Rewire your Brain for the First Time

Probably not these days, but that was not always the case, was it? 

I am sure that it seemed quite complicated the first time that you did it. You opened up a neural pathway to tying your shoelaces, the more often that you did it, the wider the pathway became.

Think of a dense forest, the floor of the forest is completely overgrown. In order to go into the forest you would need to trample out a pathway. It would be hard work breaking trail, and if you only used the path once then it would soon become overgrown again. The more that you use the path the wider it becomes and the more familiar it is to you, the easier it is to get into the forest.

Just like our habit, let’s say our eating habit, I love sweets so I always have a piece of cake + tea for my afternoon, if one day the cake runs out, I will feel weird. Because we have wired our brain to expect this treat.   

Our behaviour define our life, they make us what we are. Repeated behaviour is what we called habits that can determine how long we live, our happiness levels throughout our life, how successful we are or not as the case may be.

We are not born with these behaviours but acquired them throughout our life, let me give you another eg, I like my tea with only fresh milk, not sugar or condensed milk as I picked this habit about 28 years ago when I first came to UK.   

The only behaviour that we are born with is the ability to breathe.

Since habits are acquired, it can also be changed consciously or unconsciously. In my case, I know I have developed lactose intolerance over the years as I tend to get bloated stomach, so do I totally give up on all diary products in my diet or just reduce the intake. This becomes a conscious choice!   

Our behaviour could determine our success in life or happiness, take the famous Jack Ma for example, we know his story. He did not succeed in his very first attempt in his business or education. His firm believe in “ there is no such thing as failure only feedback” has proven indeed his firm believe has driven his behaviour to keep on going, and today we have Alibaba Group, a public listed company. He began studying English at a young age by conversing with English-speakers at Hangzhou International Hotel. For nine years, Ma would ride 27 km (17 miles) on his bicycle to give tourists tours of the area to practice his English. His journey did not come smoothly but rather with relentless, persistence habit.

For a habit is developed in our unique internal network, our nervous system. We make a request for some kind of action, whether it be a physical movement or a thought. Our nervous system handles the request and directs it to the appropriate part of the body for a response.

Now, the first time that we make a request, this creates what is known as a neural or neurological pathway. The more times that we run the request the stronger the pathway becomes and the easier it is for the nervous system to handle the request, until it forms a habit and the behaviour becomes, automatic, it just happens without a formal request being made.

The first time that you make the journey, the first time you try to speak a foreign language, the first time you try to go on a stage, the first time you walk (as a baby). It is really hard going and it may take you a long time, but the more attempts you try, the easier it get. The pathway gradually develops and eventually it become well defined!

That is how habits develop. Repeated actions, thoughts or behaviours will eventually become habits.

Do your habits support you? Take one habit that you are not happy with and make a decision to change it. Say, for example you swear and wish that you didn’t. Choose a replacement word for your swearword. Whenever you catch yourself about to swear, stop yourself and use the replacement word instead.

At first you may find it tricky to stop yourself until it is too late but the more times you do manage to stop yourself, the more times that you walk down that path, the easier it will get. Keep this up for a week and your habit will be broken.