Rewire yourself to achieve your dreams

By James Gitau

Kenya: If you are like most people, you probably set several goals or commitments you intend to accomplish in 2014.

We are heading into week seven of the 2014. Are you still on track with your resolutions? What have you achieved so far? Have you forgotten what the goals were?

If you are not on course, you are not alone. Many people I have been in touch with lately have confessed that they have not made much progress in their quest of living their dream life.

For some time, I made a long list of things I was going to accomplish every year. Like most people, I would give up at the slightest challenge or failure.

Top on my list was always to give up smoking and reduce my alcohol intake. I would last about a month without a drink before ‘backsliding’. As for the smoking, my ‘quitting’ would last a week at most.

It was not until I started understanding the power of habits and how they are formed in our brains that I was able to make quantum leap in creating the changes I desired. The key to creating lasting change, whether it is losing weight or quitting smoking, is unlearning old habits and replacing them with new empowering ones.

Maybe, it is important to expound on what a habit is, how it is formed and its key purpose.

Habits are our brains’ energy saving mode. When you keep doing something, it becomes automatic. The brain develops new neurons (‘wires’) to make the task easier. This means the brain does not have to work hard to figure out things in relation to that task.

Say, for example, every time you come home from work, you slouch in your favourite spot on the couch as you flip the remote of the electronic time waster (TV). As you sit there, you feel secure and in control. This is one place not even your intimidating boss can touch you; you are in charge.

After a while, the position becomes your throne. If a visitor takes your favourite spot on the sofa and you have to sit somewhere else, you are uncomfortable. You may even find yourself getting irritable.

The reason for this is that your brain has developed neurons triggered by the sight of your couch or sitting room. The reward for your routine is the feeling of safety and control.

At the beginning of the year, you had promised yourself that instead of spending time with the electronic time waster, you would be going to the gym to trim the excess fat around your belly, or spending quality time your children.

However, so far, you have not been successful because every time you enter your house, the couch seems to be saying to you, “Come baby, come”. Despite your resolve to change, the couch wins hands down.

The habits ingrained in our subconscious are illions of times more powerful than our logical brain.

So, how can you win? Understanding how you are wired and how to rewire yourself is critical to achieving your dreams. Most people want to learn what they need to eat to lose weight, where to invest to make money…

My suggestion is to work on the software — your habits. Learn how to create new neurological patterns. Start by doing things differently, like brushing your teeth with your other hand.

Then break down your goals. Decide you will work on one thing at a time. This way, you are working on changing one neurological pattern at a time. By doing so, you will find it easy to change other deeply entrained habits.

When I learned these skills about 16 years ago, I was able to quit smoking and drinking alcohol instantaneously, without a single withdrawal symptom. At the beginning of this year, I set out to loss seven kilos. I have shed six so far.

You, too, can achieve any goal you focus on.

The writer is a life coach and founder of Peak Performance International — a human potential development firm: [email protected]