is a lizard brain.
The lizard brain is not merely a concept. It's real, and it's living on the top of your spine, fighting for your survival. But, of course, survival and success are not the same thing.
The lizard brain is the reason you're afraid, the reason you don't do all the art you can, the reason you don't ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance."

See Seth's clip on Quieting your Lizard Brain:


Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain from 99% on Vimeo.


AH HA! So now I know what to call it; I know how to recognize it; I know how to defeat it, but it is STRONG and POWERFUL and PERSUASIVE! I know what I WANT to do and what I SHOULD do and, and, and... but I haven't (well, I haven't shipped... I've talked about shipping and I've made progress, but I haven't pushed the button... not yet anyway). And so, my lizard brain has won out as of late. The resistance is standing strong and holding fast... but I'm going to kick it's butt. I think (NO, GET OUT OF MY HEAD... )... I will!

No, I don't have multiple personality disorder, but I have finally figured it out. It is our human, animalistic instinct to play it safe, to not push too hard or rock too fast. We are designed to not fail, to not question, to keep our "daemon" quiet... our genius if you will. The problem with that, for me at least, is that my daemon is strong and it is really ticked off that I have allowed my lizard brain to win out over time. I would argue that some of my closest friends and family would say, "are you kidding me? I don't think I have ever known you to NOT push, vocalize, quiet." But I have... I am... I do!

As I said in an earlier post, I fear failure... correction, my lizard brain fears failure. My daemon craves success, sharing, vocalizing, creating, challenging... And so far, the fight hasn't been all that fair. I haven't supported my daemon enough. I haven't given myself permission to "fail" to try, to succeed... because after all, isn't success just as scary as failure? I mean, if we succeed, we have to keep going right? If we do it, and it works, we can't say, "well, that was fun... see ya later!" NO, if we succeed, others will want to join the tribe, we will have to lead that tribe, we will have to CONTINUE to fight the lizard brain and man is that exhausting...

Then again, wouldn't it be even more exhausting to hide and live in fear of something we refer to as "lizard brain?"