If you want to cast off old habits of anxiety, feeling not good enough, not exercising or anything that stops you moving forward. Then I’m guessing you will have tried to change and often not got the results you wanted. Whahhhh – frustrating or what?
92% of people who try to change don’t succeed
No comfort I know but you have been in the 92% of people who make a decision to get up earlier or feel more confident in social situations but like so many people your efforts fall on stony ground. Hey, don’t despair because so many people have the same experience and now science may be able to explain why change can be hard to sustain. (And within this lays the secret to how change can be made easier)
“But I just wanna know how it works for the 8%’
I can hear you and I got your back but check this out before the 5 brain rewiring tips at the bottom of the page.
New research has shown no matter how much you want to change your habits; your brain may scupper your intentions of bettering yourself.
Scientific research is showing the brain prioritizes short-term gain over long-term reward.
This isn’t a new idea as in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel ran an experiment where he gave 4-year-olds the choice between one snack-treat right away or two in fifteen minutes.
Years later, Mischel checked the adult participants in the so-called Marshmallow Test, to see how their lives had panned out. He found that those who had waited did better in life in all sorts of ways. Lasting relationships, better jobs and they scored higher on the ‘happiness’ scale.
Similar experiments by psychologist George Ainslie, showed that even pigeons discounted the offer of large portions of grain in favour of smaller amounts they could get immediately.
It might not surprise you to know that humans behave the same way. So when you turn off that alarm in favour of an extra half hour under the duvet rather than going for a run; your brain is favouring the immediate short-term reward rather than the long-term gain of a healthy fit energised self.
Somehow, the link between the small action of going for a regular run becomes separated from the reason for doing it.
Somehow both animal and humans are wired to bypass long term gain if there was an immediate reward.
As humans we can use our cognition to change this natural selection process when we clearly identify with all the life changing opportunities and happiness the change in behaviour now will bring in the future.
How hypnosis can hack this natural brain process to make sure the change you seek – you get?
When you vividly imagine yourself in your preferred future and experience all the longed for changes as if they were happening now. You are hypnotising yourself! Your imagination tricks the brain to thinking it’s getting short term reward. And the result – your brain is more likely to partner you when changing your behaviour.
For nearly 2 decades I have used hypnosis on myself and others, to achieve long and lasting change. This new piece of science helps explain why hypnosis has been so powerful in building new ways of acting and thinking.
Become 1 of the 8% who succeed in changing their life:
So how do you make sure that when you want to change your habits in order to make life in the future wealthier, more successful, happier, kinder or fitter?
THIS IS UBER IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO BECOME YOUR BEST SELF
It’s all about repeatedly giving attention to your future life through your imagination
The trick is to make the future seems as if it is happening now, then your brain will prioritize the bigger gain. You just have to find sneaky ways to bypass the sort term gain preference of your brain. And that is all about repeatedly giving attention to your future life.
5 Ways To Make Your Sure Your Brain Doesn’t Sabotage Your Efforts To Ditch Unwanted Habits
Tip 1. Create a dream board.
Think about that future how it will look and feel. What opportunities will it open up? Where will you go on holiday? What will it mean for your family? Where will you live? What will you wear? What will your relationships be like?
Ask yourself these questions then find pictures in magazines that represent the feelings that arise when you think about the answers. I have a picture on my dream board of a woman standing by an Arga – I’m not bothered about the Arga but the expression on her face is one of quiet contentment and cheekiness. And I really resonate with that.
So find those pictures that give you the feeling of how life will be for you too. Put as many or as few pictures and quotes on the board as feels good for you. Then put it in a prominent place so you get to see it every day.
Tip 2. Daydream.
Yes, I am actively encouraging you to ignore what your high school teachers said and daydream for a few minutes every day. Let your mind play with the idea of how life will be in the future you are working towards.
Think of the same questions as above and go through what your daily life will be like from the moment you awake to the time when you lay your head on your pillow. Explore that life with your senses and feel the emotions you will feel. You are literally rewiring the circuits in your brain as you do this. The more detail you add in, the more you will overstep the habits that keep you where you are now.
Tip 3. Act as if that future time has already happened.
Once or twice a week, act as if that future were already here. So, if you want greater wealth and you love cocktails and fine dining – go for one delicious cocktail in a posh hotel or bar. You don’t have to have the money to the taxis, meal and treating friends but surround yourself with the environment that is to come. This all adds to convincing your mind to defer short-term gain in preference of life long big changes.
Tip 4. Check your beliefs aren’t sabotaging your progress.
Because as Henry Ford said ‘Whether you believe you can or whether you can’t – you’re right.’ So if you believe that you will fail, find help from a local hypnotherapist or an Emotional Freedom Therapist. Your life as it is right now is the sum of your beliefs, so make sure your beliefs are working for you not against you.
Tip 5. Take a small step towards your creating your new life every day.
One phone call may not get you the job that you want but 20 may! Be steadfast and keep prioritising the small actions that lead to the future change. This is an old quote but it sums this point up.
‘the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step,’
………and of course the next and the next and the next. So when you back off taking action, ignore the alarm and go back to sleep instead of going for the run. Or, find yourself backing off opportunities – remember the long term gain and how that will feel.
Hope this serves you.
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