You may be surprised to know that as you read this so is your inner Chimp!.
For the sake of simplicity we are going to look at your emotional or psychological brain and divide it up into two key areas.
The Human Brain – Logic and Facts
The Emotional Brain – The Emotional Machine
Professor Steve Peters calls the Emotional Brain – Your Inner Chimp
(The Chimp Paradox, 2012)
So how does this affect our emotions in our day to day lives?
- Think of a real life chimp: Works on instincts, emotionally not logically driven, and 5 times stronger than a real life human – This is how your emotional brain can work and, if not managed, take over your life.
- Your emotional brain (Chimp) can be your best friend or your worst enemy – IF NOT MANAGED
Think how you may react to the scenario’s below:
- Argument with your partner or family member
- Like seems like it’s a constant stream of never ending stress
- Reaching for the junk food or alcohol to help deal with a bad day
- Beating yourself up when you don’t hit your monthly weight loss target
- Having destructive thoughts and feeling you really don’t want to have
If you are reacting in a negative manner, let’s say with anger, at the above scenario’s then your inner Chimp is in control and we need to get your human (logical) brain to take over and deal with the Chimp.
The Human is the ‘real you’ – Compassionate, logical, understanding – Its just that in emotional situations the Chimp ‘always’ reacts first and can over power the Human
The key is to manage your Chimp and let the Human take control of the thinking
All the above scenario’s if dealt with logically need not cause us emotional problems – So before the Chimp takes control negatively:
- Pause for 10 seconds
- Take a deep breath
- Say NO out loud or just in your head to stop the Chimp in its tracks
- Allow the human brain to control the situation
Make a list of the things you will do to react differently next time the Chimp takes over;
- Take a breath ‘before’ reacting aggressively (Chimp)
- Count to 10 ‘before’ the Chimp has time to react
- Let the Chimp out to vent its anger – Though do this in a safe environment with a trusted friend or colleague (you would let a real life Chimp loose in the Supermarket)
Try to remember this;
If you are having thoughts, feelings or behaviours that are causing you stress, anxiety, feelings of self destruction – IT IS NOT THE REAL YOU – You have been hijacked by your Chimp and you need to try and start to manage it and train it.