Read a book and change your brain.
How do you change a tough piece of meat into a delicious and tender meal? Marinate it. How do you change your own mind? The same way.
The great news is that you are creating the results in your life. While it might not seem like great news if you don't like the results you are seeing in the present, trust me when I say it is the best news you could get. Because if you can accept that you (unknowingly) created your present through what you were thinking in the past, all you need to do to change the future is what you are thinking now.
So how do you change what you are thinking? One of the best ways to change your mind is the same way you changed that meat – through marination.
If you are not a good home cook you might not be familiar with the concept of marinating meat. The cook soaks the meat in an acid, often vinegar or lemon. The acid replaces the water in the upper layer of meat, breaking down the protein fibers (or something like that. I don't know, I'm not much of a cook. You get the idea).
By “marinating” your brain in books, podcasts, and blogs on a topic you are interested in, over time your brain will absorb those ideas, and they will become your own.
If you've ever really gotten into Dave Ramsey, watching his TV show repeatedly or listening to him on the radio as you commute, you've probably had this experience. After enough hours listening, you can anticipate what Dave will say to a caller. You'll find yourself thinking, “where do they find these people? And why would you not listen to a show for a few episodes before you call in?” After enough time spent listening, you'll be channeling Dave so well you could fill in for him on his show for an hour and no one would notice the difference.
How did you get to be such a wizard that you can anticipate what Dave will say as he scolds some spendy debtor? Dave's message is extremely simple and extremely clear, and the constant repetition has drilled it into your own brain enough times that your brain has picked it up and added it to its collection.
Your brain makes little trails inside itself – neural pathways – for the routes it takes repeatedly. It's a bit like running plays in football. The constant practice means that when the time comes, you can take that track without thinking about it. The tracks you laid in the past are not taking you where you want to go, so you'll need to make new ones through repitition.
We move from unconscious incompetence (I didn't know I had a problem) to conscious incompetence (I have a problem) to conscious competence (I have a plan and with a lot of effort I can execute on the plan) to unconscious competence (I execute the plan without even thinking about it). If you've ever been halfway through your commute and thought “how did I get here”, that's unconscious competence in action. You've repeated the route so many times it has become second nature.
So mine those books, blogs, and podcasts for the places where the people you want to emulate are thinking differently than you are, and repeat, repeat, repeat until those thoughts become your own. Before you know it, you'll have changed your thinking, and inevitably after that, your results.
Recent Comments