The term “Lizard Brain” has been thrown around the blogosphere a whole bunch lately thanks to Seth Godin’s phenomenal new book Linchpin.

I first heard the term from international direct response marketing legend John Carlton, who has also been harping on and on about Lizard Brain Fear (and why entrepreneurs must overcome it) for years.

From a psychological point of view, Lizard Brain Fear is a fight or flight reaction sent by the most ancient part of our brain.

The reaction tends to pop up when we attempt to do something extraordinary…. in business or life.

Protection in the jungle:

In an effort to protect us from the dangerous predators of ancient times, the Lizard Brain pumps us full of fear as we attempt to leave our comfort zone. For us entrepreneurs, leaving our comfort zone can (and should) be a daily occurrence!

“Leaving our comfort zone” used to mean leaving the safety of our caves. In a dangerous jungle, Lizard Brain reactions were not just appropriate, but mighty useful.

In the concrete jungle of today, Lizard Brain Fear is seldom warranted or helpful.

Seth Godin’s big message (for Linchpins and entrepreneurs) is to feel the fear and do it anyway.

I want to take things once step further with a practical technique for understanding and overcoming Lizard Brain Fear.

Step 1: Identify what it is, specifically, that scares you

Fear only ever has one meaning; that there is an upcoming situation you need to prepare for in some way. Whether you’re facing a tiger in the jungle, or your first ever sales presentation, this is true.

Identify the message your Lizard Brain is attempting to send you by getting clear on what you’re afraid of.

Step 2: Acknowledge the Lizard Brain’s ultimate intention

Every part of you, Lizard Brain included, is doing the best it can to move you towards you goals. The confusing part is the incongruity of you consciously wanting to take action, be extraordinary and win success… while your Lizard Brain is pulling you towards safety and the security of inaction.

Acknowledge and respect the Lizard Brain’s intention by asking yourself what it’s ultimate purpose could be. You’ll soon figure out that it simply wants you to be safe, so that you can relax, be comfortable and be happy.

Step 3: Reassure your Lizard Brain that your intentions are aligned

Ask yourself why you desire your big goals. It’ll be for success, freedom, wealth and happiness.

The key here is that both you and your Lizard Brain want the same thing (happiness) – you just have different ways of doing it. Reassure that fearful part of you by reminding it of your highest possible intention for yourself (happiness).

How can that old internal conflict exist when both you and your Lizard Brain want the same thing? That’s right….

Step 4: Flip the equation

Ask your lizard brain how it would feel if, in 5, 10 or 20 years you hadn’t progressed towards your big goals. Imagine giving in to your old Lizard Brain fears, permanently, then waking up in 20 years to realise what you’d done.

Turn the fear equation on it’s head by having your Lizard focus on the disastrous consequences of always settling on what is safe.

Have it really feel the fear.

FINAL STEP: Take action

Go do the thing that used to scare you most.

Questions, queries or reports of breakthrough successes? Post a comment below and I’ll help you out implementing this technique!

It doesn’t matter whether you’re involved in any kind of selling or not, this fourth step in my Sales Management series is useful for everyone.

Why? Because it’s all something both you and I all need all the time.

Sales people need to it the most. For every entrepreneur, or at least the successful ones, it is the fundamental ingredient in any given day, project or business!

Read on to discover why…

Wilful Action

… is so important:

For starters, it’s the most blatantly obvious step of all. Whether you’re getting sales across the line or doing anything significant at all, Wilful Action is critical.

Duh. You already knew this.

Then why aren’t you doing it? Thing is, the most obvious step in the formula for Sales success (or indeed, “Life” success) is the step that entrepreneur wannabes ignore the most.

Here’s how they get away with it:

They convince themselves that it’s okay to stay embedded on the couch. They do this with a crazy notion they call “tomorrow”.

The idea is very seductive. Tomorrow is a magical place on the other side of the sunset, filled with boundless possibility and potential… and possibly unicorns.

Lazy folks, with ten years of habitual procrastination under the their belts, see it all happening tomorrow. Tomorrow is the place where they effortlessly launch themselves, with energy and joy, towards their goals.

So don’t worry about today.

In fact, you better rest up because tomorrow is going to be such a big one.

Time to wake up?

I’ve never met a single person who has lived a single day of tomorrow.

There is only ever today. Take that as deep and meaningful as you need to.

It is time to join the group of people who do things today.

It’s a small tribe, but it’s growing. Best part? It’s fun and it gets easier… day after day.

Do yourself a favour and make it happen… today.

PS Want more info on Wilful Action? Check out the riff I wrote (click here) in response to Seth Godin’s latest ebook.

Every year Time magazine (and your similar local publications) run a collaboration piece on what to expect in the upcoming year.

Various experts across a range of industries weigh in to share a pearl of wisdom or two.

Seth Godin decided to do the same (only better) this year, by publishing a free ebook collection of business leaders, bloggers and pundits expounding on the significance of a single, individually selected idea.

This ebook What Matters Now includes short (200 word) articles from around 70 authors.

It’s a must read for any entrepreneur and really, for anyone who cares about doing anything significant in business.

In an effort to share the book with five million readers, Seth is encouraging bloggers to add their own 200 words on a particular idea.

Check out my riff (and download your copy of the ebook) below:

Action

In 2010, entrepreneurs and business people the world over will fail. They’ll drop the ball, miss the boat and generally screw up.

It’s not the economy or the competition that are to blame. The truth is much more insidious:

The failures of 2010 will happen because people stop to think, over analyse, and end up convincing themselves that trying isn’t even worth it. It’s too hard, because you can imagine things not working out.

When a can-do’er says “Yes!” and takes action, they never fail. Though they might not achieve their goal, they always get valuable feedback.

Doing nothing goes nowhere. You get rewarded with the worst failure: When tomorrow is exactly the same as today.

In 2010, the biggest enemy will be fear. It’ll prey on the people with great ideas, while they’re thinking up ways to turn those dreams into reality.

The only antidote is swift and immediate action, followed by learning and more action.

The people who fail to shorten the gap between thinking and doing will be left behind. Don’t be one of them.

Simply recognise fear for what it is: A signal that you’re about to do something absolutely worth doing.

Get your copy of What Matters Now

Click here for your free ebook download: What Matters Now

Be sure to send this ebook (just email it) to everyone who needs to read it.

I’m always pushing my clients and readers (and myself) to shorten the gap between actually doing stuff (important business activity)… and just thinking about it.

As entrepreneurs, it’s a psychological game that we struggle with. The more “intellectual” our background, the more we tend to “plan” and over-analyse things before taking action.

Here’s a new angle you might not have considered: This Thinking-Action Gap affects our customers too!

When we try and sell someone on an idea, product or service… they have to think things over before saying yes. As entrepreneurs (or sales people) we’re always looking for our prospects to take action with a quick decision.

So how do we shorten the Thinking-Action Gap?

Increase trust: Provide social proof that your solution works, present “real life” statistics or make sure the prospect knows you’ve been (successfully) in the game since the year dot.

Make the required action smaller: By asking for less, you make the decision easier. Be careful though – it’s easy to fall into the trap of “just emailing an overview” and extending the sales cycle out far too long. Ideally, ask for a small decision that opens the door for you to show huge value – then ask for the big decision straight away.

Offer true risk reversal: It becomes a no-brainer when you take all the danger out of the deal… but this trick has been around a while, so “just mail it back for a full refund” isn’t going to cut the mustard anymore. “Free” is special kind of zero-risk (just ask Google) but there are other approaches too.

Interestingly enough, all three of these approaches also works in the context of personal (psychological) development. Next time you’re procrastinating (because of lizard-brain fear) check to see if:

• You trust your plans will actually deliver
• You’re not being overwhelmed by unnecessarily huge steps
• You’ve protected yourself from every risk you can

Hmmm… what do you think?

I’ve got a fantastic idea for my business. I bet you’ve got a couple too.

My idea is a stroke of marketing genius that could help me have fun connecting with a bunch of new clients… and earn a pile of well-deserved cash, quickly and easily.

… So today I got started on it by checking all my favourite news sites, making a snack and catching up with an old friend on the phone. Then it felt like I deserved to watch a little television.

Suddenly, what’s left of the day has gone. Business hours are over. As I drove home, I told myself I’ll get stuck in tomorrow, after a relaxing evening and a good nights sleep.

The Self Sabotage monster strikes again!

This article uncovers the psychology of self sabotage and gives you practical tips on how best to overcome it…

Does this sound familiar?

If you’ve ever worked for yourself (or, let’s face it, for someone else) you probably know what it feels like to get stuck in a self sabotage cycle.

For me, it always meant coming to the end of the day feeling really fired up and motivated for tomorrow… but waking up only to procrastinate again.

At a psychological level, this kind of self sabotage could also be described as “motivation in hindsight”… since we struggle to take action in the moment, but also regretfully look back on all the wasted hours.

In my experience as a consultant (across different industries), it seems that this particular brand of motivational dysfunction is especially common among biz owners and the self employed.

The lizard brain explains it all

Outside of our conscious awareness, there is a mental program running which makes this illogical sabotage suddenly make sense.

As entrepreneurs, most of the activities we regularly procrastinate (via self sabotage) are the significant, high impact tasks… like my marketing idea… or any sales stuff you’ve been putting off.

The tasks are significant and high impact because they help our businesses grow in leaps and bounds. Successfully achieving these tasks is what makes us entrepreneurs and enables us to remain happily unemployable.

Taking action on these tasks means leaving our comfort zone. It’s scary – and our lizard brain understands this and makes sure we know it.

We ask questions like:

“But what if my attempt fails?”

“What if they laugh at me?”

“What if they hang up the phone in my face?”

It’s really fear that causes entrepreneurs to sabotage themselves with procrastination.

Employees don’t suffer from this as much, simply because the impact of failing is not so huge. Plus, few employees are required to complete tasks far outside their comfort zone.

Want the secret to winning big in business?

Overcoming self sabotage is what separates the mega-successful entrepreneurs from the wannabes.

Growing a business takes bravery and a commitment to action, in the face of fear and anxiety.

If everyone could take game-changing action (make the cold calls, do the presentation, publish the sales-letter etc) then everyone would be an entrepreneur.

Loads of people try to make it big with their own business, but the few who are truly successful (in terms of freedom, wealth and global impact) are the ones who overcome self sabotage by realising what it truly is:

Fear of failure

Here are a few tips for mentally reprogramming your lizard-brain to eliminate crippling fear.

These are all field tested on my real-world clients and are proven winners. Use any or all of these techniques to destroy the hidden fears that cause self sabotage.

1. Outcome clarity (like “The Secret” – only practical)

Create a clear, visual image in your mind of what “success” looks like for your procrastinated task.

Most self-sabotage begins by people unconsciously making images of failure in their mind (this is where the fear comes from).

Counter-act this useless mental habit by taking 5 minutes to visualise a sparkly, colourful image of success. Pick the exact moment in the future you’ll want to celebrate the most, then turn it into a gorgeous poster in your mind.

Feel the feelings and live the experience internally… then take immediate action to turn the vision into a reality.

2. Task chunking (baby steps… even a baby could do!)

Many of my previous clients got hung up trying to do everything perfectly, all at once. A project like launching a new website would quickly dissolve into an enormous, overwhelming mess.

Chunking tasks into minute, manageable steps enables you to commit to taking small actions. Importantly, you can also congratulate yourself for every completed step along the way.

“Build a website” turns into “Meet with a graphic designer, write the home page copy, pick a great hosting company” etc etc.

Less scary – more doable.

3. Disaster planning (know what failure REALLY means)

Ironically, this technique is the total opposite of my first suggestion. The contraction doesn’t bother me though, because I know that it’s possible to do both:

Give yourself a reality check by answering the question “Whats the worst thing that could happen here?”

Even if you’re gambling your children’s college fund on something, the worst case scenario is usually not even close to real apocalypse.

Work out what total failure would mean, then quickly brainstorm ideas to mitigate this.

By shedding light on the real risks involved in business, we destroy our brains ability to turn those risks into enormous bogeymen.

Use this technique once, then quickly move on to positive thinking and action.

What other techniques do you use to overcome self-sabotage? Let’s expand this list (with your help) in the comment section below…

My internet activity has taken a back seat in the last few days.

Unfortunately, this happens from time to time – due to the reality of “real world” business.

The cool thing is, real world busy-ness usually means there are some big profits around the corner.

Why?

It is still enormously easier to make money as an entrepreneur in the “real world”. If you’re struggling, then use these three tactics to bring in more profits:

1. Find a new reason to have a chat with your customers and their friends/colleagues

This could be anything from a new mail or email campaign… or simply phoning them up for a chat. The “excuse” for the “point of contact” is simple – you’ve just made a “development” that you think they need to know about.

In the world of consulting, this tactic is worth thousands. I regularly use it to meet new people connected to my existing clients.

The phone call goes like this:

“Hey client! How’s things?

I know you weren’t expecting to hear from me for a while, but I’ve just had something come up that I wanted to talk to you about first.

I’m developing a new sales programme and I need some real world expertise… I was hoping I could schedule a coffee with the Sales Manager in your business and pick his brain.

In return for the favour, I thought it’d be cool to do a psychological assessment of the Sales Teams core capabilities and strategies… all for free, as a thank you.

Do you think it’d be appropriate for me to give him a call? What was his number?”

… and just like that, I meet a new potential client. By doing a bit of stuff for free, I’ll have the opportunity to sell them something else.

2. Ask for testimonials

Some people think this is weird – because asking for a testimonial usually signifies the END of a customer relationship.

WRONG!

Giving a testimonial is the thing that happens right before you get some juicy referrals.

While you’re asking your client all about what they loved and didn’t like, you can start to get a clear picture of the kind of people they believe your product is perfect for.

Then ask them if they know any other people like that. Start writing down numbers, business names or emails!

3. Do research and give people cool facts

So you’ve got some spare time.

Why not go on an enormous google mission and put together a “swipe file” of hot resources that will help your customers?

If you’re in the business of helping businesses, this article could be in that swipe file.

If you’re in the cafe business, find a really cool article about how coffee is made and email it out to all the people on your database. (you’ve got a database right?!)

People love information – so long as it is relevant and they’ve given you permission to contact them.

This is just another little trick that makes you look good, while keeping you “top of mind” with your customers.

Difficult to measure, but my experience is that this technique can result in a instant 10% increase in referrals.

Hope these help – if you’re struggling to apply these tactics to your unique industry/niche/business then speak up in the comment section below for some tailored advice!

There is a psychological “a-ha” (I call it a “Eureka” moment) that every successful entrepreneur just “gets” at some point in their career. Usually just before they absolutely master the science of achievement.

Thing is, it isn’t easy to “get”… it fact, it is one of the most painful lessons you’ll ever learn.

The secret lies in knowing this, expecting the hurt… and then going for it anyway. Really, the lesson is all about embracing pain.

Let me explain…

I’m in the zone. Hurtling at high speed straight down a super steep ridge… slicing and dicing snow into a huge cloud of powder behind me. Clearly, I am the the coolest thing skier on the whole mountain today.

Just when I’m feeling the most confident, everything changes.

Before I can blink, I’m airbourne and the crashing down the hill. In a motion described by experts as “tomahawking” (picture a spinning ax), I flip head over heals and finally come to a not-so-graceful halt with my head buried in the snow.

My entire body is aching like I just finished a bar fight with a 300kg gorilla. I try to get my breath back and simultaneously realise I’ve got snow all through my mouth, nose and trousers.

Worst of all, I have absolutely no idea how this even happened!

When you’re speeding along in business, sometimes you’ll fall flat on your face. It’ll happen so fast that it’s hard to pinpoint the cause.

Ultimate learning:

1. You now know where your learning curve is…

2. You now have the feedback you need to know when to start paying extra attention

See, as soon as I fell down the mountain, I limped back to the hut for a warm drink and a moment’s thought.

I realised that I hadn’t been focused – my attention was on performance (going faster and faster) and I wasn’t paying attention to the conditions underfoot.

This lack of focus in the right places caused me to catch a ski in a patch of soft powder. End result = me flying!

The ironic thing? Powder is supposed to be “ideal” for skiiers, but because I wasn’t paying attention, a pocket of this perfect snow totally ruined me.

The ultimate, ULTIMATE learning:

Without falling over, we cannot learn. The more spectacular the fall, the more neccessary and urgent it is to make the learning.

All really good skiers who know how to go fast, are always (as I learned) keeping an eye out for variable snow conditions.

This is something beginners don’t need to know about. When you’re slowly cruising down a slope, sudden ice or powder (or change fullstop) is easy to deal with.

… You make a few changes to your technique and keep on cruising!

It’s only when you’re on the fast-track that you need to watch out and utilise lighting-fast reflexes to adjust to the conditions.

Learning this is something I would never had the opportunity to do, had I not skiied (stupidly) fast in the first place.

When I go really fast, I realise that the chances of a fall increase dramatically. Still, I consistently ski to my absolute edge because that is the only way to rapidly increase skill.

I know to expect pain.

The big secret: If you’re not looking forward to the pain of falling over, you’re wasting your time and the pay off probably isn’t worth it either.

Anyone who finds skiing boring isn’t going fast enough. Anyone who finds skiing hard isn’t falling over enough.

Make your life, hobbies and business easy – Discover your absolute edge and push yourself beyond it. When you pick yourself up again and keep at it, you’ll soon realise that your personal “edge” is getting bigger and bigger….

That massive thing that you’ve been contemplating?

Yeah, you know the one. That huge thing you’ve been procrastinating – hiding from even? (let’s be honest)

I know it’s scary… so much to be gained… and yet if you were to screw up and fail it could really hurt!

What is the worst case scenario?

Make a list of all the things that could go wrong if you attempt the thing you’ve been putting off.

Stick your list up on the wall.

Look at it.

Are you really the kind of person who is prepared to go through life and say they never tried because they were afraid of “the list?”

I ask the hard questions so you don’t have to…

… share your longtime feared actions below, in the comment section: