Do you ever notice how your brain freezes or gives up when you say “I don’t know”?
Try it right now.
Think of something you have to make a decision on today (eg. what to eat for dinner), then say to yourself “I DON’T KNOW”.
Notice what happens?
It doesn’t even try to look for the answer.
It’s not until you think another thought like, “wait, I can ask GOOGLE” or “I can find out” does your brain explore other options.
One of the brain’s job is to protect us.
It protects us by accessing thoughts that keep us safe because anything new that we’ve never done before, the brain sees it as DANGER.
That’s why it will always work hard to give you evidence from your past whether something might work or not work for you.
When it can’t find evidence from the past, your brain defaults to safety, comfort and least effort.
“I don’t know” covers all the criteria.
When you don’t make a decision, you don’t take action, which means you stay in the same place.
It’s easy.
There’s no risk.
You don’t have to face discomfort.
But guess what?
Another job the brain has is to desire more for us to help us grow and evolve.
Your brain doesn’t register that being indecisive creates long term discomfort.
Staying safe in indecision doesn’t help us grow and evolve.
Saying “I don’t know” stops you from the chance to see what’s possible.
Yes, that means working through the discomfort of not knowing the outcome, but doing it anyways because you’re going to feel discomfort either way.
This brings me back to what I had shared with you last week.
Would you rather feel discomfort staying in the same place, feeling lost or stuck, or would you choose to feel discomfort knowing you will become a better version of yourself from it?
Let me know what happens the next time you say “I don’t know”.
Get curious, notice if you remember what I shared?
Love and Empowerment to You XO,
Vanessa Leung
P.S. Would you be interested in a quick crash course on time management for free? Send me an email with a “YES”.
Is there something else you want to learn? Please let me know!
Vanessa Leung is a Certified Life and Wellness Coach, Speaker, Blogger, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Reiki energy practitioner and the founder of 80/20 Living & Co.
Mindset is everything! Clearing over 30 years of doubt, guilt and fear, Vanessa is a living example of what the power of the mind can do. Through mind training and practicing self-compassion, she self-healed her symptoms of depression, eczema, cystic acne, fatigued adrenals and poor gut health. She lives a life of abundance based on LOVE vs. FEAR.
Vanessa’s purpose is to create awareness and share her self-healing tools to help high-achieving business owners to drop their "I WANT TO but I CAN’T” identity, live their truth and unleash their infinite potential for greatness.
Vanessa teaches a practical and simple solution to work through the root cause of all distractions. Her clients learn how to build a strong resilient mindset so they can effectively work through any doubt, guilt or fear they face on a daily basis so they can focus their time and energy on serving others while living a fulfilled and healthy life.