Brain Science And New Year's Resolutions
by Tom Venuto,
NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com
Motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, "I
find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations
with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps
it's because escape is easier than change."
Success psychologists say that 95% - 97% of the people
in the world do NOT have written goals and fail, while
3-5% have written goals and succeed.
If these statistics are correct, then Mr Rohn's observation
really IS quite fascinating isn't it?
Unfortunately for most people, the odds for success
are actually even lower, because out of the few people
who do set goals, most don't take goal setting seriously,
they don't do it scientifically and they only do it
once a year.
Goal setting is so important, that I always teach
goal setting and mind dynamics first, and only THEN,
do I teach nutrition and training second.
It doesnt matter how much you know about nutrition
or exercise. Until specialized fitness knowledge is
linked with goals and directions, the knowledge is
useless and you won't accomplish very much or keep
the changes long term.
In fact, I devoted the entire first chapter of my
book, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (www.burnthefat.com)
to the subject of goals and constructive "mind
programming" for successful, permanent behavior
change.
I've also studied neuro linguistic programming (NLP)
for many years and more recently spent many months
researching the latest information about neuroscience
to see just how much of the traditional self help
and goal setting wisdom is actually backed by brain
research.
As you start thinking about your goals for 2007 right
Now, I'd like to help you start the year off right
by sharing two very valuable, science based tips on
acheiving your goals:
SCIENTIFIC GOAL SETTING TIP #1: Repetition is an
effective way to "plant" a goal in the non-conscious
mind
Why don't most resolutions stick? Psychology and
neuroscience today are giving us the answers.
Thanks to new technologies in brain imaging, such
as PET scans, SPECT scans and functional MRI's, we
can now actually see your thoughts as electrochemical
impulses and we can see the formation of new neural
connections in real time right before our eyes.
We can also see where, geographically, in your brain,
a particular type of thought is occuring.
most importantly, we can see how long it takes to
form strong neural patterns and what types of stimuli
cause the patterns to form more quickly
Here's what we've discovered:
Setting a goal once is a conscious activity. Willpower
is also a conscious activity. But research has shown
that at least 5/6 of your brain power is in the non
conscious mind and that the information and instructions
that reach the non conscious mind are responsible
for your automatic behavior.
Some pyschologists believe that 95% of our behaviors
are unconscious and automatic... more commonly known
as habits.
Long term behavior changes don't take place when
you set goals one time as with most new years resolutions.
There's an old saying in "self help" circles
that it takes at least 21-30 days to form a habit.
This has now been proven to be fairly accurate on
a neurological basis.
New neural patterns begin to form only after they've
been repeated enough times. They continue to strengthen
with further repetition. If you make resolutions on
January 1st and you don't continue to repeat and reinforce
your desire for those "goals," no new neural
connection is formed, no new habits are formed, no
new behaviors are formed....
Your resolutions wither away and die and any results
obtained through willpower (trying to force the new
behaviors through conscious effort), are quickly lost
when you slip back to your old ways.
What you repeat over and over again is programmed
into the subconscious mind and begins to take root.
On a practical level, this means RE-writing your goals
everyday and thinking about them in positive terms
and in mental pictures, every day, repeatedly until
the habit is formed and turned over to "auto-piliot."
In 1956, when Earl Nightingale wrote "The Strangest
Secret is that we become what we think about most
of the time," we didnt know what we know now
about the brain.
Nevetheless, Earl was right.
You don't change your body by trying to change your
body. You change your body by creating new habitual
patterns of thinking and visualizing.
Trying to force new behaviors with willpower while
continuing with your old ways of thinking will always
fail because your automatic behavior is mostly under
non-conscious control.
Its not the resolution you set once... its the goals
(mental thoughts and images) you focus on all day
long that create the long term (and automatic) behavioral
change... when you change your behaviors, you change
your body and your life...
SCIENTIFIC GOAL SETTING TIP #2: Emotion is a goal-turbocharger
Is there any way around this tedious process of "mental
programming" through repetition? Not really.
The fields of NLP and hypnosis have given us some
tools for creating more rapid changes, but ultimately
you have to begin to "run your own brain"
and change your habitual way of thinking. No one else
can do it for you and there's no way around it.
there is however, a scientifically proven way to
to speed up the process and that is with the use of
strong emotion.
Since modern imaging technology can see activity
in the brain and scientists have located the seat
of emotions in the brain, we know that the strength
and number of neural connections associated with a
thought or behavior are increased when you're in a
highly emotional state.
The neuron connections are also stronger, longer
lasting and it takes longer to lose a neural connection
when it was formed with great emotion.
With this knowledge, we see another reason why new
years resolutions fail: They are set casually with
no emotion and no strong emotional "reason why"
that gives you the leverage to you need to make a
change permanent.
On January 1st, you may think you're setting "real"
goals, but if you're like most people, you're not
only doing it a mere once a year and then losing focus,
you're also likely to be making flimsy, wishy-washy,
emotion-less "resolutions."
Zig Ziglar once said that, "A goal casually
set and lightly taken will be freely abandoned at
the first obstacle."
You might want to back up and read that quote again,
maybe even write it down or print it out, because
this one hits the bull's-eye!
This truly explains why New Year's resolutions almost
never work, and why so few people can keep off the
pounds after they get rid of them.
Goal setting should not be casual or lightly taken.
Goal setting is an important and serious matter. This
is not a game - this is your life, and you only have
one life to live.
Goal setting is also not a one time event - it is
an ongoing process of literally "re-wiring your
brain." With the discovery of brain plasticity,
we now know that this is science fact, not self-help
fiction.
Make the time to set REAL goals, today! Take it seriously,
do it scientifically, re-write your goals every day,
think about them constantly, and then take massive
action
Do it and this will be the most successful year of
your life!
Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com
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About the Author:
Tom Venuto
is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer
and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of
"Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which
teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements
using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and
fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat
and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com
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