Quick weird lifehack: when I think, “Why is this thing such a big deal to me?” I change the question to “How do I think this thing is gonna kill me?” If something’s big emotionally, I can usually reduce it down to survival.
Examples:
| Having trouble writing an email to a booker | 1) I will say the wrong thing 2) I will not get the gig 3) I will not get money 4) I will never get money 5) I will starve 6) I will die |
| I am afraid of criticism | 1) If I get criticized, that means I did something wrong 2) if I do something wrong, I won’t be loveable 3) I will be rejected by everyone 4) no one will every help me with anything 5) I will die |
| I am angry about dog poop outside my home | 1) people are inconsiderate and irresponsible 2) I cannot control them 3) I cannot control the world 4) chaos is coming to kill me 5) I will die |
| Upset that someone cut me off in traffic | 1) people are crazy 2) I’m probably crazy 3) I make mistakes all the time 4) I’m a danger to myself 5) I’m going to die |
Making it simple makes it silly
I like it because that’s how my animal brain is working and my animal brain doesn’t have to run my life. I can say, “I’m not going to die if I don’t purchase the most cost-effective toilet paper.” and I can move on. My mind is trying to protect me and that’s great, but I can give it a break and get stuff done.
They say that everything you want is outside your comfort zone, and I agree, but I don’t think “comfort” gives it enough credit. We’re trying to stay non-corpse here!