Want to Change a Behavior? Make a Plan!
"Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed."-Paulo Cuelho
No one will argue that bad habits are hard to break, but making a plan on how you will achieve it is half the battle.Continuing the posts on Neuroplasticity and getting rid of bad habits, looking at steps seven and eight:
7. Create a specific plan and choose what to do instead.8. Transform the obstacles.
I'm a big fan of goal setting. I believe that heart centered goal setting is life changing. As I say in one of my past posts, A Fine Balance:
In my 7 Tools, I discuss Heart-Centered Goal Setting. In order to really focus on true goals, you have to find out the deepest WHY of the goal, the emotion behind it. Work to discover WHY you want that particular goal, journal about it, question it. When you understand the deeper emotion of why your want that particular goal, the emotional need behind it, then you have hit the WHY. You can FEEL the why in heart-centered goal setting. And in order to feel it, you have to be paying attention and be present to the moment. That ability to stay present actually helps to define a direction for the future.
By setting a definite goal and getting specific, it helps to build new neural pathways. You are engaged in what Rick Hanson calls Self-Directed Neuroplasticity. For example, I have a friend who is trying to watch less TV, she knows it is mind numbing, but it feels so addictive (According to several studies, TV is addictive!) Decide if you want to exercise or read a book or journal instead of watching TV. Focus on the new choice. The more you decide to read at 7pm after dinner, instead of watch TV, the more your brain expects that behavior. Self-Directed Neuroplasticity kicks in, the behavior starts to change.Sometimes it feels like you are trying to trick your brain, and maybe that's exactly what it is. In an article in a great website, Greater Good, it is argued that:
Ultimately, what this can mean is that with proper practice, we can increasingly trick our neural machinery to cultivate positive states of mind.
The second point, transforming the obstacles is really more of "tricking the brain" again. Look at the obstacles, at what is in the way of you changing the behavior. What have you been getting out of the old habits or pathways? Going back to trying to break the TV habit - it feels like a treat, to just blob out, numb out. But often after a couple of hours of TV, the numbing out feels negative and kind of yucky, and a waste of time. So before the TV goes on, transform the lure of the TV (the obstacle is the old belief that it is going to be a treat) - but you know it becomes a burden. Identify that obstacle, that lure, and make the decision before the TV goes on to do something else. Get your mind in the place of possibility. Begin that process of changing your brain by remembering the truth about the situation and transforming the obstacles.I'm going to close with an old favorite. Zig Ziglar on Setting Goals. This is part 1 of 3, if you have a chance, watch all 3, they are inspirational and fun! [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae-VJ_lauCw[/embed] I’d love to hear about any bad habits you’ve broken, and how you changed the behavior. And as always, thank you for taking the time to visit. I appreciate it.