Surprise

Expect the Unexpected

To thrive in today’s world, you need to learn to like surprises. That can be tough, because human beings instinctively avoid uncertainty. Your prehistoric ancestors lived at a time when surprises were often life threatening. Their reaction to an unexpected event was intense: They froze and redirected all their mental resources to analyzing the situation and finding a way out. They found it safer to avoid risk by giving a wide berth to dark caves where hungry predators might lurk.

People still react much the same way to surprise. But tactics that worked in the prehistoric world are usually counterproductive in the modern environment of constant, rapid change. Overreacting to change today means living a life of ongoing anxiety and fear. Staying in your comfort zone may mean missing out on following your dreams.

“The Surprise Sequence”

Your brain constantly makes predictions about what is going to happen next. When those predictions turn out to be right, you coast along, more or less on automatic pilot. When you encounter the unexpected, everything changes. You halt. You gape. You’ve entered the first phase of a four-stage, sequenced...