As humans we try to operate in our comfort zone. We follow the same habits and patterns that are familiar to us. New events like when we meet new people or are looking for another job are really just the same old thing according to our mind. We seek the same kinds of people and our approach to finding a job is a repeat of other job searches. Everything we do is habitual.
Through habit a neural response pattern develops in our brains. This is the result of repeating many times over, the very same process. A mental neuronal pathway is formed and is triggered automatically when we’re faced with the same stimulus. This is the reason we do a lot of things without actually thinking, like a reflex. Knobs are grabbed with the right hand and we press the brake pedal when a stop sign is in view.
Our brain gets lazy doing the same things over and over again using the same brain cells, while all our other brain cells lie dormant. They aren’t called upon to do anything so they aren’t stimulated and they basically just disconnect. The result of this is we are not by any means realizing our full intellectual potential and creativity. It takes an effort to develop creativity and to realize full potential of our brain, if we always take the same path, the path of least resistance in everything we do, our brain will go into mental decline and will be unable to face future challenges.
Just as in any other body part, if it’s not used it will atrophy and that’s what happens to our brain over time. It becomes very difficult, if not impossible to restore our brains to their original potential. We honestly do not realize this because we think we’re getting a lot smarter. We’ve gotten very good in fact at our repetitive motions so we assume we’ve mastered something important. With enough practice we can learn to play a piece on the piano, even play it really well. That doesn’t make us a pianist. That doesn’t mean we can play anything else or really read music.
The brain can be thought as a complete library of knowledge and intelligence. When we only use the same book time after time and totally ignore all the others we are missing out on all that the library can truly offer all that potential. The same holds true for our brain. We are denying ourselves the gifts that are just there for the taking and all that we could learn and offer to others.
Instead of continually grabbing the very same book each time and responding like a robot we might be better served if we got our self-righteous ego out of the way, stop judging others and open up our hearts we can respond by acknowledging that there are new perspectives to be considered, there are new ways to view things.
When we’re consumed with our ego, we often respond to things without even considering the subject. We reject things out of hand that do not fit with what is familiar to us. We end up being closed minded and rigid in our thinking. We become isolated in our own viewpoint, our own perception of reality. When we use our heart, our humanity, we can accept others and their point of view. We can give credence to what’s true for them and grow in our understanding and knowledge. We can evolve. This is the essence of all that’s natural in life. This is how we were meant to function, to constantly question our thoughts and perceptions.
If we want to keep our brain from atrophying and make sure it’s continually growing we need to keep questioning and challenge our cognitions, the words we tell ourselves. We can make a conscious effort to do this by doing things differently, getting out of the rut. We can visit a different floor in the library, select different types of books and eventually increase our intellect by accumulating more knowledge on different topics. This also means that if I want to become an accomplished pianist I need to practice all different kinds of music. I need to expose myself to classical, rock, pop, jazz, hip hop and everything else I can absorb. I need to broaden my reach and it won’t be easy. It won’t be rote.
We can change our approach to all the things we do in a day. Here are some every day examples:
- Start out walking with the opposite foot
- Use the opposite hand for eating, brushing teeth, opening the door etc.
- Use a different greeting when meeting up with friends or writing messages. Use a different closing too, no more “Hi” and “Take care”.
- Make an effort to see something new in your significant other and co-workers.
- Open your eyes and ears by reading and listening to anything and everything.
- Move your furniture around, dine in a different room, and sleep on the other side of the bed.
- Take a different route to work, to home, to the beach and everywhere you go.
- Nurture random thoughts and emotions as they occur.
- Take off on tangents and have fun.
- Open yourself up to new directions and adventures. Gravitate to new experiences different from the ones to which you are naturally drawn.
- Allow yourself to be disorganized and sloppy in an area of your life that isn’t that critical.
I should probably give you a further explanation on the last example. When following this suggestion you’ll actually create a stressful situation which is known to promote mental development. Sit down and make a list of possible activities to start off on and continually add to the list. Start performing the activities, forcing yourself to break long held patterns, until you actually start looking forward to all these unusual and different activities. Once you’re there you can tear up the list and be more spontaneous. You don’t want using the list to become a habit. You might want to put up Post It notes everywhere with reminders to “Break Habits”.
The goal is to make this a way of life and to never again find yourself in a rut doing the same old things over and over again with the very same people you in the end are boring anyway. You’ll feel more vibrant, more excited to meet the challenges of the day and you’ll have a whole lot of new, more interesting friends. You’ll also find yourself with new skills. You’ll be more alert and develop the ability to adapt more easily to new situations.
In doing this for myself I have really surprised by how differently I think about things. I now find myself considering a number of different ways of handling things before I decide what to do. I now listen more openly to others’ opinions before forming my own.
I’m just more inquisitive and I actually think this was the normal state of being for our ancestors. This might be how more of us would be living if we weren’t living in the modern world where everything was being “packaged” for us. If we had to exist in a natural environment or realm we’d accept that everything is there for a reason. Our capacity for rational thinking would be challenged daily as we’d need to survive. We’d be more creative and resourceful.
And if we have been given these tools it’s a shame not to use them. We’re cheating ourselves and others. If we can live using the full potential of our brain we will be free to get in touch with our heart, our feelings, intuition and all 5 senses. If we could fully meld the mind with the heart we would indeed achieve wisdom. We could live a fuller, richer life with more satisfying relationships.
New Information:
When you first learn something new, within 15 minutes, keep repeating it to create an imprint on your mind and in your memory. If this is not done it will become a short-term memory which will soon be lost.
The advantages of breaking mental patterns are that a new influx of ideas and choices opens up for you.
How are old patterns broken? By repetition, this was the same process that was used when learning them in the first place. The way to do this is to think new thoughts and take new actions even when it’s uncomfortable. Keep doing it and it will become integrated into your personality and body memory. You’ll become a new person.
Our mind has been created to offer us a myriad of new choices. This is a basic characteristic, something we’ve been born with for our survival. The more choices and options we have the greater our chances of surviving. This principle also applies to finding success in life. We are not meant to get stuck in ruts, mental or otherwise.
Mental ruts are caused by conditioning, beliefs, prejudices and emotional hurt. It could be that the rut acts as a survival tool in many cases, a form of protection. As we grow and learn and seek to move beyond old patterns and hurts we must break down the mental patterns that have become a habitual neural response, so that our mind and brain can function freely and openly the way it was intended to.
The only way we can break up our habitual neural response pathways in our brain is to do it with the automatic habit patterns that we have in our life. We have to discipline ourselves so that we can deprogram the habitual neural network. So that when huge stressors come up we will not return to old unhealthy behaviors. We will be able to see more choices and options and act accordingly to change and improve our lives and reach our full potential.
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/radulungu/7221722072