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Do You Need To Change?

General, Mindset July 27, 2021

The thought of change is overwhelming to some, myself included but in this post I will show you how you can get over the fear of change and start to move the needle in a positive direction. 

Ask my friends and family and they will tell you I am pretty set in my ways. I am the type of person that finds something I like and I will stick to it. It could be a certain type of food, clothing, shoes or my morning habits you name it and I am set. 

Now this doesn’t mean I won’t change. I am always looking for ways to optimize my day, performance on the bike or improve in some skill or habit. 

So what is a habit? 

A regular practice or way of doing things

  • Occurs on the subconscious level
  • Can be good or bad
  • Hard to change or break

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”

Tony Robbins

So what do you do when you are faced with change? Is this a “forced” change, maybe due to a health scare, relationship issues or a conscious decision to change. 

If the pain of staying the same is greater than the fear or discomfort of change then most will act, otherwise it is just thoughts and words without any action to back them up. 

Nothing happens until there is movement. 

In a prior post I discussed the principle of Kaizen. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Kaizen which is defined as using very small comfortable steps to improve a habit, a process or product or using very small moments to inspire new products and inventions. 

This is useful to either replace a bad habit with a good one, add a good one or simply get rid of a bad habit. 

 

In addition to using very small steps or inspirational moments I also use information gathered from Dr. BJ Fogg’s book Tiny Habits. 

In order to make meaningful behavioral change one has to have 3 things. 

  1. Motivation– this has to be your big WHY? Something you want to accomplish, not a goal mandated from someone else
  2. Ability– we all have different abilities and skill sets, if you try to take on something far outside of your ability it will be harder to accomplish and possibly set yourself up for failure. 
  3. Prompts– are needed to spur you in the right direction to do the new task or habit. 

Finally you need to celebrate your small steps to give yourself some added motivation and excitement that you are making a change. 

Don’t’ break the chain

For those that have been around for awhile you know that I am a huge Seinfeld fan. In fact it was Seinfeld that got me through PT school. Several classmates and I would gather every Thursday night to watch the hit TV show and blow off some steam, but Jerry Seinfeld has a rather ingenious and simple tip for building a new habit. 

Don’t break the chain. Simply grab a calendar and place a red X over the day once you complete your habit. The goal is to then string together a series of red X’s and not let the streak end. 

There is one other concept to be aware of: “The Compound Effect”. See Darren Hardy’s book by the same title. The focus should be on small, smart choices + consistency over time will yield radical change. This could be in income, health, relationships, happiness or business and this change can potentially take up to 27 months!!!

Don’t get discouraged, you can build a habit in a shorter amount of time but it might take even longer to reach your full potential. 

How long does it take to form a new habit? 

That is a very good question and although there are various opinions out there that range from 21 days to 66 days I personally believe that it varies from person to person and is also tied to desire and the size of the habit change. 

The key is to not get discouraged. Keep trying and if you don’t meet your goal one day, try the next. Giving up after you failed one day is like slashing 3 good tires on your car after you discovered the 4th one was flat. We will all face challenges and setbacks; the key is to keep moving forward and don’t break the chain. Look to see if there was something that interfered with your ability to reach your goal that day and figure out what you can do to prevent it from happening again. 

Remember “Kaizen” the KEY is to start so small that it is impossible to fail. 

Have a great week and let me know what habit change you are working on. If you would like some help then let me know.   

To Your Health,

Robert

PS. If you or someone you know is suffering with some aches and pain then give us a call 817-220-MOSS (6677) to schedule a FREE No Obligation Discovery Visit

PPS. We are hosting an In Office Low Back Pain workshop on August 7th, 2021 at 10AM. If you are suffering from lower back pain or know someone who is, this is for you. You can register here: 

In Office Low Back Pain Workshop 

Secrets to Easing Your Nagging Back Pain and Maintaining An Independent Lifestyle

Saturday August 7th 2021 at 10AM

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