Making Changes is Easier than You Think

When thinking about starting a new habit, people often fall into the trap of perfectionism. They think that there must only be one right way of doing something and that if they can't find it (or find an easy shortcut) then it's not worth doing.

But the truth is that almost no change to a personal habit (bad or good) happens gracefully, or without effort, or without some kind of mess. The first time an infant gets up to walk, or a young child starts to run it is inevitably going to lead to some falls, some scrapes and bruises. When a kid or young adult learns to ride a bike, there's probably going to be a crash involved at some point after they can do it. It's no different when learning new creative, fitness, communication or business skills. There's always going to be mistakes made and set-backs to deal with. Personal development is not about how well you can get to the end goal, but how quickly and enjoyably you can pick yourself up after you fall down.

That also doesn't mean making a change has to be difficult, or involve major suffering. The old cliché of "no pain no, no gain" is really due for an update. The reality is that our brains and survival instincts are wired to maintain patterns at all cost, even when these patterns are not serving our ultimate goals and purpose. 

And because of that the best way to make changes is not to try and beat back that part of our biology through hard work and forceful use of will power. That approach works for very few people long-term. However, we can easily outsmart our brains and instincts by applying gentle effort consistently, to make new habits form easily.

The formula is very simple:

1) Start where you are 

2) Do what you can, with a minimum of effort  

3) Tomorrow do the same plus a little more

4) Repeat until you have the change you want and then continue while adding small, incremental improvements. In other words - Plan, Do, Review, Improve. That's it.

If you want to get in shape but haven't exercised in months or years - Start with 2-3 minutes a day and add a few seconds to your routine the next day. If you can only do 10 sit-ups before you get out of breath, start there, but don't push yourself at the beginning.

If you want to learn to draw, or trade cryptocurrencies, it's the same thing. Start with just a few minutes a day and then move on.

If you try to put a lot of effort into something new right away, unless you're already good at focusing and calming your mind, your brain may try to thwart you.

In essence make it easy for yourself to succeed right away, by doing a few minutes of effort, then adding it to it consistently. Consistency is the key to all habits. Once the brain accepts that something is a pattern it's familiar with, then you won't have to fight it to add on to what's already there.

One last thing - the best time to start is at the exact moment when you think of the change you want to make. Now this is obviously much easier said than done when you're busy with work, family, school and other obligations. But my final tip is this - you don't have to literally start that activity using your physical body! One of the truths of hypnosis is that the mind doesn't distinguish between physical reality and the imagination. So you simply find a quiet place as soon as you have the opportunity and you imagine, yes visualize yourself starting the new habit or process you want to  do and imagine yourself doing it well and enjoying it. This will make it even easier that first time you begin to do it for real.

Try these tactics out and see how quickly and easily you'll be developing new skills and making progress in your goals.

Best,

@hypnopreneur