Ah gremlins! Our miserable, aggressive little friends who live rent-free in our heads – hidden from view but exerting so much power over our day to day experience.
Those little buggers are never too far away – especially at times of transition and doubt in our lives. These moments are their power source. THIS is what they feed on and live for.
When we are slightly (or a LOT) off balance.
When we are unsure, lost or confused.
THIS is their moment to shine. THIS is their moment to crawl out of their murky hiding places in our minds, and start their relentless narratives, about what we should be doing, thinking, eating, wearing, pursuing – you name it, they’ve got a stick to beat you with about it.
Rarely is there ever a coaching session where there’s not a gremlin (or seven) lurking around in the shadows.
Rarely do any of us get to grow personally or professionally, or consider new ways of doing things, or contemplate change without their chorus of misery starting up.
If feeling lost or confused is their nourishment, then growth, change and progress are their kryptonite.
When we start to take action – to change an established way of thinking, being or doing – or god forbid, when we dare to shine a spotlight on the miserable little buggers - they start to shriek. Their messages of doom (for a while at least) can get louder, and if you listen closely there’s a hint of panic or desperation in those messages. They have to work a little harder because they’re under threat, and they know it.
This dynamic plays out all the time in my work as a coach, and in my own life.
I’m pressing publish on my writing again – I’m flexing a muscle that’s a little out of shape and has been losing tone since the pandemic hit in 2020. And starting to write again – starting to consider sharing my thoughts with some imaginary audience is setting off an alarm in the gremlin den of misery.
It’s waking them up – alerting them to the possibility of growth and change.
And they’re getting jumpy – they’re having me imagine ‘people’ reading my words and rolling their eyes at them. They are absolutely questioning whether there’s any point – questioning my methods, the platforms I’m using, the way I’m doing it.
I have an especially busy gremlin that takes the form of a know-it-all marketing ‘guru’ who is super embarrassed forme at how clueless and naïve I am about the 2023 content creation landscape.
They disparagingly tell me I am SO 2020 in my approach. How I’m out of touch and wasting my time and energy.
This marketing-guru-gremlin is a massive pain in my arse, and on my worst days and in my most vulnerable moments they set up camp in my head and settle in for the long haul.
But guess what? By taking the time to write this and describing the monster in my head out loud, something has shifted. The volume of the scornful messaging of my inner marketing-guru-gremlin has reduced. They have retreated into the shadows leaving me with the space I need to consider other, more hopeful perspectives, and re-connect with why I want to write again.
And while they’re lurking back in their den, weakened by the light this post has turned on them, I’ll go ahead and press publish…