Having to shelter in place drives home Newton’s first law, known as the law of inertia. You may wonder how this applies to you. The law says an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion – with the same speed and in the same direction unless something pushes or pulls it. Basically, as objects, we don’t change our behaviors just because it’s a good idea. It might make sense to change, but oh the effort you feel you must expend.
When you don’t seem to have any choice in the matter, most of you will comply and find ways to make changes. You might do it kicking and screaming, or you might get creative. The bottom line is you can, and you do, learn to do things differently. If the past ways are no longer working, you get to look for ways to create a different and even better present and future.
This is applicable across the board. No need to adhere to old habits that don’t work just because you’ve always done things that way, and it’s easier to just follow that beaten path.
Think of a change you say you want to make. What’s stopped you? Lack of time, knowledge, remembering, fear of failure, a story about how difficult it will be? Is the change really important to you? On a scale of zero to ten, how important?
If the new behavior feels really important and you have the time, materials, and/or tools what else do you need? Commitment? Accountability? Knowing what the first step is and how you will take it?
Guess what? It’s all in your head! You know the terms “live as if,” and “fake it ‘til you make it”? Well, those things work because the brain sees imagined truth just like truth.
Here’s a way to start:
- Imagine the time in the near future when your desired change is in place and you feel great.
- Spend a few minutes daily (or throughout the day) imagining yourself doing the things that make the change happen and then being in that imaginary future in which it has occurred.
The more you practice mentally, the easier it becomes in actuality. In fact, the mental practice will help make the actuality happen.
-Sydney Metrick