Masthead header

The Lion




There was a time when we were a notch lower on the food chain. A time when we had to be on high alert and understand the real danger that lies ahead. Lions, tigers, bears, oh my CRAP so much to be scared of! In that time, danger was real. We had to hunt for our food and fight for our lives.

Now though, we wake up on a soft bed. We transition to a nice warm shower. Some of us transition to our soft desk chairs in our home office. Others into our air-conditioned car on the way to work. There are no lions here. No real life-threatening reason to be afraid. Yet we are. We know the things we have to do to make our lives better. We know the things we have to make our work better, we just don’t do them. We put them off as if we’re scared of them. Why is that?

That’s a question Julien Smith asks in The Flinch. He argues that the same primal fear that is meant to protect us from real danger is still alive and well and it’s keeping us from doing our best work. When faced with a conflict or struggle, our brain literally has the same “Flinch” reaction as it would if we were being charged by a lion. We know what we have to do, we are just literally too afraid of being eaten by the lion to do it!

So what do we do about it? We intentionally experience “The Flinch.”

Remember the “Uncomfortable Challenge” from a few months ago? Where I poured cold water over my head in 19° weather? Yeah, that will give you “the flinch.” So will taking an improv class or giving a speech. The more we experience that flight response that tells us to run from the lion, the more we can remind ourselves that there is no lion; Only cold water (With a warm house nearby), only a room full of people who understand your nervousness, only work that needs to done. When we get used to that feeling, we can recognize it and lean into it realizing there’s no real danger. Then we can really make something awesome.

“You will never be entirely comfortable. This is the truth behind the champion – he is always fighting something. To do otherwise is to settle.”
― Julien Smith, The Flinch

You know that scene in the Matrix where Neo is talking to the kid about how to bend the spoon with his mind? Neo tries to bend the spoon but fails.

The boy says: “Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead… only try to realize the truth.”

Neo: “What truth?”

Boy: “There is no spoon.”

Neo: “There is no spoon?”

Boy: “Then you’ll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.”
The flinch, Julien Smith, chris creed

Exactly that! (Sort of…) The fear of the lion will never go away because it’s hardwired into our DNA but we can learn to use it to our advantage. We use it by reminding ourselves: There is no lion.

If you want to read more about The Flinch, you can download Julien’s book for FREE. That’s right $0. It’s a quick read and a swift kick in the ass that we all need.

Happy Friday!

Chris

Question:
Can you identify your biggest Flinch triggers? What makes hesitate most when you go to do it?

  • Mark Brown - Love everything about this post – thank you for the reminder on the reality of things!ReplyCancel

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

*

*