Bad habits, we all have them. Some of us have more than others. But none the less, everyone on earth has them in one form or another. I recently attended the Millionaire Mind Intensive (read about it here). While in attendance I learned a little technique for changing bad habits. Stay with me to the end because it may sound odd or too simple. But, if you commit to it, it does work. I have used it and my wife has used it. We both achieved successful results.

First allow me to give a short explanation on how habits are formed at a fundamental level. When you are introduced to a new stimulus, your brain forms associations to words, pictures, textures, sounds, and smells. The physical path of the thought for the association is called a dendrite or dendritic fiber. In plain speak, it is the shortest path of least resistance from the stimulus to the association. For example, the first time you ever felt ice your brain, most likely, formed an association with cold. Now when you see the word ice, see an ice cube or hear some one say ice, you think cold. A dendrite has been formed between ice and cold. Your brain automatically travels from ice to cold before you can think about it due to the dendrite that was formed.

There are two types of stimuli that motivate behavior and they are pleasure and pain. Out of the two, pain is a stronger motivating factor. The reason is because our brain is programmed to help us survive. Survival tactics lead us to avoid pain. So, on a fundamental level, we are pre-programmed to take the path that is opposite of a stimulus that induces pain.

Now, on to the behavioral change process. As I said, it is simple to do but some find it difficult to execute. You will need a rubber band. Go get one of the thicker ones that resemble a bracelet and place it on your wrist. You want it to be lose enough that it does not cut off your circulation as you will be wearing it every day.

The first bad habits that a person really needs to work on is their image of self. Take a moment and write down the first negative thing that comes to mind when you think of yourself. Now, write down the exact opposite out next to it. For the purpose of this example, I will use the phrase, “I am not good enough.” This is a common phrase that many people develop a dendrite to that leads to their image of self worth. Hold your hands out in front of you, palms facing each other. Now, grab the rubber band and stretch it as far as you can pull it. Declare (declarations are out loud as opposed to affirmations which are simply thought) your negative item that you wrote down and let the rubber band go. The rubber band should strike the inside of the wrist and make a loud “thwap!” The louder the thwap the bigger the change. Immediately after the rubber band strikes your wrist, rub your wrist gently and lovingly while declaring the item you wrote exactly opposite of the negative item you previously declared. Using my example, the exercise would proceed as follows:

• Hands out in front of me palms facing.
• Grab rubber band and pull tight.
• Declare (remember that declarations are out loud) the negative connotation – “I am not good enough!”
• Let the rubber band go so that it strikes the inside of the wrist.
• Immediately rub the wrist and declare the positive connotation – “I am good enough!”

You see, what transpires is actually rather simple and rudimentary. Let’s say that me simply looking in the mirror was what sparked the thought of “I am not good enough.” My brain has a dendrite that associates images of myself with the feeling of not being good enough and the phrase “I am not good enough.” Now, each time the thought creeps into my brain and I “thwap” the rubber band, I am disrupting the flow of the thought through the dendrite that formed the path from self image to not being good enough. Remember, the brain is consistently in self preservation mode. It does not care how you perceive yourself. Your brain simply wants to protect the person and avoid pain. So naturally, each time you begin to think that you are not good enough, your brain wants to protect you and avoid the “thwap” of pain. By rubbing your wrist and saying positive words, “I am good enough,” you are building a new dendrite. Soon, when you see yourself in the mirror, the thought “I am good enough” will rush to mind rather than feelings of inadequacy.

Time periods vary depending upon person and severity of belief. But this exercise does work. I have personally used it to alter negative feelings and beliefs as has my wife. Each time I have a negative, non-productive thought or belief, “THWAP!” Believe or not, both my wife and I are much happier, more positive people with higher tolerances of self and for others. It may sound too easy or it may sound hokey, but it does work as long as you commit to doing it correctly. Go get your rubber band and begin your Thwap Therapy.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 am and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.