It is not just our bodies that are a result
of evolution. Likewise, it is also our minds and our psychology that have been
shaped by the world that we evolved in and that is where a lot of our most
unusual behaviors come from.
When we were evolving, we were in far more
dangerous scenarios than we were now and we could never afford to take risks.
Only the psychological traits that made us most likely to survive were passed
on from one person to another and that means that they’re the only ones that matter.
This is why we are risk averse by nature
and it is also – unfortunately – why we spend a lot of our time experiencing
chronic stress.
The Danger of Ambiguity
Imagine that you were in the wild, looking
at the silhouette of some kind of animal sitting on the horizon. You don’t know
if that silhouette is of a lion or some kind of kitten… what do you do?
The most pertinent solution in order to
survive is to assume the worst. Assume it’s a lion and either freeze or run.
The people who take chances would be the most likely to get eaten and thus not
pass on their personality traits!
But the problem is that we don’t see lions
any more. This is not the biggest threat to your life right now. Instead, the
biggest stressors are things like debt, illness, relationship problems and
career issues. These are the threats we face that are the stand-ins for the
lions and that we now must try and overcome if we’re going to be successful in
life.
And unfortunately, we still have that
tendency to assume the worst!
It’s All About Perspective
But here’s the thing: it’s actually all
about perspective and it’s all about mindset when it comes to our reaction to
threats. If we think it’s a kitten,
then we will be able to remain cool, calm and happy even if it is a
metaphorical lion.
In other words, it pays for us to reassess
our situations and to take control of our anxiety and our stress. When we can
do that, then we can remove the chronic anxiety that makes us perform worse and
feel worse.
How do you turn your situations into
kittens? Simple: you assess exactly why you’re
afraid and whether or not there really is a good reason for you to be.
Likewise, you can look at contingency plans and coping mechanisms. Remember:
it’s all just perspective. Change your mindset and you change the reality!
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