Principles for a good life
Personal development
There is something comforting in our habits. Something soothing, predictable, certain, effective, convenient, requires little energy. It protects us, within a safe area in the face of all the changes around us. These habits were created for a reason. Our brain recognized patterns that kept coming back, something worked there. That is, we succeeded, at least a few times, so that it was burned as a reinforced pathway in our neural network. It can be the habit we are aware of, such as hanging the keys at the entrance to the house so as not to look for it for hours when we are pressed for time, or the habit of the subconscious, such as our belief network formed perhaps at such a young age that we have no memory of it. Habits are formed in our brain so that it does not have to spend a lot of energy when we do repetitive actions.
But here, too, lies the danger. Habits put us in an auto-mode. An auto-mode does not require of us energy, or thought, or sometimes even awareness. And what if the habit was a good solution once, and now it is no longer good for me? What if a certain belief served me in the past, but today limits me? How do you change such perceptions that will last? So on the difficulty of change, there is a separate chapter .
This chapter is also related to this, but from a different, more personal and perhaps deeper angle. How do we actually help ourselves to develop as people?
First of all it is clear to us that in order to change something we will have to invest energy, or maybe work. Change does not happen by itself. The question is how much work will we agree to invest, whether it is in-depth and whether it is real, meaning we are not lying to ourselves.
One of the best methods I have found for creating an inner change in thought, belief or habits that are less good for us is Byron Katie's "The Work". In this method, through a relatively simple internal inquiry, one comes to be freed from thoughts that limit us, from beliefs that no longer serve us, from automatic responses that are no longer comfortable for us. The beauty of this method is that you can do it by yourself.
So go ahead, let's get to work ...