The mind and body are like a person walking an elephant. If the person isn’t skillful in their handling of the elephant, they won’t be able to control the elephant’s enormous power. If the elephant is in control, lets name the elephant Brutus, then the person will have a life full of suffering. If the person, lets name the person Riley, can control Brutus Riley would be able to use Brutus’s power for their benefit. Aligning Riley’s beliefs and values with Brutus’s power is the path to fulfillment, happiness, and success.
Our subconscious and body are Brutus. If all Riley did was let Brutus chase pleasure and avoid pain Riley would be along for the ride and not actually in control life. Riley would be going wherever Brutus wants to go. Riley would be miserable because all Riley ever does is chase small things that feel good but never really makes any progress. The things Brutus wants feel good, but most of the time are bad for them in the long run.
We all have an elephant we are trying to control. When we are faced with a choice between doing what we know we should do and or something else, it can feel like we are pulling an elephant in a direction it doesn’t want to go. You can make Brutus move in the direction you want but you will eventually wear yourself out. This is motivation, it will work for a little bit, but it won’t be enough over time.
Motivation is important and a great way to create momentum. With that said it won’t be enough to sustain the momentum. That requires a paradigm shift in your beliefs and perceptions. Motivation pushes you toward your goal, belief and perceptions pull you toward your goal. Motivation is required to force yourself to do something you don’t want to do. Changing your beliefs and perceptions will result in you wanting to do the thing, hence pulling you toward your goal vs pushing yourself. It’s the difference of forcing Brutus to move in the direction you want or Brutus wanting to go in the direction you want. Motivation is the force pushing Brutus. Beliefs and perception will make him move on his own.
Brutus is wired to keep you alive, keep you fed, and reproduce. The environment in which Brutus grew up and the experiences Brutus has had will add layers of complexity driving Brutus towards things or away from other things. Riley’s job is to apply logic and critical thinking as well as decision making to help Brutus navigate life. If Brutus is left to decide Brutus will chose the familiar because the familiar is safe. This may not be best, but Brutus will chase pleasure and avoid pain trying to taking the path of least resistance, while making you feel bad if you don’t.
We all have a Brutus. We all share in the same struggle of controlling Brutus. People have varying degrees of control over Brutus. Jocko Willink is famous for saying “Discipline equals freedom.” What he means in terms of our Riley and Brutus analogy is when Riley can control Brutus you are free from being a slave to Brutus. This opens endless possibilities because it allows you to reach your full potential. When you are in control your Brutus is not holding you back or hostage. This is when life gets interesting and fun regardless of the challenges you may face.
There is another saying I like but can’t remember the source. It goes like this, “When life’s choices get easy so does success.” Success is relative to the person and can look very different from one person to the next, however one of the things they all have in common is they have figured out how to control their Brutus. Harnessing Brutus’s power and pointing Brutus in the direction they want to go.
Learning how to control Brutus is a skill that is worth the time and energy to develop and strengthen. This is a fundamental skill that will dictate your life on a day-to-day basis. Ask yourself, who is in control?
Are you the person that can steer Brutus in any direction, or does Brutus take you where Brutus wants to go? How wonderful would it be, how powerful would you feel if you had control of Brutus?
Take a second and imagine what your life would be like if you had control of your Brutus. Power is not control over others. Power is control over oneself. Give yourself the freedom to reach your full potential. Let life’s choices be easy. You deserve to give yourself this freedom, this power.