Habits are very much like the iceberg above, and just like the iceberg above – neglecting what lies beneath the surface is a recipe for disaster!
We’ve been approaching behaviour change all wrong.
For years we’ve been trying to achieve long lasting change with our conscious mind (the tip of the iceberg – about 5% of our mind) with spectacularly abysmal results.
Instead, we should have focused our effort on reprogramming our subconscious mind (the 95% that lies beneath the surface) and runs the show the vast majority of the time.
The problem with trying to use our conscious mind is it’s got:
- very limited bandwidth
- very limited focus
- it’s not even always available!
As soon as life gets busy, stressful, uncertain or we get a little bit overwhelmed we stop focusing on our new behaviour and simply revert back to our old habits.
Every time we fail, we feel less and less confident that we can actually control our own behaviour, and shape our own destiny, meaning that the next time we try, we’re actually more likely to quit!