On Changing Habits of Thought and Action

“The definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results” – Albert Einstein

If we want to bring about a change in our reality, we must primarily bring about a change in our habits of thought and action. But that is easily said. The reality is that most of us usually fall into our familiar patterns of thought and action, even after we have been made aware of our need to change them.

Let`s focus on one habit that seems to be universal, and universally detrimental to our success, be the task what it may. The initial, and critical, habit, when approaching any task, is the habit of increasing muscular effort, tensing and stiffening, in order to achieve the task at hand.

No matter what the discipline – sports, art, business presentations- coaches and teachers agree that the greatest difficulty they face, is in preventing this habitual response of increased tension. This reaction is extremely detrimental to communication. As soon as someone tenses up, he is not in a frame of mind that facilitates listening. As soon as a person gets a stimulus to do something – either external or internal – and he responds by tensing up, his ability to understand and appreciate what is required to be successful at the task, has been impaired.

This is obvious when we talk about tennis, or golf, or even driving lessons. However, it is true when trying to achieve everything in life, even asking someone out on a date, or the building of a successful business. The problem goes deeper than the initial tensing up. The next step in doing anything, is assessing what it is that should be done and how it should be done, to achieve the desired results.

Ideally, if we could prevent the initial increased tension, the person doing the task would be in the proper frame of mind to realistically appraise the situation, and reach a well founded decision on what to do next. The more aware we are of the process that is underway, and the incidental consequences, the more it becomes possible to change and modify the process itself, as it unfolds, so as to get the results we are aiming to achieve.

But to get people to make this kind of change in habit, outlook and performance, requires more than just appealing to reason. It`s the entire habitual setup within a person`s organism, that has to be modified, in order to bring about successful change. Walter Carrington explains this in great detail in his book “The Act of Living”.

Habit is the thing that gets in the way of change. Many holistic body-mind techniques, such as Alexander Technique, Yoga, Tai-Chi, Chi-Gong, and all the various kinds of meditation, work on changing the entire habitual setup of a person`s organism, in order to bring about awareness and consequently – successful change.

This does not mean that change cannot occur without such holistic practice. Sometimes life situations force us into awareness that also brings on changes in our thoughts and actions. But in order to make these changes sustainable, we have to adhere to them with discipline, over an extended period of time. Otherwise, we will easily fall back into our old habitual patterns that will always be lurking in the shadows.

That is why it is so important to always be tuned in to positive thinking, listen to inspiring teachers, and protect our minds from any input that might hinder our continual quest for the change we are striving to achieve.

Become the change you want to see! Work on it constantly and never give up! The results will become evident sooner or later….

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