Effective personal change requires two important cornerstones: The first is knowing what result you want to achieve from treatment. The second is activating the neurological responses necessary to induce an adaptive learning experience.
A common mistake people make is focusing on what they don’t want. While it may make sense intellectually, it doesn’t activate the neurological response needed for adaptive change.
To set a well-formed desired outcome or goal, it needs to be stated in the positive. Instead of focusing on what you don’t want, focus on what you want. If you can’t think it, your neurology isn’t being instructed to do it. Picture the desired outcome in your mind and voice it positively. Break big goals into manageable chunks.
Another mistake is making fluffy statements. Saying “I want to be happy” sounds nice, but it doesn’t provide effective sensory cues for adaptive change. To activate neurological change, shift to sensory-based thinking. Represent the desired outcome with images, sounds, feelings, and where appropriate, smells and tastes.
Imagine yourself in the future having achieved your desired outcome. Describe what you would be seeing, hearing, and feeling. Explore the experience of achieving the goal. Then, notice what feels different with hindsight.
Here are some questions to help frame the desired outcome positively: “What does achieving your goal look and sound like?” “How will you feel?” “What will achieving this do for you, give you, or enable you to do?”
Specify your goal in a way that is compelling to you. If it’s a big goal, break it down into manageable steps. The desired outcome or goal must be something you can initiate and maintain. Also, consider the ecological impact of achieving your desired outcome on yourself and others in your ecosystem, such as friends, family, and work.
Essentially this can be summed up as;
1. Stop thinking about what you don’t want and instead think about what you want.
2. Contact us to help you implement effective change.