Creating new habits can be quite challenging, and understanding how our brains work can make a big difference. You may have heard me talk about neural pathways in the brain before, but let's dive a little deeper into how they work and why they're essential when it comes to forming new habits.
Neural pathways are like roads in your brain that help you think, learn, and perform tasks. When you learn something new or practice a skill, your brain creates these pathways. Think of it as blazing a trail in the woods by walking the same path repeatedly. The more you use a pathway, the stronger it becomes, making it easier for your brain to remember things and perform tasks. So, when you practice math problems, play a musical instrument, or learn a new language, you're building and strengthening these pathways in your brain, like constructing a highway for your thoughts and skills to travel on.
These amazing pathways in our brains are fantastic for helping us remember things and conserving brainpower, especially for routine tasks like brushing our teeth. However, there's a downside too. Repetitive behaviors reinforce these pathways, and if the behavior is a habit with negative consequences, we're essentially telling our brains to keep doing the same thing over and over.
Breaking a habit or creating a new one means creating new pathways in your brain while letting go of the old ones, much like overgrowing a trail in the woods until it's lost. The question is how, how do we reset our neural pathways?
I'm about to share the secret with you...
Are you ready for it?
The secret to resetting your neural pathways is simple: you have to do it, even when you don't want to.
Let's take the example of a new habit I'm trying to build, like going for a daily walk. When I'm tired after a long day and just want to relax, I do it anyway. When there's a new book I'm eager to read, but I haven't done my walk yet, I do it anyway. Even on cold days when my ears are freezing, I bundle up and do it anyway
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By consistently creating new neural pathways in my brain, even when I don't feel like it, my brain will eventually stop making excuses, and I'll face less resistance when it comes to achieving this new habit of mine.
So, what new habits are you looking to incorporate into your daily routine where a slight change in your neural pathways could make a big difference?
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