Ever feel like you just can’t get back on track, no matter how much you’d like to? I do. It used to feel like I’d set a goal, like getting the garage organized or exercising three days a week or lose 10 pounds and then I’d look up and three months had gone by and I hadn’t done it. Not even gotten closer to the goal by a little bit. And I’d be so frustrated and discouraged that so much time had passed and I hadn’t made any progress that I’d wonder what was wrong with me. Turns out, nothing was wrong. It was my brain that was hijacking my plans. I’ll explain how it was doing that and how I learned to turn it around. But first, a story…
More than five years ago before I started writing this blog, I’d started going on prayer walks in the early mornings. Rain, cold, dark – didn’t matter. I was out there. I needed the quiet morning time to get my mind tuned in to God in a way that I wasn’t able to do in the warm house. Mostly, I couldn’t pray while being still because I was too sleepy from the work of having four little ones. So I started walking to pray. Some days I just listened. And one of those days God told me that I needed to start writing a blog.
No. Why? What would I even write about? Why would God ask me to write a blog when I could barely manage to go to work and take care of these children? Surely I heard that wrong. But again and again in the dark quiet of the early morning hours, I heard it again. I needed to start writing a blog.
Eventually, I finally decided that a blog might be important in the future. It might be useful to share some of the things that I was learning as a mom and physician and holistic living advocate. Maybe there would be some use for writing these lessons down. At the very least, it might be a creative outlet for me, and it might even help someone out there. So I decided to do it!
Immediately my brain put up all the objections. The biggest one was, “I don’t know how to create a blog. I’m not good at tech things.” I spent months waiting for a blog site to drop out of the sky for me magically to start writing into. I allowed my brain to believe all the reasons it created for why I couldn’t create a blog, mostly because I didn’t have a technical knowledge around how it worked. Mind you, I didn’t look into how to create a blog, or whether there were sites that made it easy, or whether I could get help with the technical aspect of starting a blog site. I just didn’t do anything except know that I wasn’t doing what I was called to do.
Does this sound familiar to you? We all have things we could do and don’t. It’s not usually because we aren’t smart enough or because it’s too expensive or because we really don’t have the ability. It’s because we let our brains stop us.
Think about the last time you wanted to try something new. Seemed exciting, right? That’s inspiration, and it feels wonderful! The issue comes up when you have to put in the effort to take the dream into reality. That requires effort, mistakes, and discomfort. Your brain wants none of that – it wants you to be comfortable and to conserve energy at all costs. So when you try to get out there in the unknown, it will try to stop you to keep you safe and not have to work too hard. It’s ok – that’s its job. Your brain is working perfectly! But if you want to grow and accomplish new things, you have to override your brain’s default mode and be willing to get uncomfortable.
How do you practice overriding the default mode of your mind? The first step is to recognize the pattern. When you say, “I don’t know how”, you think you’re just reporting the facts. But really, your brain is offering you an obstacle. If you buy into it, you won’t go any further. The way to move past the obstacle is to ask your brain quality questions and watch it go to work. When you think, “I don’t know how”, you ask your mind instead, “But if you did know how, what would you do?” Your brain will stutter for a second – that’s ok. Don’t let it get away with the I-don’t-know-how excuse. Let it start looking for solutions instead – that’s much more constructive and your brain can do it if you put it to work. If you add to the good question the thought “I am capable of figuring this out”, then you’ve made a constructive assignment that your brain will love. And you’ll get stuff done that you thought you couldn’t!
Giving my very first Food As Medicine talk…
You know the next part of the story, but you don’t know how I did it. I started writing my blog and posting weekly in 2016. So how did I do it? I decided to start talking about the dream of writing a blog to other people, and one suggested that I talk to a web designer in our church. In the process of talking to him, I realized I could put together a site by myself, but I’d do it faster and better with help. So he helped me, and A Journey To Wholeness was born! My lack of technical knowledge wasn’t the barrier I made it to be – it was just a thought that was designed to keep me safe in the cave. But I’m much more interested in achieving my dreams than I am in being comfortable. I’ve heard it said that discomfort is the currency of your dreams. So I’m getting better at being uncomfortable. And to me, the minor discomfort is worth it!
It’s not easy. Even if you know what you want to do and maybe even how to make it happen, you still might find that your brain wants to hijack you from your success. If you’re having trouble getting out of your own way, that’s what a coach is for! If you want to finally lose that weight, repair that relationship, or get your life in order, you don’t have to do it alone. Email me at drandreachristianparks@gmail.com and let’s set up a mini-session to see if we want to work together. I want to see you succeed!
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