By Emile De Bruin (Head Coach Meta4mance)
“In our evolutionary past, this was even more the case. One stupid mistake and you were dead. Everything could lead to our rapid departure from the game of life- carelessness on the hunt, an inflamed tendon, exclusion from the group and so on. People who were reckless or gung-ho died before they could pass on their genes to the next generation. Those who remained, the cautious, survived. We are their descendents. So, no wonder we fear loss more than we value gain. “
– Rolf Dobelli in his million-copy bestseller “The Art Of Thinking Clearly“
Scientists call this Loss Aversion. In fact research indicates that losing something outweighs a similar gain at least two fold.
This is not inherently wrong, as this behaviour serves the positive intention of protection but the problem comes in when the comfort zone holds us back.
Where does your fear of loss and failure inhibit you from experiencing massive rewards? In your various environments (work, school,family, sport etc)? Maybe in your behaviours and your capabilities? Or your values and beliefs? Possibly even your identity?
You see the reality is that a lack of a proactive approach will invariably lead to an outcome that is out of your control. Where the decision gets made for you (by someone else)? Where your loss aversion strategy in fact causes the loss you so “bravely”avoided.
By focusing on the things that can go wrong, your brain and your body puts energy into the things that can go wrong and by default misses all the things that can go right. And guess what? Things go wrong.
Learn to take the information that “loss aversion” is giving you and apply it proactively and carefully.
If you suffer depression and doubt, you can release the burden within 7 weeks!
