I’m taking a break from writing about how to follow through to remind you why we often don’t follow through. What’s more, I’m about to do it with a simple cartoon that illustrates why it’s really no wonder that we do such a lousy job of acting in accord with our own good intentions.
The truth is, poor follow through isn’t exactly your fault. It’s mostly Mother Nature’s fault.
Great idea but faulty wiring
The result of this wiring mishap is that often there’s a tug-of-war raging inside us for control of our behavior. At the same time that we’re pulled one way to do what we intelligently know we should do, we’re pulled another way to do what we powerfully feel like doing.
Mother Nature’s great idea for making humans the most advanced species on Earth was to put intelligence rather than instincts and reflexes – automatic feelings — in charge of our behavior. Unfortunately, however, She didn’t get the wiring quite right. Instead of wiring our behavior exclusively to our intelligence, Mother Nature left some primitive wiring in place that also gives unintelligent forces –- automatic feelings — a big say in how we behave.
Needless to say, doing what we know we should do doesn’t always win. And in light of the faulty wiring, like it or not, the only way to consistently win is by arming your good intentions with effective follow through strategies.
If you’d like learn more about the faulty wiring, visit this section in our guide entitled Paving the Way for The Power to Follow Through.