Welcome back everyone, I thought I would discuss how we can all take a new approach to change. I find that so many dislike change although it is a natural part of life, no matter how you might avoid it or reject it, it takes place in our lives. So, I did some research on how we might approach change more healthily and beneficially.
My research brought me to a book written in 2013 by Richard Wiseman. This book is based on a hypothesis that was proposed by William James and published in 1884 that states that physiological changes actually precede emotions. I found this book to be interesting as it introduces a much healthier and beneficial approach to the natural ebbs and flow of life changes.
I thought I would share some of these concepts and theories and let you discover the truth of them for yourself.
Emotions & Behaviors
A question that anyone who seeks positive self-improvement faces at one point or another along their journey to become positively improved is, Why do I struggle to think happy thoughts?
We are told by every motivational coach and healer that we are supported to think happy thoughts to be happy and successful in our lives, but how can we get ourselves to do this?
This book approaches this question by stating that if you want to be happy you have to act as of you are in other words you have to fake it until you make it. Nothing new know, but If you think you are happy and you tell yourself you are happy you will actually start being happy.
There have been studies that have proven that if we think about it and attach emotions to that thought it will inspire us to act what we are thinking out loud, in other words, our thoughts turn into actions. This is why every coach and healer is telling you to become a positive thinker.
Acting Like You Are, You Will Become
The same approach that you take with your thoughts and emotions can also be applied to your actions as it is the next natural step in the process.
If you apply the theory that thinking a thought and then attaching emotion to that thought will create action. Then it should be easy to see how taking constant action will make you either be seen a certain way or become a certain way.
The example that the book gives of this is falling in love. There have been many couples who have pretended to fall in love on screen and then really fell in love in real life. Showing the example that if we think we are in love we are much more likely to actually fall in love.
So again the theory is proven that our thoughts have power but our thoughts linked with emotion can make us unstoppable.
The More You Repeat It The More You Believe It
This part of the process is basically referring to affirmation and mantras, which really do work and can go into a deeper more targeted approach which is referred to by many in the coaching and psychology field as N.L.P
If you have ever done a mantra loop which is basically repeating a word or phrase over and over for a certain period of time an example might be 3 to 5 minutes daily for a week you will know after that week you will actually believe that mantra completely.
If you have never tried out the affirmation or mantra approach to self-improvement or to help you make healthier habit change. I would suggest you try and see how this approach can work miracles and with the added benefit of making the shift or change a lot easier to get done. For those of you who do affirmations and mantras but would like to go to the next level, I would encourage you to research and try out N.L.P practices.
Does Giving Incentives Really Work?
According to, William James’s theory, he proves that incentives actually apply unnecessary pressure to a person which in turn sets them up to fail. Richard Wiseman’s book goes on to explain that it is far better to instead only attempt to accomplish that which you have a deep desire or love to do
If you have to do something you don’t like doing then you should approach this task with a different thought process that will help you to see the task as something fun or enjoyable in some way.
Richard also goes on to explain that by approaching things with a different mindset you can also improve your self-esteem and quite possibly your self-confidence.
Doing It, Gets It Done
Now finally we come back around to taking action as the only way to really get anything done is to do it. This approach is all about the way you think and then express your thoughts out loud through your actions.
If you can reduce the negative chatter in your head and then shift any negative emotions that are attached to your thoughts to more positive emotions you will change the level or even amount of action you take.
If you can increase the amount of action you take the more you will achieve which in turn will increase your self-esteem and potentially self-confidence.
This is how you take yourself from feeling or thinking you are unworthy to feeling worthy, how you stop seeing yourself as a loser and start seeing yourself as the winner you are. This is how you can approach life changes and instead of seeing potential failure or loss you start seeing opportunity and potential success
Final Thoughts:
If you are working to find a more beneficial approach to changing habits or just in how you handle life changes, I would say it all starts with you and even more it all starts with how you are thinking about the change. If you can shift the way you think about that change and then attach positive emotions, you are very likely to have a positive outcome.
If you would like to learn more about this approach according to Richard Wisman I would encourage you to read his book entitled “ As If Principle”.
As always, I hope you found this information helpful along your journey toward becoming positively improved. If you would like to share your thoughts please feel free to share in the comment section, as I love to read my reader’s thoughts. Until next week, Namaste.
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