Day 12 RYL

Welcome to Day 12 of the 31 Days to Reset Your Life Challenge! It is designed to be a virtual life coaching experience that will equip you with all the tools you need to reset your life. Please spread the word to your friends and tell them to sign up for the program here!

It's now been almost two weeks since you started the 31 Days to Reset Your Life Challenge. You probably started off with a bang, excited and ready to go. But like most participants, life got in the way and you may have fallen off after just a few days. Don't beat yourself up about being "behind." It's normal at this point to have missed a day or two of the assignments.

You may be in the process of catching up with us from the last eleven days. That's fine. You may even be one of our "silent participants." That's all good, too. Either way, I'm glad you're here. Another possibility, however, is that you may actually struggling right now to push through the assignments and commit fully to the challenge.

If so, what you're experiencing is called resistance. Also known as the lizard brain. Leadership and marketing guru Seth Godin describes the lizard brain this way:

We say we want one thing, then we do another. We say we want to be successful but we sabotage the job interview. We say we want a product to come to market, but we sandbag the shipping schedule. We say we want to be thin but we eat too much. We say we want to be smart but we skip class or don't read that book the boss lent us. The

contradictions never end. When someone shows up and acts without contradiction, we're amazed. When an athlete just does the sport, or when a writer just writes the words, we can't help but watch, astonished at the purity of their actions. Why is it so difficult to do what we say we're going to do?

 

The lizard brain.

Or as Steven Pressfield describes it, the resistance. The resistance is the voice in the back of our head telling us to back off, be careful, go slow, compromise. The resistance is writer's block and putting jitters and every project that ever shipped late because people couldn't stay on the same page long enough to get something out the door.

 

The resistance grows in strength as we get closer to shipping, as we get closer to an insight, as we get closer to the truth of what we really want. That's because the lizard hates change and achievement and risk.

 

The lizard is a physical part of your brain, the pre-historic lump near the brain stem that is responsible for fear and rage and reproductive drive. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because her lizard brain told her to.

 

The lizard brain is the epicenter of fear. Because when we listen to the lizard brain, we make the kind of choices that lead us on a path away from our big dreams. When you're in the clutches of the lizard brain, you begin to doubt yourself. You begin to resent the process. You feel yourself wanting to give up and throw in the towel.

In a nutshell, the lizard brain is what stops you in your tracks and keeps you from moving forward.

But in reality, when the lizard brain shows up, it's simply a sign that you're going somewhere. You're in motion and moving toward higher ground. So the best thing for you to do at this point is to assume the good and operate accordingly. You may be feeling some resistance in completing the exercises we've done so far, and that's OK. Your lizard brain may be telling you that you don't have the time to get through them. That's because your lizard brain is scared. It's overwhelmed by the new revelations that are coming into your consciousness.

What I want you to do though, is to keep going anyway. Because anyone who's ever accomplished anything in life has had to push through the fear and the resistance to get to the good stuff on the other side. And I want to see you there. So here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna write a letter to your lizard brain and tackle that sucker once and for all.

Estimated Time to Complete: 30-45 minutes

Write a letter to your lizard brain to acknowledge its presence and declare your freedom from allowing it to rule your life from this point forward. Your letter should reflect your new awareness and be stern, but loving. You may use the format below or freestyle your own.

Dear Lizard Brain,

I've been noticing you popping up at certain points in this challenge and in my life. It seems like every time I want to do something for my own happiness and growth, you show up to tear medown.

For instance, when I tried to __________________________, you showed up in the form of procrastination. I wanted to see it through, but instead I sabotoged my success by ____________________________________.

Another example was when I tried to change my life by _____________________________ and you came along in the form of self-doubt. I knew I wanted to shift gears, but instead, you told me that  __________________________________.

So I see what you're doing and I don't like it. Yes, I know that you're afraid of change. You're afraid of what will happen if I succeed. But what you have to understand is that whatever happens in my life will work out for my good. I was put here on earth for a purpose and you are keeping me from fulfilling that potential.

Well, until now, you have.

I will no longer allow you to stop my progress in living my ideal life. So the next time I see you, I will simply give you a nod and go on about my business.It's been nice knowing you, but now it's time that we part ways.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

Take Action and Reflect: Please share your letter to your lizard brain with us in the comments. How are you experiencing resistance right now in the challenge or in any other area of your life? How will you make sure you keep moving forward? 

 

Wishing you lifelong happiness and success