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DARE is the mental model for high performance and change.

You write your story through your DECISIONS, ACTIONS and RESULTS and a thorough EVALUATION of how you did.

A new Result requires new Decisions and Actions.

This Week’s DARE at a Glance:

Thought of the Week: ‘Freedom begins the moment we realise we are not those stories.’

How to spot your Tiger hijacking your thinking: Predicting the future and adding ‘because.’

Why does this happen to me?: The ‘if - then’ algorithm.

Thinking tools: How do we override the system?

Thought Of The Week

“The essence of the mind is to create stories. But freedom begins the moment we realise we are not those stories.” – Eckhart Tolle

Summer Reset #1 reminded us: you have great power.

But that power, if you don’t know how to think with discipline, is usually placed directly into the hands of someone else: Your TIGER.

Your ancient, fast evolutionary response to uncertainty, to social threat:  the emotion-fuelled roar of your Tiger is a vital protector.

But we must learn to override it before we can flex our powers and grow. These things require accepting uncertainty.

To override the Tiger – you must learn to THINK. The Decision part of DARE must not be an automated emotion-driven thought based on outdated data.

How To Spot Your Tiger Hijacking Your Thinking.

In short?   You will find yourself predicting the future – probably with a great story.

“I’m just not the kind of person who can...” “That kind of thing never works for people like me.” “It’s not the right time, it will go wrong unless I do X first.” “Others won’t like it and will judge me.” “I might fail.” “I’m too busy to do that.”

Then we add: “because…” and start to tell our story.

Did you already do this to move away from your exciting thoughts about your POWER reading Reset #1?

Book Jim To Speak.

Why Does This Happen To Me?

The Tiger operates using a set of Rules it picked up before this moment. From childhood, from a tough boss, from school, from others whom you watched fail.

It uses these Rules to predict the future. If you disobey the prediction, it will send chemicals to cause fear and anxiety: to ‘correct’ your behaviour.

It operates as a simple ‘if – then’ coding algorithm.

If: give a presentation, then: social humiliation.

Now anxiety comes when you are invited to advance your career and earning capacity through presenting.

But we don’t think in Rules – we think in stories. So we’ll have a story about why the presentation will fail and what will happen when it does.

A fixed mindset will almost always blame genetics, society or specific people, using a story they can tell others over a coffee.

This is a FEATURE not a bug.

You are brilliantly designed for fast decisions. Survival meant speed. If you stopped to deeply analyse the shape in the long grass, it might already be too late. That is still true in a dark alley.

But we need to know how to operate our design effectively. How to THINK to use our POWER.

Thinking Tool 1: First Principles Thinking.

First Principles Thinking says: Forget the analogy. Forget the assumptions. Forget the story.

Ask instead:

1. What would a human being have to do to accomplish this thing?

2. Leaving aside my stories and my emotions and my feelings about facing the unknown: Is there any factual, provable reason why I cannot do the things that are necessary to accomplish the thing?

3.  What are the likely factual, real, consequences of failure – how can I avoid them and are they acceptable?

Thinking Tool 2: What Rule Do You Need to Delete? What Rule Do You Need to Add?

“I must be liked by everyone.” - “I must never look stupid.” - “I must always succeed first time.”

The endless Rules that have been locked in by the Tiger.

But they are in YOUR head. You created them, no doubt with help from some random people who were in your life.

Therefore YOU can re-write and curate these. How? Through self-awareness and disciplined thinking, perhaps with some journalling or a friend to remind you.

1. Spot one rule that is no longer serving you - and just delete it. It was never true. It was your fiction protected by your emotions.

2. Write a new rule that will better serve the person you are becoming.

   Examples:

❌ Delete: “I must never take risks.” ✅ Add: “I am allowed to take risks to grow.”

❌ Delete: “If I don’t feel ready, I shouldn’t begin.” ✅ Add: “Bold action today is how I become ready.”

It is that simple. Don’t over think it. Then act on the new rule with courage and test it out.

Don’t live the script you were given and have developed. Author it.

Write YOUR story 🖋️

Jim