Thursday
Apr262007
Habits are de-sensitizers
Easy to acquire, impossible to get rid of, habits keep you locked into patterns of behaviour that form our existence.
Of course not all the habits that we have are “bad” in fact some of them are extremely important. They keep us moving forwards when if we had to stop and think about everything that we had to do every day, and I mean really stop and think about them, we would be completely overwhelmed by everything that we had to do and achieve, and as you can imagine, you would get very little done.
Every day we are bombarded with millions of stimuli, competing for our attention and energy. Our non-conscious though processes have the task of filtering out those things that it thinks we don’t need to worry about, and filtering in to our conscious thoughts those things it thinks we are interested in. Then what usually happens, it is usually only the loudest or the most persistent that seep through the fog of unconsciousness into what passes for clarity in our minds.
In order to break through the fog, and the procrastination habits that form our lives, we need to think differently. But if our thought processes are weak, our non-conscious brains quickly come to the conclusion that we are not serious., and before you know it, you have “forgotten” that you were going to….
So how do you begin to form long lasting thought changes that will replace those current habitual practices that you have into something more meaningful? “they” say it all begins with a thought.
Well we are going to test that theory in a very fundamental way.
If you can – close your eyes, and “see” a white circle on the black screen in front of you. Now change that white circle for an orange one…..and keep on staring at that orange circle. Can you imagine picking that orange up, can you smell the citrus? Can you “peel” the orange?
If this is the first time you have ever tried that kind of visualization technique, chances are going to be good that you lost the plot when I asked you to visualize a white circle. I can guarantee that other thoughts started to intrude into your mind didn’t they? If you managed to get further than the white circle, you did extremely well. You see the mind is not used to focusing on one object for more than a few seconds at a time. We have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to thinking about new things. Remember all those New Year’s Resolutions we set ourselves each year?
So my question for you is this. How on earth can you hope to bring lasting changes to the thought processes that you have had for a lifetime that you have had if you can’t “think” of something for more than a few seconds at a time?
Well, like all things it takes time, practice and patience. Which is why habits are so important. They stop us having to worry about thinking too hard about the little things that fill our days and nights. They may keep us locked into doing the same things day after day, but if they didn’t we may fail to remember to clean our teeth and have a shower.
If you have failed to make lasting changes to the way you live your life so far, then it is because you have allowed your non-conscious brain to control your life. You have filtered out so much that you no longer “see” and if you don’t “see” anything new then you are not going to make any long lasting changes.
So how can you change your thought processes from ones that don’t work, to ones that do?
Well – yesterday we spoke about believing in ourselves and those items on our goal lists. If you believe that something is possible you are taking the first steps towards goal achievement. You will begin to re-train your mind to think that you can have those things that you say that you want. But that is only the first step. Now it gets a little harder.
Take one of those items on your goal list and “see” it in your minds eye. Is it clear or is the picture you have a little fuzzy?
Now as you imagine that thing, I need you to start adding some details. What can you see, what can you hear, what can you touch, what can you smell?
As with the previous exercise with the circle, if you struggled you are going to have to spend some time creating and re-creating the images inside your mind. You see once you know what it is you are trying to achieve, then you will be able to move towards it. But what if you can’t imagine what it’s like to be skinny, or healthy? Well then you use the other technique, and play with photoshop (or cut and paste) and find an image of the thing that you say that you want, and then you need to superimpose yourself on that image. Newspaper tabloids have been practicing the technique for years, and most people can’t tell the difference between real and the imagined. And neither can your mind.
So, if you are serious about changing the habits of a lifetime, then you need to get the glue and the scissors out and get creative.
Of course not all the habits that we have are “bad” in fact some of them are extremely important. They keep us moving forwards when if we had to stop and think about everything that we had to do every day, and I mean really stop and think about them, we would be completely overwhelmed by everything that we had to do and achieve, and as you can imagine, you would get very little done.
Every day we are bombarded with millions of stimuli, competing for our attention and energy. Our non-conscious though processes have the task of filtering out those things that it thinks we don’t need to worry about, and filtering in to our conscious thoughts those things it thinks we are interested in. Then what usually happens, it is usually only the loudest or the most persistent that seep through the fog of unconsciousness into what passes for clarity in our minds.
In order to break through the fog, and the procrastination habits that form our lives, we need to think differently. But if our thought processes are weak, our non-conscious brains quickly come to the conclusion that we are not serious., and before you know it, you have “forgotten” that you were going to….
So how do you begin to form long lasting thought changes that will replace those current habitual practices that you have into something more meaningful? “they” say it all begins with a thought.
Well we are going to test that theory in a very fundamental way.
If you can – close your eyes, and “see” a white circle on the black screen in front of you. Now change that white circle for an orange one…..and keep on staring at that orange circle. Can you imagine picking that orange up, can you smell the citrus? Can you “peel” the orange?
If this is the first time you have ever tried that kind of visualization technique, chances are going to be good that you lost the plot when I asked you to visualize a white circle. I can guarantee that other thoughts started to intrude into your mind didn’t they? If you managed to get further than the white circle, you did extremely well. You see the mind is not used to focusing on one object for more than a few seconds at a time. We have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to thinking about new things. Remember all those New Year’s Resolutions we set ourselves each year?
So my question for you is this. How on earth can you hope to bring lasting changes to the thought processes that you have had for a lifetime that you have had if you can’t “think” of something for more than a few seconds at a time?
Well, like all things it takes time, practice and patience. Which is why habits are so important. They stop us having to worry about thinking too hard about the little things that fill our days and nights. They may keep us locked into doing the same things day after day, but if they didn’t we may fail to remember to clean our teeth and have a shower.
If you have failed to make lasting changes to the way you live your life so far, then it is because you have allowed your non-conscious brain to control your life. You have filtered out so much that you no longer “see” and if you don’t “see” anything new then you are not going to make any long lasting changes.
So how can you change your thought processes from ones that don’t work, to ones that do?
Well – yesterday we spoke about believing in ourselves and those items on our goal lists. If you believe that something is possible you are taking the first steps towards goal achievement. You will begin to re-train your mind to think that you can have those things that you say that you want. But that is only the first step. Now it gets a little harder.
Take one of those items on your goal list and “see” it in your minds eye. Is it clear or is the picture you have a little fuzzy?
Now as you imagine that thing, I need you to start adding some details. What can you see, what can you hear, what can you touch, what can you smell?
As with the previous exercise with the circle, if you struggled you are going to have to spend some time creating and re-creating the images inside your mind. You see once you know what it is you are trying to achieve, then you will be able to move towards it. But what if you can’t imagine what it’s like to be skinny, or healthy? Well then you use the other technique, and play with photoshop (or cut and paste) and find an image of the thing that you say that you want, and then you need to superimpose yourself on that image. Newspaper tabloids have been practicing the technique for years, and most people can’t tell the difference between real and the imagined. And neither can your mind.
So, if you are serious about changing the habits of a lifetime, then you need to get the glue and the scissors out and get creative.
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(MMM1)
April 26, 2007 at 11:40
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