Are you tired of spinning your wheels? For many of us, it's easy to fall into the habit of doing the same thing over and over, even though our actions aren't producing the results we want. It can be difficult to break out of our normal routines of thinking and doing.

Why do we persist on the same path and expect different results? My theory is that we prefer to stick with what is comfortable and familiar so that we can avoid the anxiety of making a change. We subconsciously value our comfort more than getting the results we want. Thus, we soldier on, each time crossing our fingers and hoping for a better outcome.

A much more effective strategy, however, is to routinely evaluate what is working in your life and what isn't. While I know that some of you (myself included) might get heart palpitations at the thought of this, the truth is that you can't rationalize your way to a productive life. If you really want to achieve your goals, it's often necessary to move out of your comfort zone and open up to new and better options.

We sometimes need a compelling reason to motivate us to make a change. In some cases, we wait until a situation becomes so uncomfortable that we have no choice but to seek new ways of helping ourselves. But why wait for the pain? Wouldn't it be much better to be motivated by a positive goal, rather than by the fear of pending disaster?

To cut through the habitual processes of your subconscious mind, you can try asking yourself the following questions: 

• What do I want from my life? Am I clear on my goals?
• Are my current actions getting me closer to my goals? If not, what other actions can I take? (Leverage your creativity to come up with different ideas.)
• If I'm resistant to other actions, what am I afraid of? What is holding me back?
• Are my fears justified? What is the worst that can happen? What is the best that can happen?
• What steps can I take to reduce my anxiety and make the change easier for me to accept?

Although it's always simpler to stick with what you know, try challenging yourself to think "out of the box" as you consider other options.

To demonstrate these ideas, I'd like to share a story from my life. I have been having health issues since the beginning of the year, and I was going to my regular doctor. He sent me for various tests to determine if anything serious was going on. While I was relieved that all the tests came back negative, I became frustrated when my doctor couldn't determine what my problem was. I went back for several more visits, but I always came away disappointed. I could have continued to go for further medical tests, but I had an intuitive feeling that I needed to take an alternative course of action.

I listened to my gut and decided to contact my acupuncturist, Yingzhe (Angela) Li, who has help me tremendously in the past. I wanted to see what she thought about my symptoms. She suggested that acupuncture treatments and Chinese herbs would help balance my energy. Once in balance, I would feel better mentally and physically. After three months of these treatments, I'm relieved to report that I am finally starting to feel like myself again! I have no doubt that if I hadn't changed my strategy, I would still be struggling with the same health issues.

Are you open to new ways of doing things? To get results, you sometimes need to follow your intuition and open yourself up to new possibilities. As a highly sensitive person, you are blessed with deep-thinking and reflective capabilities that can propel you to find creative solutions to challenging problems.

Although change can be very daunting to the HSP psyche, the rewards are well worth it, and the more you step up to the challenge, the easier the process becomes. Why not give it a try, and let today be the day that you alter your course and live your best and most productive life?