Everyone falls into habits and routines—it’s the nature of being human.
But when you realize your behaviors are inhibiting you from achieving your goals, that doesn’t mean you can vow to change and all will be well.
Every single behavior that you demonstrate—good, bad or ugly—is run by your unconscious mind. So, if you want to change your behavior, you can’t do it by willpower alone.
You must get into your unconscious mind and change it there.
Why?
Because research tells us that the unconscious mind has you running on auto pilot 95 percent of the time.
The conscious mind provides 5 percent or less of our cognitive activity. So, even when we think we’re consciously deciding, we’re probably not. We’re operating on pre-existing programs running at the unconscious level.
The good news is that we can reprogram the “software” in our brain, but unlearning a lifetime worth of habits is no simple feat.
Many of our thoughts and attitudes were programmed during childhood, which means they’re out of date. It’s also likely that many of the beliefs that guide your life aren’t your own, having been adopted from your family, culture, or heritage.
Are some of your behaviors not serving you well? If they aren’t, when was the last time you examined your beliefs to see if they’re outdated or support a limited view of what’s possible for you?
3 ways to move from mindless to mindful
If it’s time for behavior change, where do you start in unbinding the ties to the past that aren’t serving you well today?
- Understand that belief creates experience. You make it happen.
People often think that experience is what leads to beliefs. However, it’s the other way around. Your beliefs shape your destiny. For example, if deep down you believe you’re not good enough to accomplish something, then that belief will create the self-fulfilling prophecy that proves you right.
- Be the cause for the effects in your life. Own it.
Life is a chain reaction of causes and effects. Everything that happens was caused by what happened before and is the effect for what will happen next. Some people get stuck on the ‘effect’ side of life and bemoan their bad luck. Other people habitually think on the ‘cause’ side of life, which leads to them doing and achieving.
- Your words say more than you realize. Walk the right talk.
The language we use to share our thoughts and beliefs makes a huge difference. If you change the language you use every day to label people, events, situations and circumstances in your life, your experience and perception of the person, the event, the situation or the circumstance will change.
You have the power
When you recognize that you are creating your life as you go along, you have the power to change.
You have the power: you can choose to pay attention to different things, to interpret experiences differently, to feel differently, and act differently.
Ready to get started?
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Today’s contributor, Carol Talbot, is an author and a keynote speaker who has delivered inspiring messages to corporations and conferences in more than 20 countries. She’s a Certified Master Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a Certified Trainer of hypnosis, a Certified Master Trainer of Time Line Therapy, and a Master Firewalk Instructor who fires up teams and groups to walk across burning coals.
Image source: Pixabay
