Breaking old habits and establishing new ones is not easy…And it doesn’t happen overnight.
So, if you’ve been trying your best to make changes…but you can’t seem to make them stick…Then I’m about to tell you why.
Imagine your brain is like a jungle…And for every single thing that you do, your brain has to make connections between different areas.
And the habits and routines that you repeat ‘every single day’, ‘over time’, have laid down ‘smooth’, ‘wide’ pathways that are easy to access.
But…Some of those path’s lead to places that aren’t so good for us.
And in order to make a new change, you have to carve out a new path…And sometimes even from scratch.
So you work really hard, hacking away to clear that new path…But here’s the thing about the jungle…
If you don’t do that every day, it grows back.
And anytime you’re under stress, your brain will automatically choose the EASIEST route…which is the old one.
So you have to repeat that new behaviour as frequently as you can, until the new path becomes well established…
And it’s only then that it’s easier to use when you need it.
Bottom line…The only way is through!
And one of the reasons people fail to make it through, is because they find the ‘carving’ and ‘hacking’ really hard…Because it is.
And then they think, “If it’s hard now, then it’s only going to get harder” …But quite the opposite is true.
Yes. It requires, what seems like, ‘forced effort’. Especially in the first few days…Because it will be.
So how do we make it through?
‘The 4-Day Rule’
Now you might be thinking, “How can I create a new habit in just 4-days?”
The chances are you can’t but…
It will get ‘EASIER’ after 4 days…And once it gets easier, you start to gain ‘momentum’…
And with momentum comes ‘motivation’…
And with ‘motivation’ comes ‘confidence’ to keep going…
And when you keep going, and you keep chipping away, you inevitably start seeing the results of all your hard work.
So, if you’re trying to ‘clear the jungle’, but struggling to make it through, then give ‘The 4-Day Rule’ a real go and let me know how you go.
Here’s how you do it.
Keystone Habits – these are smaller, simpler behaviours that can help you find your way to the start of the pathway. For example, create a simpler habit of getting your gym clothes ready the night before. You can also set an alarm on your phone and put your gym clothes and phone (with alarm) on the far side of your bedroom. This’ll force you to actually get out of bed (rather than hitting snooze). This smaller habit makes the bigger habit (going to the gym) easier.
See you in the gym fam.
Coach Gab.