Activate Your Inner Einstein
for Personal Breakthroughs
There is a strange comfort in the insanity Albert Einstein describes as “doing the same things over again expecting different results.”
It is the pleasure of avoiding the risk that comes with real change: the comfort of the familiar. And yet by trying old solutions over and over we reassure ourselves that least we are doing something.
We are creatures of habit including the “insane” habit of trying the same fixes over and over without success .
But people really can change and do all the time. We all know people who have gotten out of relationships that weren’t working, stopped smoking, quit drinking, changed careers or made any of hundreds of other changes.
To follow their success path, think of an issue you are struggling with and try this two step process.
Step One: Tell Yourself the Truth about Where You Are
Change begins when the pain of staying stuck outweighs the short-term pain of changing. It is why a bud blossoms into a flower or a caterpillar sheds its skin to become a butterfly. The pain of constriction (being trapped and squeezed by the problem) gets so great it is impossible to stay that way another day. Real change then becomes an instinctive response. Real change is not so much a result of willpower as unwillingness power.
So, to make a real change in your life, start by getting real with yourself: tell yourself the truth. What have you been putting up with that robs you of health, happiness, full self-expression? Where do you feel trapped…literally between a rock and a hard place?
It might be:
A habit that controls you
Is a habit like smoking, overeating, drinking too much, taking drugs, gambling, internet addiction or even compulsive spending robbing you of joy?
A way of being
Are you tired of self-sabotage, of not being fully self-expressed in life? Letting fears rob you of new satisfying experiences? Lack of self-confidence?
A relationship with someone or something
Is a spouse, lover, friend, boss, partner, roommate or a job standing in your way to happiness?
Acknowledge the true cost of what staying as you are. Recognize that changing may involve risk and therefore some effort and possibly discomfort. But also imagine the benefits of really changing.
Allow yourself to face the difference between where you are where you want to be: The Gap.
Then make a list (mental or written) of what you have tried in the past to correct the issue and get across The Gap. And accept that what you have been doing has not worked. Once you have taken this step, then….
Step Two: Consider (and then try) Something Completely Different
Now that you have told yourself the truth about your situation and what has not worked in the past, make a list of possible solutions that might work. A list of things you have not tried, or have tried halfheartedly. Include steps others have taken that seem to work for them in similar situations, steps that you may be discounted as too difficult or not like you. Include especially reaching out for others to help.
In other words once you accept what has not worked do something different.
Then break these into action steps that create a supportive success system. And throw yourself into it like your life depends on it.
Sounds simple? Well, yes. It may seem simple, but it isn’t necessarily easy. In fact, real change will probably feel scary and require everything you have to make it work, but people who have really changed know that only by going through the fear can you hope to find real change and true freedom.
To paraphrase Einstein again, you cannot solve your problems with the same thinking you used when you created them. When you are truly sick of being stuck, admit the truth and try something new, including throwing yourself into the solution like your life depends on it.
