Change is difficult…

If you have ever wondered why people sometimes understand the need for change and promise that they will change but then go back to their old ways of behaving then you have to watch this video at the end of this article.

Relearning to ride a bike …

In this interesting and entertaining video the presenter describes the difference between knowing how to do something and actually being able to do it. The presenter describes his experience when he discovers a clever and unusual bicycle. This particular bicycle turns right when the handle bars are turned left and vice versa. The technique for riding the bike becomes immediately apparent to the presenter but when he actually tries to ride bike, to his surprise he repeatedly falls off. The video shows the determined effort, dedication and time required to actually change long entrenched behaviours. There are a couple of really neat twists which make this an enjoyable and really important video for people to view.

3 steps to change…

In my private practice as a Psychologist I find myself working every day helping people who are innocently trapped in habitual patterns of thought and behaviour which are negatively impacting on the quality of their life. It is incredibly common for clients to understand the behaviours that are not working for them. The smoker, the over eater, the over worrier, are all examples of people who know exactly what it is that is wrong with their lives.

Unfortunately, the new behaviours require for them to have a richer, fuller and more meaningful life do not miraculously spring into being at that moment of realisation. Those new behaviours need to be identified, committed to, and then repeated – seemingly forever.

As you watch the Reverse Steering Bicycle, take comfort in the fact that the behaviours that ordinary people want to change are far less complex than the behaviours being changed in the video. However, please keep in mind how many times the presenter must have fallen off that bike before the new, desired, behaviours became his new desired habit.

Note featured Image by freepik