One of the biggest myths about human life is that we’re in control.
The truth is that most of the time, our actions and behaviors are the result of half baked ideas and eons of unconscious evolution.
A couple of examples. If you’ve ever tried consciously to lose weight, but had troubles, your conscious mind was intending one thing, but your caveman brain was really running the show.
If you’ve ever had thoughts of being unfaithful, your conscious mind was holding on to commitments, but your caveman brain was pulling you in another direction.
Why the split?
We evolved to live in a certain environment. One of harsh conditions where life was short, brutal and sometimes violent.
We didn’t have time to sit around planning our goals and strategizing. Those who were programmed on an instinctive level to survive did the best, and passed on those genes to their kids.
We are the recipients of those genes.
Trouble is, we’re living in a society where we don’t have to chase our food. We don’t have to choose our friends, mates and business partners from within a small group of closely related knuckle draggers.
We live in a global exchange economy, where anything’s possible.
If you let yourself be controlled by your caveman, you may be OK, but you may get into trouble.
If you try to ignore your inner caveman, you’re gonna need some super human will power.
But if you plan your life fully aware of your inner instincts, and use them to your advantage, you’ll have a huge advantage.
Learning what these triggers are can be of tremendous help.