COACH 101: ONLINE COACHING RESOURCES
How to convince your brain to cooperate in creating healthy habits
When you initially try to create a new healthy habit, such as doing more exercise or eating healthily, it often feels challenging. Maybe you manage to keep it up for a few days, then forget, or simply feel like you don’t really wanna do it. But why does this happen?
Imagine going on a hike. Typically, you follow well-marked trails to the main attractions, just like everyone else. These paths are well-constructed and clear. However, one day, as you are exploring with your phone’s map, you notice a secluded lake. There appears to be no path leading to it, yet its beauty motivates you to find a cross-country route to it. With your knife, you cut through tall grass and bushes, employing significant time and effort. Eventually, you succeed. The effort proves worthwhile, encouraging you to undertake this path repeatedly. In time, the trail you’ve started becomes wider and more defined. You invite friends to join, and gradually, the route evolves into an easy-to-navigate hiking trail. Reaching your destination becomes simpler and almost effortless.
Your brain offers resistance because carving out a new pathway from scratch to this new habit you are trying to acquire (the secluded lake) demands extra effort from its side, so the brain is hesitant to cooperate.
This is similar to what’s happening in your “brainforest”. Your brain offers resistance because carving out a new pathway from scratch to this new habit you are trying to acquire (the secluded lake) demands extra effort from its side, so the brain is hesitant to cooperate. You need to present compelling arguments to convince your brain that the extra effort is worth it.
How do you convince your brain that it's worth the effort of opening a new pathway?
Because your thoughts and behaviors are interconnected, your most powerful tool for influencing your habits is through your thoughts (more particularly, through your language).
The reason that generally motivates us to start a new habit is recognizing the need for change. Perhaps we want to replace a bad habit with a better one, take better care of our physical or mental health, dedicate more time to our social life, or change jobs. We all have our reasons. Regardless, the approach remains the same across various scenarios. All require a behavioral change from your part.
Instead of focusing on the change itself, focus on the benefits of achieving this change. Focusing on the benefits is the equivalent of visualizing yourself having already reached the secluded lake for which you were trying to open a new path. Your motivation as a hiker wasn’t the effort spent opening the path to the lake but the reward of experiencing its beauty once you reached the place.
Instead of focusing on the change itself, focus on the benefits of achieving this change.
Take a moment to reflect and have a clear idea of the benefits of creating this change you are trying to achieve. Once you have clarity on the benefits, start creating and launching thoughts in relation to these benefits, as if you were launching a marketing campaign:
E.g., “Drinking water makes me feel so good” / “These fruits are so tasty and healthy” / “These hikes invigorate me and they are such a great way to provide quality-me-time”
Such thoughts will capture your brain’s attention, encouraging its cooperation to open the path.
Another strategy is utilizing your external observer.
If you remember about it, the external observer is about developing the ability to observe yourself from an external, third-person perspective, in a neutral, non-judgmental way.
When you’re in the initial stages of habit formation and face resistance from your brain, employ your external observer to remind yourself: “this is just my brain resisting because I’m trying to open a new path, and it requires some extra effort from it. But if I manage to cut the bushes the first few times, it will become easier and easier”.
Employing your external observer to remind yourself: “this is just my brain resisting because it requires some extra effort from it” will help you navigate the initial resistance.
Key takeaways
- In your “brainforest”, your brain offers resistance because carving out a new pathway from scratch to this new habit you are trying to acquire (the secluded lake) demands extra effort from its side, so the brain is hesitant to cooperate. You need to present compelling arguments that the additional effort is worth it.
- The best way to convince your brain that it’s worth the effort of opening a new pathway is to focus on the benefits of achieving the change (e.g., eating more healthy, doing more exercise), rather than on the change itself.
- Once you have clarity on the benefits you will gain from the change, create as many thoughts as possible in relation to the benefits (e.g., “drinking water feels so good”)
- Employing your external observer to remind yourself: “this is just my brain resisting because it requires some extra effort from it” will help you navigate the initial resistance.
Ready for a more intensive, fast, and effective process? Discover how the Conscious Self-Rewiring Coaching Method can accelerate your personal growth. Book a complimentary 30-minute discovery call with Dr. Laura to explore the Healthy Success Coaching program. Coaching sessions online. In-person coaching in Dubai and the UAE.