Feeling the fear and doing it anyway
Feeling the fear and doing it anyway
Right now I have cortisol (the fear and anxiety hormone) pumping through my veins, I am struggling to articulate what it is that I want to say to you. I am imagining anticipating eyes staring back at me from behind the computer screen and feeling the pressure of performing and delivering a good first EVER blog!
So here goes … this is the story of how and why I started Brain Train Me.
I started off my working life as a probation officer in a young offenders’ prison in Dublin. I saw first-hand the power of being listened to and believed, how it could really enable people to change their lives so they could live the lives they wanted. I spent many years working as a counsellor in private practice. I was always so privileged in walking alongside my clients for a small portion of their lives, hearing their stories and witnessing growth.
Over the years I was able to identify a number of reoccurring themes that started to become mantras of mine:
What you focus on grows
The Universal Law the law of attraction states that what you put out you get back. The belief is based on the idea that people and their thoughts are made from "pure energy", through the process of "like energy attracting like energy" a person can improve their own health, wealth, and personal relationships. If you focus on positive things each day this is what you will becoming increasingly aware of.
If you don’t use it you lose it
Collin’s English Dictionary defines the medical term atrophy as any degeneration or diminution due to lack of use. Atrophy can apply to all sorts of things: Muscles that are not used will grow weaker, a house that is not occupied may fall into disrepair, a car engine not in use may corrode and a part of the brain that is not used regularly, such as memory, will not be as efficient.
Doing something every day that scares you (a bit!)
I have seen that as people get older they become slightly less risk averse and prefer to stick to the routines and habits that they are familiar with. They are less likely to try out the new fad restaurant or latest sports craze. However when we do not nudge our comfort zones or have novel experiences, we are not creating new neural pathways in our brain. This means that we are reducing our resilience to cope with the unexpected. I encourage people to try new things and grow new neural pathways!
Early 2018 the idea for Brain Train Me started to grow within me. The people that I would see in counselling would feel like a failure for needing support, saying things like “I should have been able to handle this myself.” I felt passionately about normalising and mainstreaming psychological support. I wanted to get away from the old fashioned image that counselling was only for those in distress, going through a tough patch. I want people to realise that creating a space to check out how your brain is working, is just as valuable as putting the car in for an MOT or going for a dental or eye test.
So despite a part of my brain screaming at me to not take a risk and keep things as they are …. I knew I had to give it a go. I have to follow my dream and see where it leads.
So thank you for reading this. I plan to write a monthly blog sharing with you personal and professional insights, providing tips, advice and inspiration for you to live the life you want.