Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome back, my friends, welcome back to the Sweet Spot where science meets soul. So today is Take Action Tuesday and I'm your host. I'm Dr Derek Sweet. As you know, I'm a board-certified psychiatrist and I specialize in high performance. Today we're going to continue our conversation from yesterday. We're going to dive into the roots of hesitation and explore how we might move beyond it to reach our aspirations. Before we do that, let's uncover some of the science behind why we hold back. Why do we hold back? Well, part of it is it's an evolutionary response Our amygdala remember that brain structure that I mentioned yesterday.

Speaker 1: 0:58

It's the fear center. Well, it keeps us vigilant. We're looking for the problem. It's always on guard and sometimes it gets a bit overactive. And today I want to introduce you to another brain structure that works alongside the amygdala. They're like best friends.

Speaker 1: 1:13

Okay, it's the hippocampus, and this hippocampus plays a crucial role in the process of us being hesitant and fearful. It remembers things. It's involved in forming and retrieving memories, including those of past experiences that may have been negative or challenging. So when we're faced with a new decision, the hippocampus recalls these memories, potentially triggering caution in us or avoidance behaviors. It's trying to help us, but sometimes this mechanism that was rooted in our evolutionary past gets overactive in our modern context. So back then our ancestors needed this hippocampus to remember where the bear, the tiger or the lion might have been hiding behind that rock, and it helped them avoid that behavior. Right. So the amygdala and hippocampus worked beautifully together to take an action of avoidance. The thing is, lots of times we have an overactive hippocampus today and an overactive amygdala and there is no bear, lion or tiger out there. It's just us being anxious and afraid and wondering we have what if monsters right that are just wreaking havoc with our brains. And when this happens it's good to step back and understand that it's just our brain trying to protect us. Sometimes we can just breathe and relax and let go and recenter ourselves, and I like to look at history from time to time. Yesterday we looked at history and we saw the first African-American male to get elected to Congress and the public office.

Speaker 1: 3:05

And today I want to talk to you about another 1800s male, david Walker, an African-American abolitionist who published a pamphlet and urged enslaved and black individuals to resist oppression and fight for their freedom. Back in the day, all the way back in the 1800s. That was his Take Action Tuesday move. He was fighting that amygdala and hippocampus and allowing his prefrontal cortex, the CEO of the brain, to help him spur others to action. His call to action was revolutionary, especially considering the pervasive dangers of advocating against slavery during that era. So his courage in being able to act back in 1829, despite the personal risks, exemplifies the power of overcoming hesitation, fear, anxiety and the amygdala to pursue your cause. Whatever your cause is, his was justice and equality back in 1829.

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What is your cause? What is important to you and what's stopping you? What's amplifying your amygdala response and your hippocampal response and stopping you from doing what you have to do today? So to move past that, to move past that hesitation and take meaningful action, I've come up with some strategies for you, with some strategies for you.

Speaker 1: 4:50

The first strategy, the very first strategy I want you to do is to practice self-compassion. I know it sounds soft, but you've got to love yourself and care for yourself and believe you have a worth before you do anything else. It starts right there. You can't give others, you can't take action if you don't take that action for yourself. The second thing is that you have got to define the next physical action you're going to take. You see, what happens is that we get stuck because we haven't identified the specific next step to take. Something as simple as that. By clarifying the immediate next action required, you'll be surprised. It will reduce the ambiguity. It makes it easier to proceed and figure out what to do.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Sometimes, when I'm sitting in my seat as a psychiatrist and I'm talking to someone and they're giving me this long story, I'll just ask them so what do you think the next step is? What is the very next step you think you need to take? And I sit back and you'd be surprised at how a light can go off for individuals because they finally zeroed in on the next step. Because they finally zeroed in on the next step. And then there's the two-minute rule. If a task can be completed in less than two minutes, do it immediately, don't wait. This approach is simple, but it really helps in overcoming procrastination and it can really build your momentum to take care of a larger task. Do it now. If it can be done and you can finish this thing in two minutes and you have a rule, don't negotiate with yourself. You follow your two-minute rule and get it done. And then the final one I'm going to give you is start with a 15-minute commitment. Just dedicate 15 minutes to the task you've been avoiding, whatever it is that you've been avoiding. Often, beginning the task reduces the resistance and you might find that you continue beyond the initial time. This is like for working out. So you say, oh, I'll just work out for 15 minutes and then you might go for 30. So give yourself that 15-minute rule All right now. Thank you for listening and I hope that you found this useful to you.

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Remember, madam CJ Walker had a great quote. She was one of the first African-American female self-made millionaires. She advised this Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them, make them happen. And so her words remind us on Take Action Tuesday, that we've got to stand up and move and take action if we want results. So I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, because tomorrow is win it all Wednesday. I want you to stay inspired. I want you to get up. I want you to move. I want you to take action by either defining the next thing that you're going to do following the two minute rule, or starting with the 15 minute commitment. I don't care which one you take, just do something. This is Dr Sweet. Thank you for listening. See you tomorrow for Win it All Wednesday. And if you have some time, check me out on LinkedIn or on X or on Instagram or on Threads, take care.