How We Are Wired For Survival

In my last blog, I started to introduce you to Sarah Reilly. I’ve known Sarah for a while, and one of the most profound statements she made to me (and I say “one of” because she inspires me all the time), is “Your new life will cost you your old one.” When I reflect upon this, I think about how to move forward; you will always have something behind you.  Everyone is ok with saying they want to move forward; it’s the letting go of the past (while acknowledging its importance in where you’re going) that is the hard part.

And so, when I talk about moving forward, I want to take a moment to share Sarah’s story that lead her to where she is now. There are so many ingredients that go into creating a life amplified. You want amplified relationships, with people who bring love and connection and joy into your life. You need amplified finances so that you can pay your bills and do the things that you want to do.

You need an amplified schedule where you have time to get your work done, but also time for play. And I’ve always said at the base of all of that; I always think at the foundation it’s all about the career that you're in. After all, its where you spend the majority of your waking hours; and if your work sucks every day, everything else tends to suck.

What I love, is that Sarah teaches people about taking risks, and going after their dreams. She helps people accomplish any goal that they have, and yet she comes from a corporate background in risk management.  Like many, however, she realized that while the financial payoff was fantastic, the impact on her enjoyment of life was taking a hit. As Sarah says, “if it’s not your mission, if it’s not your purpose, the impact of that on your hormones, on your health, on your general state of mind, cannot be understated.”

The question comes back to, why do we wait until we get to that point, where our health if effected by what we do? That we either lose the job, that we get the health diagnosis, a marriage falls apart. Why is it that in so many ways that we wait until rock bottom to initiate something new into our life when it’s available to us all the time?

What Sarah teaches, is that we’re wired for survival. So we’re primarily preoccupied for safety and familiarity and all the rest of it, it takes a little bit to push us out. And once our neural connections are all modified for a certain type of lifestyle, it can feel physically uncomfortable to do something different.

But we’re all walking around with this outdated device that we’re a slave to, in our head, and we think that the brain is looking out for our best interest. And a lot of times when we’re stuck at the level of thinking, it’s what keeps us playing small.

Let’s pause here for a moment, because I know I want to go much deeper into this concept. While we pause, I want you to reflect on how something you’re continuing to do, right now, is costing you stress, time with your family, or time for yourself. While considering this, I invite you to journal why you’re choosing safety, versus trying to do something bigger, something that feels more like you.