I look forward every day to talking with my coaching clients. I never know what will come up.

Today I sent one of my smart coaching clients this…

Yes. Our brains are meant for one purpose. To keep us safe.

Anything that makes our bodies feel in danger…

EVEN the fear of something completely physically safe like writing a blog post or sending a mailing… our minds will try to divert us.

You open that book draft you've been working on and all of a sudden…
“I’m hungry.”
“I’m thirsty”
“I need to go to the bathroom”
“I wonder what the dogs are up to”
“Did I ever confirm that hair appointment?”

This is all an effort to get us to avoid the perceived danger.

When we listen to the fear, we don't do the things we need to do to grow.

Heck, our brains will even try to protect us from the fear of embarrassment.

“I can't go to the gym until I lose some more weight. Everyone will stare at me.”

“I can't post this even thought I want to… What if I get haters?”

I watched my kids battle this.

Me: “Sit down with me and do your handwriting.”

Boy child: “I'm hungry.”

To me, the awareness of that is huge.

Personally it gives me power, because I can point at my reaction and go “ok, brain. I know you love me and you're trying to keep me safe. But I also know that I need to do this thing. So let's work together to do it.”

I also make sure that I'm telling my body that I AM safe.

By breathing. Slow. Steady.

Because when we are scared, we hold our breath.

And, conversely when we hold our breath, our bodies think we are in danger.

So, just by consciously breathing through the things we do on a daily basis (and might potentially avoid), we can be more productive.

Try it out. Take a few slow breaths right now. Feels good, right?

So, what are you avoiding doing today? Is it a fear-based avoidance?

Perhaps “I know that I should finish creating this training, but… I'll post on social media a few times. That's still working, right?”

Our brains are slippery. They think they're helping. And they do keep us alive. “GO BRAINS!” But they can also stand in the way of achieving the things that are out of our comfort zone.

Just some food for thought.

Hugs and high fives,

Nicole Dean

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