Your Survival Instinct Is Killing You: Retrain Your Brain to Conquer Fear, Make Better Decisions, and Thrive in the 21st Century

by Marc Schoen

Overview

Thanks to technology, we live in a world that's much more comfortable than ever before. But here's the paradox: our tolerance for discomfort is at an all-time low. And as we wrestle with a sinking "discomfort threshold," we increasingly find ourselves at the mercy of our primitive instincts and reactions that can perpetuate disease, dysfunction, and impair performance and decision making.

Designed to keep us out of danger, our limbic brain's Survival Instinct controls what we intuitively do to avert injury or death, such as running out of a burning building. Rarely are we required to recruit this instinct today because seldom do we find ourselves in situations that are truly life-threatening. However, this part of our brain is programmed to naturally and automatically react to even the most benign forms of discomfort and stress as serious threats to our survival.

In this seminal audiobook we learn how the Survival Instinct is the culprit that triggers a person to overeat, prevents the insomniac from sleeping, causes the executive to unravel under pressure, leads travelers to avoid planes or freeways, inflames pain, and due to past heartache, closes down an individual to love. In all of these cases, their overly-sensitive Survival Instinct is being called into action at the slightest hint of discomfort. In short, their Survival Instinct is stuck in the "ON" position...with grave consequences.

Your Survival Is Killing You can transform the way you live. Provocative, eye-opening, and surprisingly practical with its gallery of strategies and ideas, this audiobook will show you how to build up your "instinctual muscles" for successfully managing discomfort while taming your overly reactive Survival Instinct. You will learn that the management of discomfort is the single most important skill for the twenty-first century. This audiobook is, at its heart, a modern guide to survival.

Editorial Reviews

With up-to-the-minute news about crimes, disasters, and crises around the world, we find ourselves in almost constant survival mode, half anticipating mass murder or job severance at every turn. Any sane advisor would tell us to lighten up, but Dr. Marc Schoen is able to do so with exceptional persuasiveness: This UCLA psychology professor is, after all, a trained psychiatrist who has helped countless people conquer the fears that seem to assault with every fast-breaking media story. Your Survival Instinct Is Killing You has the most clever title of the month, but it is also a retrain your brain for a better life tutorial that actually works.

From the Publisher

Recommended for best in self-help reading

Oprah.com, January 24, 2013-

“Compelling. Readers with an interest in the mind-body connection will find this guide to better health compelling. Schoen does an excellent job in explaining the complicated science behind them.”
USA Today

“[Reprogram] the brain to no longer equate discomfort with imminent danger, and achieve a state of ease despite life's inevitable hardships.”
Wall Street Journal

“Schoen provides exercises and techniques to tame the anxiety monster and the mayhem it causes. Relief is in sight.”
Success Magazine

“A useful new book. So many solopreneurs are held back by often-irrational fears - if this is true for you then this book is for you.”
Forbes

“What you'll learn: You have the power to change areas of your life that you may previously have thought were impossible to control, whether it's how you age, how you deal with stressful situations or that "need" for a third helping of ice cream before bed.- A book that can enhance every aspect of your life, from your mind to your body to your spirit.”
Examiner.Com

“Discomfort training (which helps people conquer their fear and make better decisions) would unquestionably lead to substantial improvements in worker productivity, performance and health. Train your brain to lift decision making.”
Investor's Business Daily

“Amazing. I love this book.”
Patricia Fitzgerald, Huffington Post

“This book can improve your outlook on life”
Scientific American

“[This book is] short on theory and long on practical tips you can actually use. One let me reduce my heart rate by 6 to 8 bpm in less than a minute. Take that, Zen masters!-- Need to better manage discomfort and stress so you can perform better? (Wait-why am I asking? Who doesn't?)- This is your book.”--------
INC Magazine

“This book is outstanding...- Dr. Schoen is unconventional, and so is this book.- Ancient wisdom with new findings in brain research lead to a startling conclusion: What has allowed our species to survive is driving us crazy. -There is something you can do about it-read this book, and follow its advice. Reading this book is like having a conversation with Dr. Schoen and that can change your life.” -
David Logan, Ph.D., New York Times #1 bestselling coauthor of Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance.- Professor, USC (University of Southern California) Marshall School of Business
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“Dr. Marc Schoen knows what it takes to be resilient and healthy in these modern times. It is not, as some would have you believe, to replace feelings of pain and discomfort with feelings safety and comfort, but rather to allow these seemingly incompatible feelings to sit side by side to inform and shape one another. Grounded in solid theory and evidence as well as engaging stories, including his own, this book is a must-read for any one facing mysterious physical ailments.”
Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., author of Positivity and Love 2.0

“I know so well how easy it is to fall into the trap of using food, addictions, or other forms of avoidance as protection from my fears of being uncomfortable. Reading Dr. Schoen's book was challenging.- It felt so close to home-almost too close and personal in fact. -Yet as I came to understand the message of this book, it became so much more obvious to me.- This book is about the unavoidable - being uncomfortable.-- Dr. Schoen's book offers a gift:- How to successfully manage your discomfort and fears, and equally as important, how to use the discomfort in your life as a vehicle for empowerment.”-------
Carnie Wilson, Celebrity, Singer, TV host, and author of Gut Feelings, I'm Still Hungry and To Serve With Love

“Dr. Schoen puts his attention to the discomfort, disappointment, worry and impatience that influence the quality of our lives profoundly but about which science and medicine are so often silent.- He does a brilliant job of connecting brain research and our every day coping strategies.- Readers will find new ways of understanding and mobilizing the mind/body connection for stress management.”
Sara Latz, JD, MD-
UCLA Clinical Professor-of Medicine
UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior-
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“The essence of success is age old....Work Hard, Work Smart and Manage Your Fear. Dr. Schoen has unlocked the essence of fear and discomfort management. This is a must read for any human that has ever started or thought of starting their own business. A fast paced impact treatise for everyone who wants to win!”
Robin Richards, CEO of Vivendi Universal Net USA, founding president, COO, and Director of MP3.com, Inc., Chairman and CEO, Internships.com, Inc. Magazine's 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Award

“Dr. Schoen, an experienced hypnotherapist, has written an informative book to counter stress and heal your body. He teaches you to develop positive habits and lead a more powerful, productive life.”
Judith Orloff, MD, best selling author of Emotional Freedom, Second Sight, and Positive Energy
Assistant Clinical Professor, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine

“Not only is Your Survival Instinct is Killing You endlessly fascinating and readable, but it has applicability to every human being, young or old.- This book actually fills you with hope, while giving you the tools you need to create the changes you want-and is filled with insights and useful examples about what makes us tick.”
Betsy Brown Braun, Child Development and Behavior Specialist, author of the bestselling book Just Tell Me What to Say and You're Not the Boss of Me

“Most of us make the mistake of thinking that life is all about happiness-not realizing that so much of what we see, feel, and do is colored not by the desire to be happy, but by the very real and hard-wired need to be safe. Until we understand this basic fact about ourselves-and, thanks to Dr. Schoen, what we can do about it - we can't begin to truly thrive.”
Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D., author of Succeed and co-author of Focus

This is an incredibly informative, exciting and useful book for lay readers concerned about their own health as well as healthcare professionals treating patients wishing to learn a new approach.- Dr. Schoen explains how we can develop a new relationship with “discomfort”, which is at the heart of ill health and compromised performance.- This book is written in a style that is as if you were having a conversation with Dr. Schoen.-- He brilliantly explains much of the current scientific research in ways that a non-scientist can understand.

Larry Drell, MD
Medical Director
Anxiety and Depression Therapy Services
Washington, DC



"Dr. Schoen does a great job of using real patient stories to show how our mind and body are inseparable.- Through his insights, readers will better understand how our reactions to life's challenges can trigger some of our most challenges health problems.- They will also gain some valuable tools for combating their complex medical issues."

Steven Tann MD
UCLA Clinical Professor of Medicine


“In a world with more creature comforts, we see more impatience, discomfort, anxiety and depression. In a world that provides us tools for connection, the paradox is that we are technologically hyper-connected yet disconnected from ourselves. What is the effect of being on alert constantly-handling a barrage of emails, texts, and a never ending to do list? In Your Survival Instinct Is Killing You, Dr. Marc Schoen reveals the effects of living in a constant state of fight or flight and details the toll that this lifestyle is taking on our health. Fortunately, Dr. Schoen also provides brilliant insights and practical tools on how to counteract the effects of these 21st century stressors. This is a must read for anyone who is overwhelmed with the demands of modern life and needs a way out before it's too late-in effect, this is a must read for everyone!”

Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald, DAOM, LAc, CCN
Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Medical Director, Santa Monica Wellness Center
Author, The Detox Solution
Health Editor, Huffington Post

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170346998
Publisher:	Ascent Audio
Publication date:	03/21/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged

Related Subjects

• Self-Help & Relationships
• Self-Improvement
• Personal Growth
• Psychological Self-Help
• Characteristics & Qualities - Self-Improvement
• Stress & Anxiety Management - Self-Help
• Success, Motivation & Self-Esteem