How many routes do you know by heart? You get in your car, start driving and without thinking, drive directly to your destination. Perhaps it's your place of work, your bank, your doctor's office.
Isn't it a blessing that our brains can memorize the routes and without a lot of effort, or GPS, we can generally get to where we're going?
These "routes" are like major freeways in our brain, aka neural pathways.
When we have routine, our brains don't have to work so hard to get to the desired destination. When we're trying something new it takes consistent practice of the new habit to ultimately reach the destination.
I hear from newer clients that budgeting is hard. It's not that it's technically hard, it's the consistent practice that is difficult because they are designing a new habit by creating new neuropathways or freeways in their brain.
If you look at new habits as unexplored exits from the freeway, you can identify the unfamiliar territory. We have to take the exit more than once and within a designated amount of time to create a new developed roadway or neural pathway, to our destination.
I love what James Clear says in his book Atomic Habits. He illustrates why tiny changes make a big difference.
In the reference above, that may look like, getting off the freeway and only driving a mile from the freeway before turning around and going the familiar route again. The next time, taking the exit and going two or three miles from the freeway before returning to the familiar route.
He reminds us that it's ok that our steps are small when we are designing new habits, as long as we are moving FORWARD.
What habit are you trying to design in your life right now? Are you ready to accept help with that? 🤔
Let me know by sending me a message at monica@coaching-freedom.com