We've seen in the previous posts that we can improve our chances of lasting change if we take into account the real role of the behavior we wish to change; and manage our brain’s tendency to revert to past habits, especially under pressure. However, despite the best made plans, it is almost inevitable that we will fail to carry out our plans perfectly: How we respond is absolutely central to our likely success... Unfortunately, our tendency to beat ourselves up for failing to immediately change sets us up for failure. It's a bit like standing on ourselves whilst we're trying to get up! This post explores why we should give ourselves a break, and how we should see our 'failures' as informati

Understanding a little about the basic neuroscience of change helps us better understand what really helps and why; and why change is so hard. While we are wired for change (that is, new thoughts and behaviors will get stored in new connections and patterns in our brains), we are also built to resist change, in the sense that we will tend to get pulled back into existing patterns, which will then be unhelpfully strengthened. We can counter these tendencies with better awareness and deliberate 'tricks'. A neurobiological perspective also makes sense of the need to reduce stress to improve our chances of successful change. Read the short article here.