One of the reasons people give up their New Years resolutions is that resolutions are for the future and change never happens there. It always happens in the NOW. This moment right here is the only one you can change. You can make plans to change in the future but true change only happens now.
Things we do by habit can be good; it economizes on what we have to think about. However habit can also be bad in that it creates ruts in the neural pathways in our brain. Our brain goes on autopilot–always doing what it always did. Efficient? Yes, but a trifle boring. Getting our brain out of the rut is as simple as doing something different, right now.
The other day I went to my favorite burger place Five Guys Burgers and Fries, (no paid endorsement here, just good burgers) and ordered my burger with all my favorite fixings, just the way I’ve always order it a hundred times before with NO pickle. Ever since I was a kid I’ve ordered my burgers without pickle. When my hot and juicy burger arrived I took my first bite and my burger heaven was disturbed by the noxious flavor of PICKLE. I was incensed. Outraged. Betrayed. I lay the burger down in its foil wrapper and mentally rehearsed my indignant complaint to the burger guy at the counter. And then I paused and thought, “What are you getting so worked up about? It isn’t poison. It’s a pickle. It isn’t personal. It isn’t a problem. Try a little pickle. What have you got to lose?”
So I ate my delicious burger with pickle. I can’t say that I LOVED it but it was extra crunchy and the pickle wasn’t nearly as bad as I remember it being when I was 5 years old. When I’d finished the burger I was sated and happy. I felt lighter and somehow more resilient, younger and less fragile.
So, right now…go and do something that you don’t normally do. If you normally get home from work and sit in front of the TV, do it different. Head out the door and go for a walk. If you normally go for a walk every night after work, strip down and hop into a lukewarm shower. Mix it up. Wear something different, choose a new restaurant, call a different friend, drive the scenic way home, try a gel pillow for a change. Bring flowers, hold a baby, say “I’m sorry”. Shave your beard or grow a moustache. Write a thank you card. French kiss.
The Seinfeld character, George Costanza has an epiphany that he hasn’t been very successful doing what he has always done and decides that he will become “Opposite George” to improve his odds. Whatever he normally would choose to do he deliberately chooses to do the opposite. This premise makes for some hilarious TV but could also breath some growth and change into your life too.
Jim Carey as Carl in Yes Man tries a similar strategy when he decides to say “yes” to every choice life hands him. Pretty funny but also a great life strategy. Last summer I bought a paddleboard and spent most evenings on our lake because I said “yes”. Not my normal thing but SO exhilarating, I really can’t begin to explain it.
Quick…make a change. Anything, NOW.
Photo credit thehappyself.com
