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Aaron
Lizard Brain what are you saying to me?
Lizard Brain
Your family needs you to not screw this up.
Don’t be such a revolutionary that you get canned from your job.
It takes more money than you have.
It will require you to borrow money from your friends and family and you’ll ruin your relationships.
Taken straight out of my journal from December 2011.
The Context
I was thinking about leaving my day job and not looking for a new one.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a living but I was sure I could not continue doing
- What I was doing
- Who I was doing it for
- Where I was doing it
I knew I was scared.
- Scared to change.
- Scared to screw up a “good thing”.
- Scared to be foolish.
- Scared I was arrogant and that no one would want me.
I Went to the Lizard and Asked
What the hell are you so afraid of?
What do you really think is going to happen if I quit?
You are going to be destitute, broke,
ashamed and ruin all of your relationships.
Isn’t that just wonderfully ridiculous?
The concept of the Lizard brain is talked about a lot. I love it.
It reminds me that I am not the only guy who hears crazy stuff like this.
Here is what happened instead.
Despite the Lizard’s advice, I resigned from my job in November of last year.
I didn’t have a job for four months.
I received phone calls from people asking me to work for them.
I am not destitute.
I didn’t spend a dollar of my savings.
I went to Hawaii and surfed with Mike Field and played in the sun with Sam Ainslie and Kevin Lynch.
I had sex with my wife at lunchtime.
I stopped using an alarm clock to wake up.
I walked my daughter to her bus stop most days.
I wrote an eBook that was endorsed by Seth Godin.
And the list keeps going.
Ask your Lizard brain what he is really saying.
Write it down.
Laugh out loud.
Show it to your friends.
And tell it what it can do with itself.
Get started.