What I learned about myself in the bush

While on safari in South Africa a year ago today, I asked to take a walk in the bush.  We had finished our morning drive and were on our way back to camp.

Can we walk the rest of the way? I wanted to stretch my legs.

There were a few rules we had to agree to. The kids weren’t allowed to join (for obvious reasons). We were to walk single file, be quiet, and do exactly what our guide said. Most importantly, whatever happens DON’T RUN.  In the bush, only prey runs.

Our walk was mostly like any nature walk with a guide, observing features of the area and learning about local medicinal plants.

The difference was my level of awareness. Earlier that morning we had seen lions. An entire pride of lions. And a white rhino, a giraffe, a herd of zebra. My entire body was buzzing with adrenaline of what we may come across. I also have a snake phobia and was worried about where I was stepping.

When 13,000 pounds of tusk and testosterone came out of nowhere, I did the one thing I was told to definitely not do. I started to run.

Why? Because I’m human. My fight or flight (definitely flight in this case) kicked in and the thousands of years of programming in my brain told me to. I knew I wasn’t supposed to run. But in that moment that’s exactly what my primal brain instructed.

Our guide instinctively grabbed me with his free hand - earlier he had joked that his rifle wasn’t for a wild animal but for one of us if we started to run.

I’m telling you this story to explain why when Nina and I work with clients, we need time. We work with clients for a minimum of 6 months to learn exactly what their patterns are (their wiring), and slowly, methodically we re-wire - build NEW neural pathways.

It doesn’t work for someone to just tell you what to do.  It’s what we call the Intention - Action Gap. You often already know. But in the moment, you fall back into your old patterns because that's how your brain is wired.

Ready to see how our process could work for you? Book a call with us here.

Now is the perfect time to meet that next kickass version of you.