How to Retrain Your Brain for Change

How to Retrain Your Brain for ChangeHow to Retrain Your Brain for ChangeBig changes are happening for you. But its (literally) easier to resist change than go with it. Your brain needs to create new pathways to perform a new behavior. Follow these tips on changing without draining your brain.Im going to get better at networking.Im going to increase my personal productivity.Im going to learn to delegate mora.At some point weve all vowed to make some big change - or had to as a result of the huge changes around us. But all too often, our good intention soon gets pushed aside. Not because we lose motivation, but because we just dont know how to change. Especially when it comes to a career change.Changing your behavior takes work.Our brains have enormous plasticity, meaning they can create new cells and pathways. But our brains also create strong tendencies to do the same thing over and over.Heres why the brain cells that fire together wire together. Meaning, having zustrom in a certain sequence, they are more likely to run that sequence again until it becomes a habit. Its one of the ways the brain conserves energy. By now, youve got a deeply grooved pathway to doing what youve always done. Thats why change is hard youve got to practice enough to create a new pathway that is strong enough to compete with the old one.According to many brain scientists it can take six to nine months to create that new automatic behavior. But it can be done. I just finished working with a micromanaging executive who no one believed could stop meddling. His goal was to have his employees rate him great at delegating in six months. He succeeded - and so can you at whatever you want to change.Three limiting beliefs that curb executives ability to change their behaviorBad habits cant be broken.Executives dont understand that the change process is not about getting rid of bad habits. The pathway to your current behavior is there for life. Instead, you want to focus on the new, more posit ive habit and keep at it no matter how many times your brain jumps the tracks and goes back to the tried and true.Ill forget.Executives fail to put reminders in place in the beginning. Unless you have a trigger from the outside, like a Blackberry reminder, a note on your computer, or a coach or buddy, its virtually guaranteed youll keep defaulting to the old behavior.I want it all.Executives are not concrete enough about what they want and are unrealistic about what they can reasonably ask themselves to change. Heres what an executive client of mine said he wanted to change in three months to be more positive with co-workers, staff and colleagues, to be more creative and productive and to take better care of myself. How about create world peace while youre at it? I replied. And what does more mean anyway? As this client demonstrated, we expect too much of ourselves, and we expect to change overnight. When that doesnt happen, we resign ourselves to staying the same, convinced that we are weak or unmotivated.These beliefs can make us even more stuck in a rut. But there are even more ways to shake these excuses and retrain your brain.Ways to retrain your brainMake it nonnegotiable.Promise yourself that you are absolutely going to do it. When you do it, where you do it and how you do it can, and most likely will, change according to circumstances. But that you will do it is not open for consideration. Making it compulsory is a tool for overcoming backsliding after your initial enthusiasm fades.Make it actionable.You have to know what actions youre going to take ten cold calls a day, for instance. Or asking more questions. Then be sure to track yourself so you can tell if youre succeeding.Come up with solutions for your usual excuses.Instead of just hoping it will be different this time, write down your typical rationalizations and create coping strategies in advance. Instead of just hoping it will be different this time, write down your typical rationalizations an d create coping strategies in advance.That way you wont get stopped in your tracks and lose forward momentum when they arise. And yes, they willSchedule it in.Want to have blue sky thinking time? Block it out on your calendar. Want to work out? Schedule it. Make a specific, time-bound appointment with yourself and youll be much more likely to do it.Do it daily.The more you make what you want part of your everyday life, the more it will become so routine that soon you wont even have to think about it. If you want to get better at networking for instance, do something every day one email, call, or meeting.Focus on the horizon.Take a tip from high performance athletes. Look at how far youve come, not how much you have left to do. Scientists call this the horizon effect. It creates encouragement - Ive done twice as much as a week ago and builds determination - Ive made it this far I might as well keep going. Dont forget to ask yourself how youve accomplished the task, so you can mine your success for ideas on how to keep going.Dont turn goof ups into give ups.You will mess up or forget. Remember, youre learning. How many times does a baby fall before learning to walk? When you treat yourself as a learner, you dont collapse into shame or guilt, but can try again with greater wisdom. Keep at it no matter how many times you blow it.The ability to a change of pace is one of our greatest capacities as leaders, particularly in these turbulent times. When you have this invaluable tool in your arsenal, youll be empowered to bring anything you want into reality and be better equipped to help those around you change too.