There’s only one way to find out !!

This post originally appeared in the author’s blog @ fiveshotsofcoffee.com on 10th July 2021.

This has been my motto, of late !!

It all began during the budget week, when a colleague pinged, asking if he should close his positions ahead of the budget day (We trade in the stock market, and he was being cautious about the volatility and market swings). I replied ”There’s only one way to find out”. We held our positions, and it was a wildly profitable day.

I did not think much about it, until a week after when I happened to see the message again in the chat, and I thought “Hey, this holds good for a lot of other things”.

Our subconscious is a powerful element. It automatically takes over a lot of our mundane activities, the ones which we do everyday without focusing - making a cup of coffee, daily breakfast, drive to work etc - and frees up our mind. It frees up our mind to actively think something else.

Sometimes i wonder, Does it keep us in our comfort zone? Is our subconscious the evolution of the 6th sense? The sense which warned the primate man about the dangers lurking ahead in the wilderness? The predator in hiding! The dangers of the unforgiving landscape!

When it’s time to make a decision, there often are two choices. The hard one, and the easy one. The hard one, is the one which will better you, or teach you a valuable lesson. The easy one, is easy, and is going to keep you comfortable.

More often than not, you are better of taking that hard decision. It is hard for a reason. If it was easy, everyone else would be doing it. On a deeper level, you do know ‌it is the decision you should be taking. But before your thinking mind could process the available information and reach a conclusion, you will be swarmed with thoughts of all the things that can go wrong, and vivid images of ruin will surround you. That is your self-preservation, your subconscious in action.

Your subconscious will keep you safe, and ensure you take your ideas to your grave.

• Remember the idea which you brushed away as stupid, becoming a successful reality via someone else?
• Remember the pretty girl you wanted to ask out, but thought was way out of your league?
• Remember the question you wanted to ask but didn’t, thinking it was a stupid question?
• Remember seeing someone you wanted to connect with, but couldn’t muster the courage to go and say hello?

You would have been better off if you had taken all these decisions. You are better off taking the hard decision, nine times out of ten. And even the one time you are not, you learn a valuable lesson for the future.

How to tell your subconscious to calm down? How to tell, that it will be okay? That the predators exist only in our mind and not in real life? That some dangers are worth facing? That some leaps of faith are worth taking?

Tell your subconscious,

” There’s only one way to find out ”

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