The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Truth About Change....

A while back I wrote on, HOW CAN I REALLY CHANGE FOR THE BETTER? In that post we discussed what it will actually take for us to really not only decide to make a change but actually go for it.

What did you say?!?!

If you had a chance to read that POST you are now familiar to know what it takes to be mentally and emotionally ready to change. Now its time to address what you are up against when you go through the process of changing.

Lets get one straight... CHANGE IS HARD!

This statement is understood by the 99% of failures and the 1% of winners. They all hate doing the same things over and over again. The difference is the winners do them anyway. This why people don't change their bad habits or implement good habits into their lives.

The Cold HARD Truth About Change

When it comes to breaking bad habits and starting new healthy ones it is mandatory that you are patience with yourself. If you have spent 5, 10, 20, 30 years or more repeating the behaviors you are trying to break you have got to expect it is going to take some time to change those for the better.

Science has shown that patterns of thoughts and actions repeated many times over create what's called a neuro-signature or a "brain groove," or a series of interconnected neurons that carry the thought patterns of a particular habit. Attention feeds the habit. When we give our attention to a habit, we activate the brain groove, releasing the thoughts, desires, and actions related to that habit. Luckily, our brain our malleable (like our muscles in our body:-). If we stop giving attention to the bad habits, those grooves weaken i.e. stop working out. When we form new habits, we drive new grooves deeper with each repetition, eventually overpowering the previous ones.

This process (burning new grooves into your brain) will take time. Be patient with yourself. If you fall off the wagon, brush yourself off vs. beat yourself up! And try again! We will fail, we will make mistakes, we are already not perfect by design. If what you are doing is not working they find another way, ask your coach, mentor or someone you respect. Your mistakes are a test to prove to yourself that you feel worth it to change and a way to reinforce your commitment and consistency for permanent change. By you failing once, twice, ten or a hundred times and picking yourself back up and starting again you will build the confidence and personal integrity to believe in yourself to win no matter the situation or circumstance is!!!

My rule of thumb is the harder it is, the longer it takes, the more you have to struggle to succeed, the BIGGER the payoff and the sweeter the reward. If you 'feel' like you try and try with no success and are just about to give in and give up....STOP! You are getting closer but not quite there yet.

Keep pressing on!