
Feeding time at the reptile park is a sight to see! I spent the day at one such park in India back in ’08. I saw crocodiles and alligators, iguanas, lizards, turtles and snakes from all over the world. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of reptiles—although turtles are cool. The whole experience was one of being intrigued by these scary-disgusting-fascinating creatures and marveling at their behavior with each other.
Alligator Park, Southern India
The Lizard Brain is the part of your subconscious that responds to threat.
Dr. Daniel Goleman described this as the “Amygdala Hijack,” in his book, Emotional Intelligence. The amygdala is the part of our lizard brain that sounds the alarm to set our automatic reactions in motion. It’s considered a hijack when it takes over the rational brain and has us behaving as though a bear is chasing when instead we’re being offered a promotion at work. See how this can get in the way? Take a moment to notice how this keeps you from going after things you truly want in your career, relationships and health.
..the full purpose of the Lizard Brain is to keep you safe enough to survive. It has zero capacity to help you thrive.
Next week’s conversation will help you recognize the Lizard Brain in operation and identify the impact it’s currently making on your life—cuz one of the things it’s really good at is remaining anonymous. So your ability to identify when it’s at work is a critical step in dealing with it. Stay tuned!
When you really get and accept what the Lizard Brain is there for, and what it’s not there for, you can master it instead of it mastering you.
Becky