TAMING THE INNER CHIMP 🐵

A number of years ago, I recognised I was overwhelmed by a fast-paced environment and demands of working in a global business with early starts and late finishes, due to the different time zones. This led me struggling to cope with stress and poor behaviour that was emotionally reactive - which was not a good place to be in.

I was fortunate enough to discover the brilliant book ‘Chimp Paradox’, by Prof Steve Peters. He specialises in the functioning of the human mind and mental health. The Chimp Management Mind Model was transformational for me. It helped me navigate conflictual situations, make conscious choices aligned to my values, maintain emotional well-being, and ultimately achieve both my professional and personal goals. It helped me understand how to tame my inner impulsive chimp, that is driven by emotions and instant gratification, and steer away from unhealthy choices.

One of the reasons why I became a freelance consultant last year was because I wanted to achieve a better work-life balance, and that goal has been achieved. This has now given me the opportunity and time to further challenge myself, hence the reason why I will be taking on a 24 hour 120km ultra in the Slovenian Alps this year.

However my inner chimp is already playing havoc with my mind saying: “it’s a challenge beyond your physical capability”, “you don’t have the mental strength to keep going that long”, “those mountains are far too steep”, “how will you eat / drink enough throughout the day and night”, “you are being a fool because of the dangers of an accident, getting lost, not being fast enough to meet the checkpoint cut off times”, “it will be your first DNF” etc etc !

So whilst my running coach and I are working on a training programme to build my physical strength and endurance, I am also investing time by embarking on a programme to build my mental robustness and resilience. My daughter, Lucy, who is in her final year of a Sports Coaching degree and ‘uses sport to talk about mental health’, recently bought me another of Steve’s books - “A Path through the Jungle”. His structured psychological wellbeing programme, based upon neuroscience, will hopefully help develop my emotional skills, and overcome the mental battles I’m having with my inner chimp. 🐵