Box Your Chimp

I cheered on Ronnie O’Sullivan all the way for his fourth Snooker World Title over the weekend. As with many sprinkled with genius, he’s a fruitloop.

The most naturally gifted person ever to bridge upon the green baize has shown remarkable focus (for him) since deploying the services of the Brain Mechanic.

When interviewed on telly between sessions Sunday, Dr Steve Peters proved remarkable and compelling. How refreshing to hear someone so different from the quack pop-psychology side of the business. A psychiatrist, not a psychologist.

His main thesis appears to be that we have two teams competing to run our brain; a human one, and an interfering one. The former is logical, yet the latter emotional and irrational – and crucially, stronger. It is this team that is the “chimp”. To stop being sabotaged, you must “box your chimp”.

I guess to learn how to do so, you must buy his book. But it is yet again interesting to know that to fulfil your potential, you have to banish anxiety that comes from the fear of failure.

How is your Sales environment set up to allow that?