Our brains are hardwired to avoid pain.
Before we begin something new – when we’re standing on the precipice of unfamiliar territory & trying to imagine what lies ahead – it’s easy to magnify the potential challenges we’ll face.
From the outside in, we’re turned off by the struggle inherent in the pursuit.
While we haven’t been in this situation before, we’ve been in others. Maybe they were similar enough to factor in here, too.
We remember what’s it like to sweat as we work towards something.
Sometimes, we remember the cost more than we remember the gain.
Until we’ve started paying the price, it seems as if it could be too much to bear…
And if not, certainly more than we’re willing to pay.
Here’s the thing:
An ounce of direct experience tempers our expectations.
Without first-hand knowledge to keep us grounded, it’s all-too-common for our imaginations to get the best of us.
We assume that we lack the resources, the skill, the knowledge, or the commitment to see things through.
We throw in the towel before we even begin.
That’s a loss created & sustained by one thing – unchecked expectations.
Rather than buying into the story we tell ourselves, looking for reasons to stay where we are, and talking ourselves out of the potential transformation waiting on the other side of behavioural change, we can simply lower the stakes.
Cast aside the preconceived notions.
Get hands-on.
See what’s it like. What it’s actually like (not just how we expect it to be).
The alternative is to let our brain’s bias towards comfort keep us corralled exactly where we are…
And whatever we want to do, staying stuck in our present circumstances isn’t the answer.