Absolute Performance Fitness

We all can agree that going through change is hard. Whether that is a change of work, in personal life, financial change. It creates resistance from within. We also know that to be successful we have to change and adapt to the new circumstances.

So why is the process of change so difficult? Why do we experience the resistance, often to something that we intellectually know will be beneficial long-term?

The answer lies in your brain 🧠. That’s right, your own brain.

To fully appreciate the reason for such resistance we need to understand that our brain needs two things to sustain itself - oxygen and energy. It is also a very demanding organ. It consumes between 20-25% of the energy that you put into your body. That’s right a single organ needs about a quarter of your energy - wild!

That being said, we are smart therefore the brain tries to help us with energy use by optimizing repetitive functions that shouldn’t consume a whole lot of thinking energy like brushing your teeth. It does this by creating shortcuts, physically folding itself to bring the areas of the brain used in the process closer together. ❗A phenomenon called neural plasticity.❗

We call these shortcuts - habits. Can you see now that habits are just repeated patterns ingrained in our brains?

And that’s where things get tricky. The resistance you experience when facing a demand for change is physical. You are fighting your brain’s structure, the neuron firing patterns that your brain created in order for it to save you valuable energy. You are fighting your brain’s self-preservation strategy, and that is why going through change, like eating something healthier for breakfast or drinking more water, can be so challenging.

So what can you do to make change easier?

💡 One of the strategies I use with my clients is called habit stacking. If you are working on increasing amount of water you drink, and you know you use your phone 📱 frequently, place your water bottle on top of it. This way every time you are going to check your phone, a habit, you take a swig of water. This way you use an existing pattern to incorporate a new and beneficial behavior.

What habits can you stack?

I am back!

Taking time off social media is one of the best things one can do for their mental health. This has been a productive half a year for me. Between crushing Biology course, research and working on a number of health, longevity and fitness programs it has been very productive.

When is the last time you had a digital detox? 🤔