The surprising reason your brain keeps stopping you from chasing your dream job according to neurologist
Neurologist Emily McDonald says your brain is wired to discourage you from chasing your dream job, and shares the simple way to beat it.
The brain is the most complex part of the human body, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders.
With around 86 billion neurons, each with thousands of connections, managing thought, memory, movement, and sensory processing, it's safe to say there's a lot of moving parts.
One of which is the default mode network (DMN), and according to neurologist McDonald, it might be holding you back from your dream job.
Advert
"So the default mode network is really appropriately named because it kind of helps to regulate and propel our default mode of behavior," she outlined, while appearing as a guest on the Jay Shetty Podcast.
The doctor explained: "It's responsible for our default mode of being and doing. But it's also responsible for our sense of self and constructing the narrative or the story of our lives.
"And so if your sense of self doesn't match, if your identity doesn't match whatever it is that you're trying to do, then your default mode network is not really going to be helping you do the behaviors or take the action toward doing starting a podcast."
McDonald says one of the things she always tells her clients is the power of 'identity shifting'.
"Just like shift your identity," she added.
"You can just start to identify as the version of you who has done the thing.
"You have to act like you already have it or like you already are it in order to do it or be it."
But it's not the only thing holding people back.
She added: "So the second reason why most people procrastinate is fear. A lot of times we are actually subconsciously afraid of success and I think this is a big reason why a lot of people stay stuck, is that we are actually subconsciously afraid of what it might look like if we succeed at doing it."
McDonald further pressed the importance of having 'delusional level risks and leaps of faith'.
"It's really a requirement to achieving or receiving or having whatever it is that we want," she noted.
According to a study conducted by JobSage, just 7 to 10 percent of Americans currently work in their 'dream job', meaning that roughly 90 percent of workers do not have the career they always wanted.
Furthermore, only 47 percent of respondents considered their dreams realistic in the current economy.
The most common jobs in the US are dominated by retail, sales, and food service, according to Stand Out CV.
Most common dream jobs in the US
According to The Global Recruiter, the dream careers of many Americans varies by age.
Ages 18-24
- Doctor/Nurse
- Musician
- eSports player
- Teacher
- Lawyer
Ages 25-34
- Teacher
- Doctor/Nurse
- Actor
- Veterinarian
- Professional sports star
Ages 35-44
- Doctor/Nurse
- Teacher
- Veterinarian
- Actor
- Musician
Topics: Jobs, Mental Health, Science
Mia Williams