Self-Eating-Brain

You might think that being good at things means feeling good about those things, but unfortunately — for lots of reasons — the opposite often seems to be true. In this 4-minute read, I wish to teach you something quick quick about why we sometimes undermine our own talents.

We worry we’re not good enough when we definitely are. We hide or run or overwork ourselves instead of just calmly doing our thing. Everyone does this, but it became apparent for me earlier this week when me and my colleagues prepared to present a patient case to our consultants' doctor. Minutes before we walked into the ward, one of our colleagues was obviously so nervous and I was failing to understand what’s wrong because she is quite an intelligent person. In any case she did well and we even figured the diagnosis without breaking a sweat.

Later on that day while reflecting on the day I remembered an an article I read by Elliott called “self-eating brain types” aka specific genres of overachievers and how each one gets in their own way:

🚚 The Over-Deliver

Does more than humanly possible. They’re usually the first to get something done… and the first to burn out. They resist growth by accomplishing something — anything! — instead of taking a beat to ask themselves what they want in life. (This might be me.)

What they need: To locate and embrace a version of themselves outside of work.

🌀 The Spin-Cycler

Has 44 thousand ideas at any given time. Is always starting something new, yet also keeps avoiding The Big Thing They Really Want to Do (write a book, travel, vlog). They get in their own way by starting and aborting new projects.

What they need: To dismantle whatever makes doing The Big Thing intolerable.

🚧 The Upper-Limiter 

More powerful than they’re letting on. Consistently scared of embracing their power and just doing useless things. Asks for help when they don’t need it. Asking for permission is how they self-sabotage.

What they need: Self-trust.

😅 The White-Knuckler

Is doing great but constantly feels like they’re going to get fired. Criticism and competition send them spiralling. They get in their way by numbing themselves.

What they need: Emotional safety.

I’d like to believe that we all found ourselves relating to a particular kind of self eating brain type. If not, you can also take a short quiz at the end of this reading.

Before we go over the four minutes I pledged, let’s conclude. It wouldn’t be your favorite newsletter if it didn’t conclude 😊.

So if you want to resolve your internal resistance, you’ve got to start monitoring your own patterns.: “Pattern recognition is how we move from the general sense that things are not working to a specific account of exactly what in our brains is preventing us from using our skills with ease — and why.” 

This is the quiz as promised. Click here to find out which self-eating brain type you might be?