The Art of Being Brilliant by Andy Cope & Andy Whittaker
Author:Andy Cope & Andy Whittaker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published: 2011-10-03T16:00:00+00:00
Ultimately, this whole book is about language. Get the communication right and the results will follow. Remember, of course, that the most important person you ever communicate with is yourself!
Chapter 9
Nellie Breaks Free
In which we sneak in a diagram, you run for your life while out shopping, an elephant can’t be bothered to escape and some primates fail to evolve.
The diagram above illustrates our simplest way of representing some of the key themes of this book. We all live within multitudinal layers of comfort zones. There’s part of your mind called your ‘reptilian brain’ whose sole purpose is to keep you safe. It does all the fight or flight stuff and, in extreme circumstances, it can switch off the rest of your brain.
Let’s take an example. Assume you venture into your local city centre on a Saturday evening, intent on some late night shopping. You come across a gang of drunken teenagers who abuse you and threaten you with a broken bottle. I guarantee that your reptilian brain will take over.
You will have an immediate adrenaline rush that pumps energy to your main muscle groups. Your reptilian brain will give you two choices. Fight...but there are ten of them, they’ve got a bottle and they’re drunk. Or flight. So, you run like hell. Your reptilian brain makes sure there’s enough adrenaline pumping for you to run faster and further than you’ve ever run before. And as you sprint past the shop window – where they’re displaying the very thing that you popped into town for – your reptilian brain doesn’t allow you to stop and think, ‘Mmm, nice colour. I’ll just pop in and buy that while I’m passing.’ No, siree. You run, without even noticing.
This is an extreme fight or flight example. Most of the time your reptilian brain is content with keeping you safe, in the widest sense of the term. So you don’t cross roads when lorries are coming, for example. The reptilian brain equates ‘safe’ with habits, routine and repetitive behaviours.
So, most people get into a routine. The alarm goes off at the same time every morning and they (and their family) go through the same routine. There’s an order in which people go into the bathroom. We sit in the same seat, munching on the same brekky cereal, slurping the same tea/coffee with the same milk/sugar. We drive the same car, listening to the same radio station. We have a favourite newspaper and favourite drink, often drunk from our favourite cup. There’s even been some interesting research into why people have a ‘favourite cup’. It seems that drinking isn’t just about taste. It’s about a feeling. And your ‘favourite cup’ enhances the experience.
We’re not suggesting there’s anything wrong with these habits. They’re there to give us routine and make us feel safe.
But the habits also infiltrate our thinking. Negativity and pessimism can easily get a foothold and the way we think can become our downfall. Our comfort zones can restrict us. Comfort zones and habits come from our knowledge and experience.
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