While 45 % percent of Americans will be making New Year’s resolutions this year, only 8% will actually keep them. You CAN be one of the few who keep those resolutions going throughout the year. Read on about THREE THINGS you can do to break unhealthy habits and create new ones that can lead to a happier and healthier you in 2017!
#1 Realize that true change happens on the subconscious level.
It may be all well and good to declare to the universe that THIS will be the year you give up smoking or implement a daily exercise routine, but unless you change those not-so-healthy habits at the subconscious level, the chance that you will “stick to it” will be slim to none.
Dr. Bruce Lipton, author of The Biology of Belief, compares the subconscious mind to an old-fashioned “tape recorder:”
“Tape players are not good nor bad. The programs (that they play) can be good and can be bad …You have to learn how to push the record button to change the program in the subconscious mind.”
#2 Use proven tools to BREAK PATTERNS and create change.
When you truly change a habit from a bad one to a good one, you literally re-wire your brain!
So just how can you push that record button to change bad patterns into good ones in your life?
Lipton and others suggest that there is an easy way to make those resolutions stick. Energy psychology focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to quickly create lasting change.
“Energy psychology activates the brain to be in a state of super learning,” says Lipton. “If you engage in super learning, you can rewrite subconscious programs in about ten minutes.”
Probably the easiest and most effective energy psychology tool (and one that I talk about often) is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). EFT uses gentle tapping techniques on specific acupuncture points and affirmative verbal scripts to clear blocked energy from bio-energetic channels of the body. This creates change on the subconscious level. For more information on EFT specifically for breast cancer, read my blog HERE.
Another powerful way of habit-busting is through intentional meditation. Meditation in general can have a powerful effect on the body simply through its ability to soothe brain waves, calm the body and promote healing. When a meditative state is combined with intentional thoughts, feelings and visualization, it is a powerful formula for creating the vibrant, healthy life that you want.
In fact studies have proven that over 1500 health-promoting genes can be turned on with regular 30 minute meditations. Why not take 30 minutes to create a new life and a new you?!
#3 Practice Every Day… Even When It Feels Uncomfortable
Part of the challenge of habit-breaking is that over time the brain and body get use to these habits, even if they are not goo for you. In fact, the brain can create a whole neural network, equiped with the production of certain hormones, just to keep established patterns going! When you begin to change your internal status quo, for a while you are disrupting this “normal” flow. This may lead to internal resistance which can sound something like “Oh, I’ll just start the EFT tomorrow,” or “This habit isn’t that bad. I can live with it.”
Dr. Joe Dispenza, author of You are the Placebo and the You are the Placebo meditations, states that it is within the space of discomfort that real change can occur.
“If you begin the inner journey and start to change your inner world of thoughts and feelings, it can [eventually] create an improved state of well-being,” says Dr. Dispenza. “If you keep repeating the process in meditation, then in time, epigenetic changes should begin to alter your outer presentation—and you become your own placebo.”
ACTION STEP: Make a Resolution about your Resolution
How will you make your 2017 New Year’s Resolutions stick? Take a minute to answer the following questions. Then post your responses in a place where can read them every day:
What is ONE change you would like to make for 2017? (hint: this resolution should be practical, realistic and doable for you.)
What practical tool will you use to assist in creating this change ? (EFT, meditation, affirmations, etc.)
Now get out your calendar and plug in when, over the next week, you will devote to the inner work of creating that one good habit for 2017, even if it is just for a few minutes every day. Be sure to repeat “appointment setting” for the following weeks as well!
And remember that just as the brain and body can get use to bad habits, they can also get use to good ones! With consistent practice, those positive changes you are creating now will be firmly established in your subconscious mind and you will be well on your way towards a spectacular 2017!
January 9, 2017
© 2016 Dr. Veronique Desaulniers – All Rights Reserved
Submitted to for publication to Kettle Moraine Publications by the author, Dr. Veronique Desaulniers, better known as Dr. V, is the founder of The 7 Essentials System ™, a step-by-step guide that teaches you exactly how to prevent and heal Breast Cancer Naturally. To get your F.R.E.E. 7 day mini e-course, and to receive her weekly action steps and inspiring articles on the power of Natural Medicine, visit http://breastcancerconqueror.com/.