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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Loving Your Business summary
Debbie King
Rethink Your Relationship with Your Company and Make it Work for You
24 mins
Table of Contents
Loving Your Business
Summary of 7 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 7
You have an internal instruction manual that guides your life – but it isn’t perfect.
How often do you think about how you think?
The human brain is a marvel; it lets you do all kinds of high-level complicated thinking. Without it, you couldn’t write business reports, or think strategically. But your brain does a lot more than you think. Along with all these conscious processes, your brain is also working – subconsciously – to keep you alive.
This subconscious part of your brain is often called the primitive brain because it handles basic fundamental survival. Think of your pet dog – it wants to avoid scary stuff, stay comfortable, and seek out pleasurable experiences like food and belly rubs. That’s the primitive brain in action.
The key message of this blink is: You have an internal instruction manual that guides your life – but it isn’t perfect.
So, what does this have to do with your business? Well, one of the primitive brain’s most essential functions is scanning for danger. It’s constantly on the alert for negative stimuli. When it senses danger, it activates your fight-or-flight survival instinct.
This was great when early humans had to avoid saber-toothed tigers, but nowadays it’s a little outdated. After all, there aren’t many saber-toothed tigers out there today. Unfortunately, when forced to look for danger when there isn’t any, the primitive brain channels fear into negative beliefs. For example, it makes us think, this will never work, or, there’s too much to do. And this thinking can hold us back from trying new things or changing our lives. It can also prevent you from running a business successfully.
Your primitive brain isn’t the only thing influencing your thinking without you being aware of it. You also have an “instruction manual” that you’ve been building over your entire life. Your upbringing gave you the outline – when your parents taught you to be polite and wash your hands, they were adding to the manual. As you grew up, you added more instructions on how to behave both personally and professionally.
Every business owner has their own internal manual. It’s the thing telling them not to trust competitors, to always show confidence, and set a good example by working hard.
Having an internal manual isn’t a bad thing. Problems arise when we break our internal rules. This can lead to guilt and stress. For example, if your manual says there’s always more work to be done, then taking a mental health day can make you feel like you’ve failed.
But don’t worry, you can change your instruction manual. In the next blink, we’ll look at how.
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What is Loving Your Business about?
Loving Your Business (2020) is a guide for people who feel overwhelmed by their business. Debbie King offers new strategies for thinking about your business and managing your emotions in order to avoid unnecessary stress and achieve positive outcomes.
Who should read Loving Your Business?
- Business owners
- Potential entrepreneurs
- Anyone tired of getting trapped in negative thinking
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