Written by: Rachael Downie, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Have you ever tried to introduce new habits only to give up after 1 day or 1 week?
What if it could be easier?
What if there was a way that you could make changes without putting this pressure on yourself, without wasting so much energy on thinking about what you aren't doing?
One of the reasons you don't do the things you want to do is that you spend time thinking about how hard they will be, how much time they might take up, and stop yourself before you even start. The key is to make yourself think that it is easier.
You see, when we spend all this time thinking about how hard it is, you have a whole story going on. And if you don’t do it, it becomes self-sabotaging inner conversations and behavior where you continue to beat yourself up about not doing what you wanted to do – again and again. It becomes a vicious cycle of failing before you even started!
To shift this, break down what you want to do into the smallest common denominator and start with small habits rather than the big massive ones.
Ask yourself: How can I be 1% better today than yesterday?
1% better
Let’s get into some background stuff to understand why when you have started stuff in the past, and you just can’t seem to get ahead.
As humans, there are so many things that you do that are just automatic and habitual. There are routines in the morning, getting yourself dressed, having a shower. You may go through the motions at work or home. This is all controlled by our subconscious mind, our paradigms. Paradigms are our habits, beliefs, and behaviors that sit in the subconscious part of our mind. Paradigms can be successful ones and can be the complete opposite.
You have a cybernetic instrument in your mind where you are set for certain things in your life. Your health, the money you earn, the sales you make, the relationships you are in are all controlled very much like the thermostat in an air conditioner. (The book Psychocybernetics, by Maxwell Maltz, is a must-read). When you want to make improvements in your life, you tend to make big shifts and changes. This can work for a certain period of time until your current paradigms/cybernetic instruments kick in and you go back to your old habits. Your old beliefs, conditioning, and behaviors take over, and you end up on autopilot right back where you started.
Where do these paradigms come from, and what are they? Paradigms are a multitude of habits passed on from generation to generation and what you were conditioned to do environmentally throughout your childhood. When you want to change the results, these old habits, beliefs, and behaviors keep you stuck.
You can create new habits, beliefs, and behaviors, and it takes work, but when we start small, it appears to be easier. Just 1% better is the key.
One of the key things to override the paradigm is getting clear about what you want. You want to be connected with this desire to override your current conditioning.
What can you control?
Make a decision to focus on being consistently 1% better every day. Start with the following areas.
Health
Relationships
Family
Work
Business
How you treat yourself and how you show up every day.
Your standard for yourself will rise in all areas of your life.
Some Ideas; 1% better with your health:
Walking – start with 5 minutes.
Running – start with 1 km.
Food – remove one thing from your diet. Change one meal, one snack
Treating yourself better – speak kinder words to yourself, “ I am good enough.” “It is ok to put me first.”
Work – focus for 10 minutes on one thing with no distractions
Family and friends – Reach out to one person each day to stay in touch
A great idea is to put this as a reminder on your phone every 3 to 4 hours to check in with how you are going and have 1% coming up as the reminder. This will bring your awareness to where your focus is – are you on autopilot, or are you being 1% better?
It is the little things you do every day consistently that will change your results.
It really comes down to attitude.
How can you be 1% better each day in order to raise your standards and change your results?
Rachael Downie, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Is your mindset holding you back in your business? Rachael Downie is a successful mentor and someone who is truly focused on converting your thinking into results. Rachael works with a variety of individuals, businesses, and CEOs both locally and internationally - simply because we all have the same blockages, doubts, limited thinking, money, and staffing issues. (and if you don't, you are probably one of the 3% who is an unconscious competent, who may find it difficult to transfer your success skills to your staff or family). Rachael loves helping you create success not only in your business but also in other areas of your life.
