Change Your Mindset, Change Your Habits
Habits are something we all have in common, those things we do so often they have become almost involuntary, some are good and some have negative results, the degree of harm varies from a little to a lot. We struggle to make long term lasting changes in those areas of our lives: diet, exercise, habits of all-sorts, we may make some changes in the short term but soon find ourselves backsliding into those old behaviours; remember those New Year’s Resolutions? It can be so frustrating; we know what we want to do, why is it so hard to make it stick? Here are the five biggest reasons.
1. Motivated By Negative Emotions
We know what we don’t want: we don’t want to smoke, cough, or wheeze. We don’t want to be overweight, to have sore knees, no energy. We don’t want to be stressed, anxious, depressed. Positive motivation has been found to be much more effective. Studies have found that strategies based on fear and or regret were the least effective. It is important to consider the reasons why you want to change and what advantages you will see as a result.
2. We Try To Do Too Much
When we’re motivated to change we want to strike while the iron is hot, we want to change everything all at once. Real lasting change requires effort, we have to tap into our resources like self-control, motivation, will-power etc… And remember life doesn’t slow down; it keeps going at a breakneck pace and continues making demands of your limited resources. When our resources get depleted, we lose momentum and slide back into our comfortable patterns. Focusing your attention on one goal at a time gives you more opportunity for success.
3. All Or Nothing Thinking
We are also susceptible to all or nothing thinking. If we experience a setback we use it as an excuse to give up altogether. Eating a few cookies or chips while on a diet, berating yourself for the lapse, becomes an excuse to eat the whole bag. It’s important to understand setbacks will happen, be kind to yourself when they do and use them to bolster your resolve to reach your goal.
4. Eating An Elephant
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. When setting a goal we tend to make general sweeping statements: “I’ll be healthier”, “I’ll start exercising”. Behaviour change is a big thing no matter what the behaviour is, it’s easier to manage if it’s broken down into smaller, specific steps, like “I’ll walk around the block every day” and gradually make increases as it becomes easier. This way you feel a sense of accomplishment as you reach each milestone, which helps propel you toward your goal.
5. Forgetting to Stock Your Toolbox
It’s important to have the right tools for the job. If you want to change your diet, you need to know about healthier eating. You can’t make better choices if you don’t know what good choices are. We all need a toolbox of supports to help us in the long haul, so it’s important to learn what we need to help us along the way.
It’s never too late to make the changes you want, with a little work and a little help you can break out of those old patterns. Hypnosis has proven to be very effective in establishing new, more positive habits because hypnosis deals directly with your unconscious, where habits live.
Hypnosis is a trance-like state of focused concentration akin to being absorbed in a really good book or movie. In this relaxed state, you are able to access your inner resources to change from reflexive behaviours to consciously making decisions. With hypnosis, you can let go of the old behaviour pattern of giving up when you’ve made a mistake. By shifting your mindset you can more easily move past any setbacks and continue, step by step, slowly and surely toward your goal.
For fifteen years, I’ve been helping people unlock their potential using hypnosis for anxiety, phobias, smoking cessation, weight loss, nail biting, teeth grinding and other bad habits. It can help improved confidence, motivation, sleep, manage pain, and more
Change your mindset, change your habits today… forever.