"I'll start tomorrow", "just this once"...  How many times do we hear people sacrificing the present moment for an elusive "someday"?  The truth is, there is only one moment that we can control, and it's shorter than a millisecond - it's right now.

It's true that character is borne from habits are borne from actions, but there are much more interesting (and practical) implications if you look at this common phrase backwards.  Each one of your actions is reinforcing a habit - for better or for worse.

Recent studies in neuroplasticity show that, unlike what was believed for many years, the brain is not wired completely during childhood only to remain static through adulthood.  We are not "stuck" with the wiring that we had no part in creating, which introduces a lot more power and, as it goes - more responsibility.  Studies show that through adulthood the human brain has the capacity to rewire itself.  And just how does it manage this? Repetition.

Just like repeating a particular action makes it easier, mentally repeating an idea reinforces a thought pattern.  The implications of this is that changing yourself to Who You Want To Be just requires the initial resistance your brain puts up when you act against the wiring of your neural pathways.

We grow when we're outside our comfort zone.  Keep pushing new actions until they are re-wired as the default response.  No moment is merely a means to an end, each holds the infinite power of creation.

 


Comments

Diego

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:27:27

Nice Post. I believe that 'someday' means something close to 'never'!

Thanks for commenting on my blog!
If you wanna get in touch, my messenger is diego.ttg@gmail.com

 

Sebastiano Mereu

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:48:02

Very good blog entry.

I love the expression, 'We grow when we're outside our comfort zone.' It is true. If we stay in our comfort zone we don't feel the need to grow, to make something happen, or simply to go beyond the necessary.

Greetings from Switzerland,
sebi

 

Brian Monahan, Expert in the Rough

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:01:48

Georgina,

Very good post, I was wanting to write something similiar about the "Someday" problem.

My wife and I are having a baby in October and I started my blog in May. A number of people have commented that it does not seem like a good time to launch my blog with the baby on the way.

I was thinking exactly the opposite. If I wait till the baby is born I will have no momentum and surely risk my inspiration for my blog will fall to the wayside.

Sometimes its easier to start in chaos versus in the calm since whats one more thing on my plate.

Someday is the biggest trap we all live in.

They say it takes 21 days to develop a habit. (I believe that is a little short) but my Dad tried to change 21 habits every 21 days keeping each habit going. He didn't quite make it but his goal was to create habit of breaking bad habits and creating good habits.

Someday I will read your blog again :)

Thanks,

Brian

 

JP

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:41:24

Georgina,

What a fantastic post! I just know I'll be referencing it at some point. The "capacity to rewire" is exciting indeed! And when you top that with the "power to connect" via the Internet, the potential is staggering. It's an absolute pleasure to connect with you. And I look forward to reading more on your blog. :) Was lucky to visit Argentina this year and I loved it. Can't wait to visit Brazil one day.... Best to you, Jaculynn

 

JCK

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:54:30

You're right and this is important, but in the US at least, I think it was more important for people our age about 60 or 70 years ago. Things have changed, and parents continue to have a lot of influence over children, which could make significant "rewiring" difficult, since most children grew up under the mental shaping of the same parents they're still dependent upon.

We "mature" physically faster now, probably because of unfortunate reasons, and tend to "harden" ourselves with issues that used to be considered "adult" (eg sex and alcohol), but we stay dependent upon our parents longer than we ever have before. Family might have been more important for longer in the old days, but children were not as financially and domestically dependent upon their parents, even if they remained close. Even now, when so many young people are dependent financially on parents well into their 20's, the idea of living this way tends to be labeled as negative.

So to tie this together (and to your post), even though our brains are able to change with repetition and rewire programming, for a huge number of young adults in the US, parental financial and domestic dependence upon parents ensures that many parents retain control over the thought patterns and behavior of their children even once they are legally (or mental-developmentally) adults). And I wonder how much people change their thought patterns once they start a career and have children?

Of course, even dependent young adults these days are normally working towards intuitively independence-inspiring activities like entry-level employment or college, but as long as parents are paying for health insurance, rent, food, and cell phone bills, they're going to influence any resistance or rewiring for as long as that parent-child resistance stands, whether or not it's overbearing or obvious.

Remind me not to take the sociology GER.

 



Leave a Reply