I have been reading Seth Godin’s blogs with more interest lately as he talks about our resistance to change and fear of success which he refers to as the lizard brain. While many of us are programmed at a young age to strive to be successful in our lives, we have problems with the little steps getting there, like prioritizing what we should be doing to progress, versus what we almost aimlessly “do” to get through our day, such as emails, Tweets, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. While these daily actions help us create our brand ID and make new connections, and stay in touch with colleagues and friends, we need to have the confidence to move forward with why we’re here and how we’re going to leave our mark to humankind.

I have three practices to share with you in the spirit of cooperative intelligence which help me keep balance in my life. I can get even more sidetracked since I am intellectually curious, which enables me to be a great researcher, but also makes me predisposed towards irrelevant pursuits.

1. Create a list of what you want to do each day, each week, each month and each year and review them periodically. It’s interesting how things that were so important last week aren’t anymore. This helps me keep perspective and my sanity.

2. Take your emotional temperature several times a day. Your attitude drives you, but often it’s hidden away since you aren’t paying attention as you’re blindly doing. This also helps me stay focused on the bigger picture of life since I strive to bring gratefulness and optimism to the forefront.

3. Keep words and/or pictures close at hand, which help draw you to where you know you need to be. Examples for me are the Prayer of St. Francis and Mother Teresa’s Do It Anyway prayer.

Seth’s blog about the lizard brain resonated with me, as I often resist doing what I need to be doing to move ahead by sharing my ideas about cooperative intelligence in a bigger way than just blogging. I am now driven to “Our Deepest Fear”  by Marianne Williamson, which explains a lot about how the lizard brain can hold us back, but also how to get past that resistance and move forward by realizing that there is so much more to life than just your drive, and as you let your passion and love shine through, you are gifting others who feel this and bring it into their lives.

Our Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”, Harper Collins, 1992. Fr Chap. 7, Section 3, Author: Marianne Williamson

Happy Valentine’s Day!!