Break Free from Ancient Fears: Transform Your Life and Unlock Limitless Potential

Ep 98. Many of our deepest fears are biologically wired into us, embedded in our ancestral programming that stretches back to primordial times—before written history. These innate, visceral fears are primal and often pre-verbal, shaping the choices we make daily and gripping our ability to truly self-realize. On the transformative path of becoming our best selves, these fears can limit us, narrowing our potential and preventing us from reaching our goals, whether in our personal lives, careers, or creative endeavors.

In this episode, we explore how unchecked reactivity constrains our freedom and progress. We’ll uncover how breaking free from these ancestral fears and programming can empower us to reach our highest potential, overcome limiting beliefs, and live more authentically. Drawing inspiration from the ancient symbolism of the serpent—representing both danger and transformation—we encourage you to take control, just as Hercules did in his youth, and embark on your journey of personal growth.

Embrace your path to self-realization, shed the constraints of fear, and unlock your true potential. It’s time to walk the path to becoming who you were always meant to be.

Overcome primal fears that limit your potential. Break free from ancestral programming and limiting beliefs. How ancient symbols like the serpent represent personal transformation, Practical insights to unlock your authentic self. take care and walk well. 

Transcript

Welcome back folks to episode 98 of the Running Man Self-Regulation Skills Project podcast with me, your host, Dr. Armando Dominguez, PhD in Health Psychology, licensed professional counselor and an adjunct professor at a local community college. And what we're going to be discussing today is the power pathway of becoming.

Why is becoming such a powerful pathway in our lives? And what is it that keeps me from becoming the fullest expression of who it is I'm supposed to be? To start off the discussion, what I'd like to point out is that those things that often we hear in this more modern sense, are laments of why I can't become the person I want to be or why can't I achieve the goals that I set for myself? I want to be these things, but I can't get there and I

know how to get there or I fail frequently whenever I try to get up and become the person I want to become. Now these are laments once again that are often heard. You can go on the internet, read them in books and maybe even speak with people that you know where you work or people that you know within family acquaintances and we hear such things with a great deal of frequency such that they almost sound cliche. Part of it has to do with how frequently we run into people and the second part is that we're all

struggling somehow. And that's a recognition. And whenever we see that, it gives a little bit of an understanding and allows us to back up a little bit and truly take a third person, I'm not involved in no emotions or judgment perspective, and recognize the fact that we are even in a modern sense, living with lots of luxuries and conveniences, but we still have struggles.

Now what we have to identify is that within the last 60 million years, Prohomin ends up until Homo sapiens, when we started coming on the scene in the shape that we are now for the most part, we've all had environmental pressures and opportunities to adapt so that we could survive. And

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Our vision has a lot to do with how we see and perceive as well as our hearing and our ability to taste and smell olfaction that determined whether or not we were eating good food, food that wasn't tainted, and we're able to make it into the next right now for the most part. Now, what does that have to do with becoming in a more modern sense?

Well, I have to tell you there's a lot that it has to do with it because those things that we want to become are littered in concept with fears, exaggerations and fears of expectations that we're projecting, predicting and kind of expecting, therefore limiting ourselves, especially if the fear response is over the top. If we speak to ourselves in a way,

that very compelling or represent things in our mind in a way, in the visual sense that we're expecting to see something very frightening or expecting something to be bad that we might fail again. And we have all these fear responses and our fear pathways lighting up as a result, then stands to reason that we're going to avoid and not go that way. We're hedonic by nature. We want to seek pleasure, avoid pain. And this is our very preternatural

wiring so to speak such that we have lots of power within that but that power is being hijacked in the sense that we're using it in the direction away from those goals versus towards. So we're going to be speaking about those things that make us more avoidant and keep us from becoming those things that we want to become in our lives. So the first thing I'm going to mention is Ophidiophobia, fear of snakes.

This is something that's very deeply seated within our wiring and many of our related Simeon cousins and the pro hominins that existed back around 60 million years ago. And we share very similar fear structures that actually determine shape.

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motion and distinguish those things that would be possibly harmful to us, especially snakes. And even if it's indicating a pattern like in a carpet that resembles a snake pattern on like a diamond back, we have those rattlesnakes here in Texas and they're very big. Now, if we can identify those things and we know that they're crawling about and I'm walking around barefoot for the most part, foraging for food, then

That is an advantage. And these are some things that we've had for a long time that

whenever we think about fears, for instance, not unlike snakes, actual, will bring up the same response. And I'm going to refer back to the lemon exercise, wherever I imagine biting a lemon or remember seeing somebody biting into lemon or something sour, and we get the sour face or maybe even salivate. And this is really low level wiring in our body that is pre-conscious for the most part, even though you did a conscious effort to bring up a mental picture, but the reaction is something that

you don't have conscious control over. You just have conscious involvement whenever you trigger it with the recollection or memory of whatever it is that might cause you to salivate favorite food, for instance. Now, what does this have to do with becoming the person I want to become? Well, it has a lot to do with it in that much of what goes on in our mind whenever we fear or avoid

things that are potentially painful or things that we predict or expect to be somehow painful or dangerous, then it is a very huge influence based on how we think about things, not just what we think, because of what we know. We know what it is that we'd like to do, the in quotes, I want to become that, the goal. But the choices that we make that take us away from consciously, because we're trying to avert pain, consequences and circumstances that I don't know that I don't know factor,

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is not friendly, enjoyable novelty, it is an unknown. And sometimes unknown is not unlike that snake in the dark or in the grass that we can't break the pattern of the camouflage, so to speak. then all of a sudden we step on it or step near it and then we might get bit. So we have this sense of averting risk, unnecessary risk. And therefore we may be avoiding those steps that may take us closer to our goal. And the important part about this

is, is that much of what we fear often doesn't come to pass in the social sense, in the more modern sense, but we have this ability to tell story. And that fear of snakes, the Ophetophobia, so to speak, once it's represented in a visual sense of recollection, before, when it was pre-conscious, we're actually looking at our genetic endowment that sees pattern recognition of strange things that could be dangerous to us then. We're

responding at a level that is not only pre-conscious but autonomic. But whenever we're thinking of something based on a past experience, we're able to, in many cases, envision. We can represent in a way that is not only a recollection, but it could even be an exaggeration. It could be a hyperbolic exaggeration to where things are beyond reasonable, but enough to get our body to respond because it's not only believable,

but also compelling. Within the realm of possibility, it could happen. Is it probable? Maybe not, but we respond to it as if

And this is where we start seeing the symptomology of anxiety, post-traumatic stress reactivity, or there's been a prior experience that is traumatic, or even those things that we develop that seem to be without any conscious understanding as to why I'm having an anxiety or even a panic level attack. But yet here we are, or maybe I get angry and I don't know why, but yet our body feels agitated. Sometimes it's at the perceptual level, where we pick up something that is very similar to

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these pattern recognition programs that we have that may get us to respond in a way that's fearful. And if I'm trying to accomplish my goal of becoming who it is that I am, and hypothetically, all that is required for me to become that is to walk across, let's say my living room, but there's this really deep shag rug carpet that's green and kind of leafy looking.

But yet I'm trying to cross it. As soon as I get to that middle part where I'm scanning before I stepped, I'm not sure what's in the carpet or even the grass for that matter. get apprehensive. I start feeling around or maybe even start stepping back, not knowing why, but something may be triggering a deep sense of dread or discomfort, or we call it dread in quotes, because by the time it gets to my conscious mind, I can label and name it. Then that may keep me from crossing across my living room. That is not the jungle, but yet for some reason, this program

within me, my neurological program autonomic, as it may be, is keeping me safe and maybe keeping me from going a little further, maybe taking a step and finding out whether or not I can get to the other side of my living room so I can become who it is I'm supposed to become. Not unlike what Abraham Maslow says, we're supposed to become who we must become. But yet if I'm crossing this expanse and something stops me, I can't ever become that.

I'm stopped, I'm stymied, I am at an impasse. And these things, even if it's psychological, will physiologically cause the symptomology to get so intense that I won't go any further. I might even stop or start thinking of something else because even thinking about trying to traverse that, remembering that fear I had last time, nothing happened other than the fear response is so uncomfortable in recollection that I won't do, I'll stop.

or I'll try to find something else and therefore discouraging myself. And that would seem like depression to some looking from the outside. A little bit of a reprise for those that say that they cannot visualize. This is something that even if you cannot consciously visualize, you still have the areas in your brain. Physiologically, the pathology shows that once we're doing brain imaging, if somebody says that I can't

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Visualize or come up with a visual image They still light up in this the same areas of those that are very Lucid in their capacity to be able to visualize now This is really important because even people that are a phantastic unable to visualize in their mind are still going to Have that sense of dread and those wirings are still going to fire But once again the autonomic or pre-conscious level of response is still going to be there now whenever

We're looking at the social scheme. This is where we may avoid going to do something. We do have apprehension and it is not done in a digital. I'm reading this like some sort of dialogue off of page sense. It's not like that. So it's happening for people that can visualize and not. And this has a lot to do with the fact that whenever our

arboreal predecessors were in the trees they were able to differentiate ripe fruit from fruit that wasn't and also differentiate 3d depth and that actually

applies into our retina that has what we call the fovea, this little spot wherever we actually have dimensional capacity to see where our cones can actually see color depth and 3D versus flat and peripheral visual areas, wherever most animals share that with us, we have more detail and we're actually able to recognize things. Now this plays into our mythology.

and the way we represent those things that we fear and the way we speak them to each other the words that we later added to our ability to gesticulate and sign. Now I want to reference a book it's called The Fruit, The Tree and The Serpent and the subtitle is Why We See So Well and we as humans do have a great capacity for sight. Now

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The author, Lin A. Isbell, was interviewed and was

Actually chastised practically by the press whenever she was indicating the snakes had a lot to do with the development of modern human in the evolutionary perspective I respect what is she's writing because it is amazing indeed, but it gives us a very deep perspective on why we do fear the way we do and in the Pre-linguistic sense it kind of gives an idea of whenever we did develop language how we learn how to not only speak but also to pass on

learning and wisdom and mythology and spoke of those things that phenomenologically things existed in our environment, but yet we told story to avoid don't go here and then even our Cartographers wherever they would write things at the ends of the map that said there'd be monsters there'd be dragons So those could be indicative of danger but the image of the snake the idea of the snake or a serpent or even dragons for that matter reptilian kind were

used as an image to represent those things that were not only dangerous, but possibly venomous or constricting. And I believe the snakes that were venomous developed after the constrictors, if I'm not mistaken. But, in the bigger scheme of things, what we're talking about is that this fear is inherent, it's genetic, and it's not something that you're taught, just like fear of insects and spiders in particular, little creepy crawly things.

we have this wiring that we respond to and there are some people that don't require actually seeing this out in their environment for them to fire it off. It's just enough to be able to think about it. And if they have an image that's scary enough that they relate to it, it's enough to get the body to respond as if it's actually happening right now. And this is an important thing. It goes back to the primary discussion is well, how does this prevent me?

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from becoming who it is and doing those things that I want to do such that it's in my wiring.

And I would say yes, because much of it has to do with believing the suggestion that we give ourselves by our verbiage at the higher level, but also the suggestions we receive by our environment, the environmental pressure that we adapt to that can make us believe that things are a certain way and they may not be. And in the heat of things, things may be moving really quickly, but yet we have to adjudicate, we have to judge and have an opinion about things very quickly, even if they're inaccurate, but they're basically working assessments.

working judgments, we'll call these assumptions and these work assumptions are used to be expedient and waste less energy, especially if it means I've got to get myself out of the immediate area and vamoose as the Cowboys used to say.

And get out of that space so that way I can survive and thrive and say that I won not points on the board because this was pre football and organized sports, but rather I'm above ground sucking wind. That is the win. That means I'm alive and this is where we're moving from. So does fear have anything to do with my inability to meet my goals if I'm having trouble doing that or my ability to achieve my goals or maybe even

Evolve myself into the being the person that I want to be and this is very much a very self-directed question and those are questions we ask and The serpent has been woven into our mythology to kind of teach us It's kind of like a beware sign or kind of like that red circle with across a going on that line going across like the don't do drugs type of thing that came out but it was the equivalence or the representative of something that could be potentially dangerous or harmful, so

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What if my goal requires me to cross that expanse once again? And this is the hero's journey. This is something that Joseph Campbell spoke about in his book, The Hero with 10,000 Faces. But the hero's journey, and I have a favorite science fiction author, name is Stephen Barnes, whom I love his work. And he has a workshop that he teaches called the Life Writing Process and amazing and really worth looking up. But he is,

I would call probably the most modern teacher of the life writing course not only but the the hero's journey and this is something that we all heroes heroines alike kind of go through whenever we get to things that become those goals that we want to achieve and look back upon and realize I was able to do that.

I am more than what I thought I was or I became more. I qualified myself by virtue of my challenge. And these are important points to note. And the snake is not an evil thing, even though it's represented in some way. Sometimes it is the dangerous thing that protects us from knowledge that is not only dangerous potentially, but if harnessed is transformative. And what is it that I need to harness within myself that I can transform and become that I might be able to engender courage

myself versus being discouraged and depressed. That allows me to overcome those things that are my fears that are so deeply seeded that they're not rational and I don't have words for, but yet I have this experience of anxiety and fear and avoidance.

So it's also representative of that the representative of in the more Christian sense the serpent at the tree of knowledge What was the promise of the serpent you get to know more and then you realize no I'm naked and is being naked such a bad thing in the sense of Adam and Eve Well, no, but it was cold they learned how to close themselves and make clothes and I'm making light of the whole situation there But I am respectfully offering that knowledge sometimes

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requires that we realize our own state, that nakedness so to speak. The emperor's new clothes, with a little child in his childlike nature, saw through the whole ruse that everyone socially was acting as if the king did not have clothes, and how fine his regalia, but yet there was nothing, being able to cut through the crap so to speak. And the serpent represents an efficiency that equates for an effectiveness that is not only final,

but also powerful. So in the process of becoming, we have to learn to meet those things that are internal fears, not just those things that we fear on the outside. Much of our apprehension comes from our perspective that is shaped through a lifetime.

But often sometimes it requires that we have the heart and eyes of a child, not childish mind you, but the courage of a child to be able to embrace and see things with new eyes, with a novelty, with an interest, and that we can rekindle the curiosities that's not only deep, but one that's far reaching and hopefully one that we keep.

throughout our lives and don't lose so that we can become more as we go. We never arrive at who it is we're supposed to become and then it's this final resting place.

It is an evolution in the truest sense. It is a revolution of self because we're going against the thing that we thought that we were, that we may have been inculcated into when we became family. We see this more when we're teenagers, where we're fighting against all the ideals and the teachings that we come up with and realize how restrictive the rules are that our parents are teaching us, not realizing that they're doing the best that they can in many cases, assuming everything's healthy. But also we realize that

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They're trying to provide structure and prevent their children from dying unnecessarily by misadventure or otherwise. So it becomes very uncomfortable and some kids take off and decide to be the absolute opposites of who it is that their parents are. Then when they get older, they realize that much of what they were taught when they were at the knees and feet of parents is actually working rather well and they've become their parents in many cases.

much to their disgust or chagrin so to speak and I'll say this laughingly because I remember reading in the late dr. Glenn Morris's book path notes that It is one of where a thousand miles from home that we've realized that the things we learned first

are the things that serve us best. I remember when I was in the military, living in a barracks, learned knowing how to cook and how to sew and how to wash and clean for myself, do this sort of stuff, take care of myself, daily living skills.

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and and uh... rest their souls good folks no less but uh... even whenever i didn't agree with them i didn't realize i was not agreeing with them within the framework that they had taught me and it was very deeply seated and that's cool

appreciate it and I know that my sons mentioned that once in a while and I mentioned it to him too and I'm still learning by looking back and I appreciate that and On becoming myself. I realized that much of my differentiation sometimes was painful because I was kind of hard-headed But some of it wasn't some of it was total curiosity. Well, what's that? I want to see that I want to try that and maybe even doing things that some of those younger folks were doing whenever I was a nontraditional

student and even doing this podcast that I wanted to do just to see well I want to see if I can do it too I haven't lost that curiosity I do tend to have a childlike curiosity about things and of course my sons would say I'm quite the curmudgeon old and crotchety but they make fun of me that's okay I laugh at them but the thing is we have to maintain that sense of curiosity to continue to become becoming as a process it's not an arrival point there'll be some arrival points little notes

of

By virtue of his becoming a dad. So becoming doesn't stop we grow and Growing into those roles that we will be want to be and even achieve as in professional standings That's so cool continue to do that. Don't ever stop growing and seeking not only information for information sake but those things that give you the most joy and Also payback in the sense that there's pleasure in those things that you do

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and even a little pride and self-appreciation for continuing on. Quitting is easy. Continuation, even when it's hard, is a choice. Now the snake is something that motivates us away, but also it's a reminder of maybe if things were worth it.

There are things that we have to go through and sometimes the way is through and I'm encouraging you here today. I want to tell you thank you for spending this time with me today on this lovely Sunday afternoon. I went and meditated at the park. That was phenomenal and

more podcasts coming I want to tell you thank you for going to YouTube and leaving me comments that's great feedbacks awesome also emails as well if you'd like to leave me any kind of feedback send it to the email running man get skills project at gmail I'd love to hear from you and let me know what you'd like to hear if there are other topics that are related to what we do please let me know I would love to touch upon those and we are once again moving to the

of an interview format. I've had quite a few people ask me about that and I've got to get this moving because there are people that want on the podcast that have very large podcasts and I'm like why me? I'm so small.

But then I realized, this is the mad scientist within me saying I have global reach. It's awesome. But I also hope that I can say that I'm a friend to each and every one of you by virtue of my voice and the things that I share because I consider you all supportive friends and thank you for being part of my web of life, so to speak. So take care. We'll talk soon. Become the best that you can be. Walk well.