Rewiring your brain step by step: Breaking old habits and making new ones

In the past, I have posted both here and at Brains on Purpose™ about how to makes changes in your life that are effective and long-lasting. Those posts usually have been from the perspective of neuroscience because I think that lens is the most efficient and helpful.

A very brief review: In order to create a change, you need to create new neuron pathways. Because the brain wants to conserve energy, it will prefer defaulting to old pathways rather than taking the energy and making the effort to create new ones. So you must engage in self-directed neuroplasticity (SDN)—with your mind, take control and deliberately change your brain, deliberately create new neuron routes and grooves.

SDN requires the ability to observe yourself, to be self-aware, so that you know when it is time to shift your thoughts and attention. This shifting will create new pathways—which create new habits. Pretty simple but not often easy to do.

I always like to find others who are writing in an easy-to-understand style about the brain and change; each person has a different way of explaining the steps and process. Click to read "It's time to rethink the way you think." In that article, Dan Bobinski talks about neurons and how we should think about change. He says, "Essentially, three things work together to foster change: Focus, Expectation, and Attention Density." I recommend the article. Find out how Bobinski describes the process of change.

Click for more about self-directed neuroplasticity. And Why is change so hard?