As those of you in our growing tribe have heard many times over, you have a lizard brain. We all do. It is one of the things that makes us human. The lizard brain is considered one of the primary mechanisms for our fight or flight response. And even though we here at Rewire teach on four very distinct characteristics of the lizard brain, it is important to note that learning to “still your lizard” is nothing shy of crucial to your success – irrespective of even how you define “success.”
As we continue to develop curriculum around the lizard brain, we see repeated patterns and possibilities for distinct ways of taming this part of the brain. We actually call it your “LQ” or Lizard Quotient. And the higher your LQ, the louder your lizard. By the way, the louder your lizard, the stronger the need for your fighting and "flighting."
Of our six key strategies for stilling the lizard brain, the one I want to address today is Invest. Again, this won’t be a new concept for some of you and yet I simply wonder if any of us have capitalized on the idea of what it means to “invest?” Typically what we are referring to is how you invest in others. Do you invest with your time? Do you invest with your money? Are you investing with other resources you have? Did you know that when you invest you are actively stilling your lizard brain?
There is another spin on “investing” that I would like us all to consider, and I am going to draw it out in a question: How are you investing in yourself? We come across many people who are pretty good at investing in others but don’t really understand (or give much weight to) the benefit of investing in themselves. I dare say that change, growth and development in your vocation and really in all walks of your life are largely contingent upon your willingness to invest in yourself!
If we don’t intentionally invest in ourselves then all we can do in life is what we have already done. All we can think are thoughts we already have. And too many of us are locked into our own thoughts. That is the “Being Right” part of the lizard brain and we will talk about that at some other point.
Today, I simply want to get you thinking about how, when, where and with whom do you invest in yourself? Where are you getting new thoughts? New ideas? New strategy?
I understand that this type of investment requires both physical and emotional resources, but that’s simply the nature of investing — you invest in the present to reap the benefits in the future. And failure to invest in others and yourself now leads to stagnation later.
So what’s it going to be? A book on some new thinking? A webinar or podcast from an innovative thinker? How about a live workshop or class?
Invest in yourself. Still your lizard. Grow. Our ability to be better tomorrow starts with investing today.