How to create permanent change
The goal that I picked for myself, as well as my reason for life is to continually grown and change my life for the better. You might be trying to find a different career, change your sleeping habits, lose or gain a couple of additional pounds, or just change for changes sake. The problem is that most of our attempts fail as when the motivation for change disappears, we fall back into our old habits and none of this leaves a lasting impression or leaves a dent in our original plans. Since you are reading this article, I think that you should feel encouraged as you are actually doing something that is pointing you in the right direction. I tend to think that large goals tend to discourage and overwhelm us and it is safest to take baby steps. Humans are creatures of comfort, and will do anything possible to live our lives while doing the least amount of actual work. I'm quite sure that this was studied by a group of scientists and turned out to be a fact.
The most important skill of permanent change is the ability for you to evaluate yourself realistically. Take a good hard look back, and at the three months ahead. When looking back think about all the times you tried to change but failed. Don't you start seeing the patterns? For me it usually went something like this: I will start working out. The next day I wake up in the morning ready to work out and get through it. A day or two later I start thinking that this is too painful and when looking in the mirror I don't really see much change in the way I look. As a week flies by I skip a workout or two and feel bad that I am not keeping up with my original goal. After another few days it becomes easier for me to simply feel disappointed in myself than actually following through with it. This is where that part about going through life while doing the least amount of work bit comes into play.
In order to create permanent change you have to take active steps, as the baby steps I mentioned earlier. Do not become overwhelmed... and just do it one small step at a time. You also must keep motivated, and I do that through listening to positive thinking CDs, support from friends and family as well as setting small rewards for myself. Improvement is self-reinforcing. As you practice doing something, you get better at it and therefore start to enjoy it more because it becomes easier to do it. It is really that simple. The first ten days are the hardest and so do not deviate even one bit. After thirty days anything that you do on a daily basis will become a habit. I started exercising in the mornings. In the beginning it was hard for me to start doing it at all, but I have moved up from three days to five days a week and from afternoons to mornings. Even though it seems counter intuitive, this small change gives me much more energy to tackle each day with. It wasn't easy and I didn't do it all at once. I took baby steps, and gave myself a healthy dose of motivation and small rewards on the way. Now go reach your goals.
The most important skill of permanent change is the ability for you to evaluate yourself realistically. Take a good hard look back, and at the three months ahead. When looking back think about all the times you tried to change but failed. Don't you start seeing the patterns? For me it usually went something like this: I will start working out. The next day I wake up in the morning ready to work out and get through it. A day or two later I start thinking that this is too painful and when looking in the mirror I don't really see much change in the way I look. As a week flies by I skip a workout or two and feel bad that I am not keeping up with my original goal. After another few days it becomes easier for me to simply feel disappointed in myself than actually following through with it. This is where that part about going through life while doing the least amount of work bit comes into play.
In order to create permanent change you have to take active steps, as the baby steps I mentioned earlier. Do not become overwhelmed... and just do it one small step at a time. You also must keep motivated, and I do that through listening to positive thinking CDs, support from friends and family as well as setting small rewards for myself. Improvement is self-reinforcing. As you practice doing something, you get better at it and therefore start to enjoy it more because it becomes easier to do it. It is really that simple. The first ten days are the hardest and so do not deviate even one bit. After thirty days anything that you do on a daily basis will become a habit. I started exercising in the mornings. In the beginning it was hard for me to start doing it at all, but I have moved up from three days to five days a week and from afternoons to mornings. Even though it seems counter intuitive, this small change gives me much more energy to tackle each day with. It wasn't easy and I didn't do it all at once. I took baby steps, and gave myself a healthy dose of motivation and small rewards on the way. Now go reach your goals.
