What does that little quote mean? Nature created us to look after ourselves and survive. So, how does that explain why people do things to harm themselves? Why do we eat badly, laze instead of exercise, smoke and so on? Why do we make resolutions that we know we must do (not just New Year's resolutions!), and then sabotage our own success? What makes people fail at things that they clearly can succeed at?
It's quite simple. Your unconscious mind has a simple, if faulty, logic. It says, "You're alive. Therefore, whatever you're doing must be working. Keep on doing it." So, if you want to give up smoking (or take up exercise, or change your job), your unconscious will say, "No! You're alive, so your smoking (or lack of exercise or that same old boring job) must be keeping you alive. I won't let you change!"
That makes it difficult to change. In fact, you may even find the idea of change threatening or frightening. So, we stay with the familiar. Some people call this the "comfort zone".
Well, how do you get out of your comfort zone? If you know there's something you need to do, but it entails the unfamiliar and probably risk, how do you motivate yourself and get your unconscious mind to support you instead of fight you?
I have a friend who, from childhood, used to write down on a piece of paper what he wanted. He would carry this piece of paper around with him in his wallet. He'd show it to open-minded friends. Each time he got what he wanted, he'd write something new on a fresh piece of paper.
I remember him showing me his piece of paper at the age of 23. He'd written, "Porsche before 26" (meaning that he wanted to buy a Porsche before his 26th birthday). Bear in mind that this was in a poor part of the world where Porsches were extremely expensive in local terms. After he turned 25, he asked me to come with him to the bank. He went in, withdrew a briefcase full of money (I'll never forget that sight!), and went to buy his new Porsche.
My friend lived by his ethics, he never went into debt, and… he wrote down his most important goals. He wrote down his goals. He read them daily. He shared them with people he trusted to support him.
A couple of years later, my friend stopped writing down his goals. I don't know why. Perhaps because he became comfortable. A funny thing happened. For the next few years, he stopped achieving his dreams. He became bored. Finally, he became depressed. It took him years before he managed to pull himself out of that state.
What lesson do you suppose that holds for the rest of us?
I'll leave you with something that Dan Peña once told me:
