Albert Einstein was credited with defining insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It stands to reason then that if we want different results in our relationships, jobs, matters of faith or indeed any area of our lives we need to change what we’re doing.
Perhaps.
Our actions are not isolated events. Maybe we need to take a step back and consider what actually makes us do the things we do.
There are two broad categories of decision-makers in the world; emotional and logical. The emotionally driven person makes their choices based on how they feel or how they perceive a certain course of action will make them, or others, feel. By contrast, the other wants to make the best decision in the light of the most important factors of the moment; perhaps cost, time or quality.
Yet for either type of person the emotions or logic can be subjective. How can two people “logically” arrive at very different answers to a problem? Perhaps there is something more important than our thinking?
Your worldview, the way you understand the world and your place in it, is fundamental to all your thinking. It’s what you believe that underlies everything else. If your worldview is flawed, no amount of trying to change your actions will produce any lasting effect. The diet will never stick.
So how do you change what you believe? Start thinking differently. You need to recognise the flaws in your thinking.
You may believe your marriage is destined to end in divorce because your parents’ and other influential marriages ended that way. Perhaps you long for that “high power” job, but a lowly employment history tells you that you’ll never make it.
Dream. You may not see it yet, but start to imagine. Envisage yourself living the new reality. Imperceptibly your underlying beliefs will change; you’ll start to believe that you can. And when you believe you can, you’ll start to speak and act as though you can.
This is no quick-fix. There are no short-cuts to fundamental change. It takes consistent effort to realign your core beliefs. It’s no longer a matter of will-power forcing yourself to act differently and “play the part”. No, once what you believe has changed your actions will effortlessly follow on.
