Why Your Brain Loves the Pigeon’s Wig
If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it too late for me to...” the answer’s NO and The Uplifters is about to show you why. This space is for purpose-driven women who want to do big, brave things in the second half of their lives.
Something happens to me every March. The light shifts, the birds get loud, the first green shoots push up through the mud, and apparently my brain interprets all of it as a signal to want to start seventeen new things simultaneously. Maybe yours does too.
There’s a reason for that. And it’s not a willpower problem.
Our brains’ dopamine systems fires hardest not when we get the thing, but when we anticipate it. Novelty triggers a hit. The new idea, the fresh start, the blank page of a different direction — all of it lights up our reward centers before we’ve done a single thing. And in midlife especially, when our identities are in flux and the old roadmaps don’t fit anymore, the pull toward next and new is even stronger.
The problem isn’t the curiosity. The problem is when curiosity becomes the strategy.
I say this as someone who loves her shiny object syndrome. I love the exploration phase of a project or relationship. I love the creativity and discovery of it. I also know that real depth and impact only come from strategy. That’s why every year I give myself clear filters to decide what gets a yes and what doesn’t. Something that makes it easy to look at the pigeon’s wig and say — with clarity, not longing — nope, not today.
That filter has to be built from the inside out. It starts with knowing what actually energizes you versus what just looks energizing. It requires getting honest about what you’ve already built, what has real momentum, and what you keep returning to across every context of your life. It means naming the 3-5 things that matter most this year — not everything that might be fun, cool, or interesting, just what really matters — and deciding in advance that those are what get protected when the inbox fills up and the opportunities start arriving and the wig is on sale.
I’ve been taking my clients through what I call the Big Picture Blueprint to map out their year and clarify their filters. It’s not about making a rigid plan (that sounds boring and totally impractical). It’s about asking questions that help them find what they already know. Once we have a strategy, shiny objects don’t disappear. But it does get easier to see them for what they are.
Here are a few of my favorite questions I ask clients when we work on their filters:
If you could only accomplish 3-5 things this year, what would they be?
Is this aligned with something already in motion, or are you starting over again?
Are you drawn to this because it’s right, or because it’s new?
If you're feeling the spring itch to get clear, I'd love to help you build your filter. I have a few spots open right now — reply and tell me a little about where you are, and we'll figure out what fits.
Paid subscribers, I’ll see you later this week with a series of reflection prompts to help you get clear on your filters.
See you Friday!
Aransas