I am, for better or worse, a Type A person. I plan my week, I journal, I read self-help books, and yet, the anxiety has remained. I knew I needed a new way to think about my relationship with anxiety, and my dad told me about the Chimp Paradox. My reaction to this was probably not too unlike yours after first reading the title of this article!
The Chimp Paradox is a way of approaching mind management. It was conceived in a book with the same name written by Professor Steve Peters. Many elite athletes and Olympians swear by it, so I thought, if it works for them, why not give it a go?
Back in February, I did just that, and after a couple of months of practicing what the book preaches, I’m ready to share what I’ve learnt. It’s one thing to read a review of a self-help book, but another to hear about someone’s experiences living by its principles.
Disclaimer: I do not endorse all of the ideas shared in the book and this is not a paid advertisement. I have taken what works for me in my life from this principle and recommend only the same for other readers.
So what is the Chimp Paradox?
Simply put, the Chimp Paradox posits that the human brain and all its sections are made up of three different parts. The first is, unsurprisingly, the Human. The Human is the part you have control of; the bit that runs on facts and logic. Along with the Chimp, the Human uses the second part of the brain, the Computer, to store memories for future decision-making. That takes us to the third part, the Chimp; this is the impulsive and emotional part of your brain. Do you remember acting on impulse and saying something you didn’t mean, or doing something you regretted? That’s your Chimp overriding your Human. Everyone has a Chimp, but some of us are more in control of it than others. The crux of the book is about learning how to balance your Chimp with your Human.
But why is it about balancing my Chimp? Why isn’t it about quieting the Chimp and getting rid of it?
This is the first question I asked my dad. But that’s exactly what the Chimp Paradox is. As Prof. Peters writes in the book: ‘It is not good or bad, it is just a Chimp.’ That’s the first mistake many of us make; we see this emotional, often anxious side of us as a negative attribute. But when harnessed and controlled correctly, the Chimp can work in harmony with the Human and be positive. Everybody’s Chimp is different in how it responds to different situations.
My Chimp
My Chimp is my anxiety. In any decision I make, I’ve always heard that little voice, writhing and panicking. It may sound simplistic, but with the idea of the Chimp Paradox, being able to label that voice as my Chimp, and getting it to relax when it isn’t needed, has been invaluable for me.
Sometimes the Chimp does need to step in. When we feel danger, the wariness of the Chimp is important. Perhaps you, too, have experienced (or even just heard of) the fight-or-flight response. That’s your Chimp deciding what to do when it feels threatened; it’s all about making sure your Chimp comes to the right conclusion in the right situations, and is able to work well with the Human (that’s you!).
My Chimp Paradox
The book goes on to talk about more psychology theories within the context of the Chimp, including troops (our want for ‘our people’), and has felt very applicable to my life. Anybody who knows me knows that I am a very busy woman (hence my favourite Sabrina Carpenter song bearing the same name), so keeping my Chimp at bay and letting it pipe up when it matters has definitely taken some practice.
Between working, studying, writing, and all of the other things that I have to balance, I certainly haven’t been perfect. I still act emotionally and look back a few days later, knowing the Human would have done it differently. When I can, though, I do my best to remember the importance of balance. For the first time in months (or maybe even years), I’m being productive and not feeling tired afterwards just from thinking.
Sometimes it can be difficult to open up about anxiety. But how I approach life with it has been changed by this seemingly simple idea, and I hope it has opened somebody else’s eyes to a theory that might also work for them. I might not be an Olympian, but I can definitely see where this way of thinking about those otherwise complex parts of the human brain affects my everyday life. So give it a read, and see what you think. Just don’t forget; it’s not good or bad. It is a Chimp.
