Changing behavior to achieve goals seems like a straightforward proposition, but it can be surprisingly difficult. The forces that oppose change are generally underestimated. Success requires persistence.
The Stability of Nature
No one is quite sure why, but every time a pattern is followed, it is more likely to occur again. This happens in a wide range of circumstances. Biologist Rupert Sheldrake, in The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature, hypothesizes a field of energy or information that reinforces forms and patterns. Whatever causes it; the force of habit is a force to be reckoned with. This would explain why doing something new and different is often so difficult, even when the motivation is very high.
It is the nature of nature to maintain the status quo. It is critical to survival that organisms remain stable, retain their forms, and follow existing patterns. There is a subtle but powerful force that maintains stability. But, once anyone breaks through this “sameness” barrier, change becomes easier – for anyone!
Creating a New Pattern
The ability to learn something new seems to be affected by other, totally unrelated people who have already learned the same thing. There is growing evidence that people are affected by the experience of others, and by experience in general, in ways generally considered to be impossible.
A common example is the athlete who strives long and hard to break a record. Very shortly after, others break the new record again and again. It's the same in the rat race. Rupert Sheldrake cites experiments with rats that show this effect. After a group of rats learns to negotiate a complicated maze, rats from other, unrelated groups are also able to perform at the higher level of proficiency, the first time out.
According to Sheldrake, phenomena become more probable the more often they occur, and therefore biological growth and behavior are guided into patterns laid down by previous similar events.
It isn't necessary to be a rat to enjoy this advantage. IQ test scores have increased markedly over the last century. It seems unlikely that people are that much more intelligent. But IQ test taking ability has improved, even in those tested for the first time. Even minerals appear to learn from experience. It can take some time for a crystal to form when it is synthesized in a laboratory. But once it crystallizes, minerals of the same kind, in any lab, anywhere, crystallize more quickly.
Making Change Easier
Practice makes change. Practicing desired thoughts, behaviors and even feelings builds up a new pattern of behavior. The brain does not distinguish much between real and imagined experience. It is experience either way. With repeated experience, new thoughts and behaviors get easier and easier.
It can also help to talk to, or observe, others who have succeeded in making similar changes. According to Robert Dilts in Modeling with NLP, an efficient way to develop skills is to model strategies that have worked before. Using these strategies will be easier than developing brand new ones.
Change begets change. Something as simple as sitting in a different chair changes perspective, thoughts and memories. If it is someone else's favorite chair, then sitting in it will change their behavior as well! Mastering simple change makes it easier to break out of the status quo and build up to making more complex changes.
Sources:
- Sheldrake, Rupert. The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature. New York, NY: Times Books, 1988.
- Dilts, Robert. Modelling with NLP. Capitola, CA: Meta Publications, 1998
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