Many of us go through everyday life just accepting the bad habits we’ve formed over time. “It’s just the way I am, or it’s just the way I’m built’ But what if that’s not true? Studies into neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reorganise itself by forming new neural connections, are showing that we are way more capable of changing habits and behaviours – and even our spinal health – than we previously believed.
While we used to think that the brain’s structure and function remained static after a certain age, research has demonstrated that the brain is actually capable of undergoing profound and major changes throughout our lives. When we repeatedly engage in certain thoughts, behaviours, or activities, the synaptic connections associated with those actions are reinforced, and this forms new neural circuits. On the other hand, when we refrain from certain behaviours or adopt new ones, the brain has the remarkable capacity to prune existing connections and establish new ones, also resulting in behavioural change.
So what does all this mean in real life? Well it means if you repeat something enough times (alongside taking physical steps in the right direction) your brain can be trained to adopt this as a new habit that you won’t even have to think about. While you won’t go from couch potato to buffed gym bunny, or immediately stop scrolling social media, overnight research shows that if you do the same thing (and simultaneously tell yourself the same thing) enough times, new brain pathways will physically be formed.
The secret is to start small but stay consistent. For example lifting small hand weights for ten minutes every morning while telling yourself that you are strong and capable, will start incremental physical change in your brain. After time you can step things up, increasing your exercise, reviewing your goals daily, talking to others for support, visualising your success, getting to bed early, and maybe even joining a gym, and all this will help rewire your new habit of exercise. Your brain will start to see this as who you are.
The main thing is where you focus your thoughts – for example if you don’t consciously direct your mind’s attention onto your exercise goal, you will find your strongest existing brain patterns of sleeping-in will run on autopilot (it’s that same autopilot that gets you home from work every day without you having to think when to turn left or right because you’ve done it so many times). An easy example is seeing yourself as someone who drinks enough water every day, by repeating it every morning, having a picture of water on your screensaver, setting alarms and visualising yourself feeling healthy and hydrated. Repeat it enough times and your brain will form new pathways so this becomes your ‘normal’
So while you might initially feel a bit silly repeating your goals or visualising your success every morning, it’s definitely worth it. It’s much more than some kind of woo-woo manifestation, there’s significant science to say you can actually change the way your brain works and change those bad habits, much easier than you might think.
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