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 Personal Bucket
This issue, I would like to talk about how we can support ourselves and the people we care about to shift unwanted, or unhealthy behaviours, and why overcoming long term negative habits can feel so difficult.
Mindmaps create physiological responses in the body that reinforce behaviour, creating a feedback loop that interacts with our environment and our DNA to lock in behaviours, even the unwanted ones. This creates the illusion that our habits are entrenched, beyond our control and inflexible, when really any habit is like a track in the snow we have walked along many times. We could walk outside the track, but it feels easier to walk within the track, it's familiar and well trodden, whereas walking outside the track feels more difficult and unfamiliar. The more we walk along the track, the more likely we are to walk down it again. However, we can walk outside of the track, and the more we chose another path, the more familiar it becomes and the easier it feels.
The illusion that our habits are fixed leads many of us to think we cannot change, that our habits are beyond our control and that we are slaves to them. Regardless of whether a habit is a repetitive ritual, like hand-washing, or checking the locks in your house over and over, or the habit is co-dependent like tobacco, drug or alcohol addiction, over-eating, gambling, over-exercising, gossip mongering, or sex-addiction, all habits have mindmaps, and most have several that link together.
We are all the product of our mindmap driven habits. When I consult to government and industry, and conduct 360 degree profiling, over and over again I see the same patterns. Those who invest their time and energy in health sustaining habits and optimism look 10 to 20 years younger and are 10 to 20 years younger biologically than people of the same age who invest their time and energy in health-depriving habits and negativity. We are the products of what we think, say and do. It shows up in each and every one of our cells, activating the latent potential in our DNA.
For example, alcohol and drug use have been shown in recent studies to change the way the brain assesses risk and handles impulses. The more often we drink, or the more we drink, the more we shut down our ability to assess risk or manage our impulses, and the more we fire up the area of our brain that seeks short term gratification (Researchers Link Alcohol-Dependence Impulsivity to Brain Anomalies Science Daily Apr. 15, 2011 / Impulse Control Area In Brain Affected In Teens With Genetic Vulnerability For Alcoholism Science Daily Nov. 7, 2008)
At the end of this article I've included a report from Science Daily of a study that identified the brain area responsible for impulsive behaviour, and how impulse control is implicated in many behavioural anomalies including ADHD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, Binge Eating, Gambling to name just a few. It's an interesting study and shows just how far we have come in understanding the mechanisms behind behaviour.
Impulsive behaviour is now understood to be a brain function issue; too many neurons in a particular area of the brain fire, while the problem solving area of the brain is shut down. In some individuals this triggers the activation of genes for anxiety, alcoholism, depression or violence. However, when this area of the brain is not stimulated these genes are not expressed. This is how someone with an impulse driven behaviour can appear to be two different people.
The mindmap for impulsivity is now understood, and can be mapped. What is exciting is that because it is a mindmap, and not a personality trait, it can be changed. The brain's own inherent flexibility can be called upon to learn, repeat and perfect an alternative behaviour to replace the negative, impulsive behaviour, which in turn makes those genes dormant again.
So what does this mean for you and I? Well it means we are not the slaves of our behaviour. And even our most negative habits are not out of our control. It means that if we choose to create a different track in the snow to walk along, and take that path as often as we can, eventually it will have a stronger, richer, more dominant mindmap than the old path. This means that newer, more desirable habits do have a chance.
I think this is why it usually takes people several attempts to quit smoking, stop drinking or abusing substances. Each time they try a new track, they are creating a new set of mindmaps. When stress or environmental factors in their life draws them back to the old path, friends and family lament and fear that all the time spent creating good habits has been lost. But that's not the case. The newer path is still there, and if it felt good to walk that path even for a little while, the memory of that feeling will at some time in the future tempt the individual to try it again.
Each time the path of the new habit is attempted, it gets stronger. What we know is that if reward is associated with a behaviour, it is reinforced, so positive reinforcement will do more to draw a person back to a good habit than punishment will. Eventually the new behaviour will have a strong enough pull, and have enough positive associations to become dominant, so that even if an individual is drawn back to an old behaviour for a time, they are less likely to be stuck in the behaviour, because they know they have a choice, and they know what that feels like - they have a mindmap for an alternative life.
That being said, the longer an individual can stick to a new behaviour, the better. Returning to old, destructive behaviours can have disastrous effects. Even a short period of impulsivity due to substance abuse or gambling can shatter someone's life.
At the very least impulsivity affects an individual's performance, at home and at work. Addressing our destructive habits gives us the best chance to live consciously and end up with the things and events in our life that we desire. Turning up each day with a full, positively charged bucket of energy is a decision, not a fluke. It requires us to make conscious choices about what we consume, do and think, the mindmaps we fire up and those we shut down.
It requires us to choose which path we will walk down today...
Here's a reminder of the steps that promote behaviour change and assist each of us to choose a more conscious path:
1. Reward the goal
So the key message here is - attach a reward to your goal - make the reward personal, and make it something that brings a smile to your face every time you think about getting your reward.
Our cells respond to pleasure even more than pain - use this to your advantage.
2. Write it down
Next write your goal down as if it is already achieved. This is one of the most important steps in setting goals that stick. Write your goal down in the present tense, as if it is already achieved, and you are expressing your gratitude (to yourself) for sticking to it. This kind of goal is called an affirmation - it literally affirms the intent of your goal. This gives you clarity and focuses your intent - which is essential.
3. Use emotive language in present tense
It needs to use emotive language that feels good to you - it needs to paint a picture in words of how you'll feel, and how life will be when the goal is achieved. And each affirmation needs to include only one goal. You can have multiple affirmations, but keep each one goal specific.
Here's an example of an affirmation I wrote for a client who wanted to make better food choices and exercise in order to lose weight and stay healthy. This was a wellbeing goal.
"I am slim and slender, lean and fit. Every day I nourish myself with healthy food choices, pure water, and fresh air. I enjoy exercising because I love the benefits it provides to my body, and it feels so good to be fit and full of energy. I honour my body through every choice I make throughout my day, and give thanks for this amazing body I have been given. I am slim and slender, lean and fit."
Emotive language charges up your cells, which switches on DNA.
4. Say it out loud often
Next you need to say the affirmation out loud - about 10 times a day if you can manage it, and for about 30 days. It takes about 28 days for a new habit to be locked in - so I say 30 days to be safe.
Read your affirmation with energy and passion. Even if you feel it isn't true, or can't be true - read it as if it already is. Your subconscious mind lives in an eternal present - so it gives priority to things that are immediate, rather than future time. Writing your affirmation and saying it as if it is already a reality, now - will make it a priority, or command for the subconscious mind. This is why wishing and hoping doesn't work - they both put the things you want into future time - which never comes.
Your cells and DNA are listening to you - within your DNA, somewhere, are the codes to make this goal easier - you just have to give your cells the command to open the right book in your DNA library.
5. Visualise the goal using all your senses
The next step is to visualise yourself in the new habit, achieving the goal. Close your eyes and allow your mind to wander forward to a time when you have mastered this goal, changed the habit and reclaimed this part of your life. Imagine in detail how good that will feel, what it will look like, sound like, taste like even. Collect pictures from magazines of people who have achieved this goal, and put them in a scrap book or poster.
Your cells and DNA will turn this day dream into a programme if you do it often enough. Eventually the new programme will replace any older, outdated behavioural programmes.
6. Break the goal down into steps - actions that you need to take to get from where you are to where you want to be
It's not enough to want something, we have to align our actions to our intent. The more you do this, the quicker your goal will be achieved, and the more permanent the change. So work out what people who have achieved this goal do - read about them, talk to them, get a coach, whatever you need to break the goal down into steps that you can approach one, by one. Make these behaviours part of your day. Repeat them every day for 30 days to lock them in.
When you were a toddler and learned to walk - you took one step, then another. Over time this turned into walking, and eventually running. All goals need to be approached the same way, so your nervous system can learn, become familiar with the steps, and eventually make them unconscious - or second nature, turning them into unconscious mindmaps to drive the wanted behaviour and replace the unwanted maps.
7. Enjoy the reward
Once you've reached your first milestone - celebrate. Take the reward you planned, and write a new affirmation thanking yourself for the steps you've taken to get you there. As you enjoy the reward, keep associating the pleasure with the new behaviour - i.e not smoking, eating more healthily, exercising, saving money etc.
Remember the pleasure principle is a very powerful biological and psychological driver.
8. Stay Vigilant
My last tip is to remember to never get cocky about old behaviours. If you've given up smoking, don't think you can have one and it will be okay. The old behaviours don't need much encouragement to rear their ugly heads. It's much easier to stay 'on the wagon' than to fall off and have to climb back on. However, if you do slip and fall back into old habits - revisit the 8 steps above, and if you need to, get the assistance of a mentor, coach or hypnotherapist.
Brain's Impulse Control Center Located
ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2010) - Impulsive behaviour can be improved with training and the improvement is marked by specific brain changes, according to a new Queen's University study.
A research team led by neuroscience PhD student Scott Hayton has pinpointed the area of the brain that controls impulsive behaviour and the mechanisms that affect how impulsive behaviour is learned. The findings could have a significant impact on the diagnosis and treatment of several disorders and addictions, including ADHD and alcoholism.
"In the classroom, kids often blurt out answers before they raise their hand. With time, they learn to hold their tongue and put up their hand until the teacher calls them. We wanted to know how this type of learning occurs in the brain," says Mr. Hayton, a PhD student at the Centre for Neuroscience Studies at Queen's. "Our research basically told us where the memory for this type of inhibition is in the brain, and how it is encoded."
The team trained rats to control impulsive responses until a signal was presented. Electrical signals between cells in the brain's frontal lobe grew stronger as they learned to control their impulses. This showed that impulsivity is represented, in a specific brain region, by a change in communication between neurons.
Impulsivity is often thought of as a personality trait, something that makes one person different from another.
Children who have difficulty learning to control a response often have behavioural problems which continue into adulthood, says Professor Cella Olmstead, the principal investigator on the study. She notes that impulsivity is a primary feature of many disorders including addiction, ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder and gambling. Identifying the brain region and mechanism that controls impulsivity is a critical step in the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions.
"In conditions where learning does not occur properly, it is possible that it is this mechanism that has been impaired," adds co-investigator neuroscience Professor Eric Dumont.
The findings were recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Journal Reference:
1. S. J. Hayton, M. Lovett-Barron, E. C. Dumont, M. C. Olmstead. Target-Specific Encoding of Response Inhibition: Increased Contribution of AMPA to NMDA Receptors at Excitatory Synapses in the Prefrontal Cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 2010; 30 (34): 11493 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1550-10.2010
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Sincerely,
lis faenza
the bucket revolution
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