In the book ‘The path through the jungle’ by Steve Peters, he discusses how to navigate your ‘chimp’ – the emotional part of the brain that often takes us off track. The chimp is fear based and does all sorts of things that ultimately lead to suffering. Things like, comparing yourself to others – in a way that you will always come up short! Everyone will recognise that their chimp has led them to overreact at some time or another and then regret it later. Ever found yourself looking for short term gratification and throwing out the long-term vision? I am sure the answer is yes …well that’s the chimp. Steve compassionately guides us to include the chimp, talk to it, listen to its fears and concerns, and then not succumb to it. We can out pour all the emotions of the chimp into a journal and then come up with a plan. He shares that commitment is a stronger base to get through the chimp’s resistance than motivation. Once we commit to a vision, than the next steps is to listen to the chimp, give it some things it needs to keep it happy and also set boundaries and focus on the commitment. The Chimp needs short term rewards, like a coffee in that boring meeting, and music while working. It needs help to not tie itself up in emotional knots. To do this we can feed the computer helpful beliefs and things to say to the chimp such as, I do my best and live by my own values, no need to compare myself to others. Your chimp needs you to break tasks down into manageable chunks and take it step by step. To help the chimp not get so overwhelmed, create a priority list with no more than 6 things on it. Most of all it needs your clear minded focus on the vision and outcomes, your compassionate kind guidance to stay on focus, and for you to not engage too deeply in its chatter.
Marianne Love