Get Off The Self Help Treadmill

A lot of the “self help” you run into in your search for stability, authenticity or inner peace amounts to a sort of treadmill. We find ourselves jumping from one treadmill to another, over and over again. New diet, new mate, new exercise program, new motivational / self image / spiritual seminar / audio / book… ad infinitum. It’s a universal quest to feel better than we do now.

I did that for a long time. Then I realized I was getting nowhere no matter what the treadmill looked like. After which I realized that real change / transformation / healing is more like swimming in the ocean where the waves and swells and currents are pulling at you and tossing you about. .. with one other thing: You have to be able to be OK with it.

OK with what? Wondering if you really are going anywhere, but not letting that throw you. Allowing the massive forces to push and pull you without really resisting, but still moving on. Being more devoted to discovering what is real or true than you are to avoiding what hurts. In fact the only thing that really works is moving toward and processing everything that hurts / upsets / irritates you. This amounts to emotional integration.

Get off the treadmill and jump into the ocean of deep feeling awareness.

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Reassuring or Reprogramming Your Lizard Brain

Seth Godin’s post: “The Problem With Reassurance“, brings up an important issue. The resistant impulse is seeking to “protect” you when it is inapropriate or uneccesary. This is felt as some sort of urge or compulsion to take an action. The actions would be some sort of placating or avoidance or a convenient distraction. Whatever will “help” you avoid the unpleasant feelings arising. The big problem is: when we listen to LB and obey it, it reinforces that neuro-pathway and makes that behavior even more of a habit.

Not listening and not obeying may make your LB scream as Seth mentions. This is a viable path to quieting these impulsive demands from your lizard brain. However, it may not be convenient or socially acceptable to have your reaction displayed in the situation you find yourself. For these types of strong negative reactions we recommend using a preemtive process. By taking some time to discover and work with your lizard brain reactions and resistances before you enter a situation that threatens to overwhelm you, it puts you a couple steps ahead of the game. You can find out about these types of processes in our new book: If You Have Buttons… You’re A Robot – A Concise Guide to Tame Your Lizard Brain.

The end result is a much faster resolution to your specific issue.

Our new book: If You Have Buttons... You're A Robot
(A Concise Guide To Tame Your Lizard Brain) 

If You Have Buttons... You're A Robot (A Concise Guide To Tame Your Lizard Brain)