This post doesn’t have much to do with Zach Bryan

It does have to do with me holding my phone in my left hand, kind of.

For about a year or so, ok if I’m being fully honest, more like two years, I was telling myself that I should start walking again everyday.  It crossed my mind more times than I’d like to admit but I never actually did it.  I had all sorts of excuses every time it crossed my mind- it’s hot, it’s cold, I have work to do…

As I write this, I’m remembering a post or blog I wrote awhile back about how once I even changed all the lightbulbs in my house instead of walking.  

I’ve lost count but now  I’m somewhere around 6 months of walking daily. What changed?  How did I finally get started?  What does this have to do with Zach Bryan and holding my phone in my left hand?

It came down to no more excuses and taking the first step, literally.  I just had to start and I did.  Then I held myself accountable and I did it the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, which turned into six months of a daily habit. 

I did a few things to make myself more successful like getting my clothes and shoes ready so they were glaring at me when I woke up.  I walked first thing in the morning because I know that my motivation tends to fade later in the day.  I didn’t give myself any days off or outs because I knew if I took days off, it would be harder to go back the next day. I also started small.  I walked about a mile.  That mile gradually led to two, which gradually led to three and today I went a little more than three.

Into the first month, there were days I didn’t feel like going and my old thought patterns crept in- it’s too hot, it’s too cold, I should change the all lightbulbs in the house (or anything else that would get me out of doing the thing I didn’t feel like doing).  But I walked.  

Change requires fighting the old to build the new.  

The second thing I did was try to change my mindset.  Instead of telling myself that this was something I had to do, and instead of giving attention to the thoughts saying that I didn’t want to do it, I started telling myself, “This is the only hour of the day that is all yours.”  It was true.   In that hour of the day, no one needed anything from me, it was all mine. I typically use it just be, or to listen to my favorite music or podcasts on topics that I am interested in.

Now here’s the third thing I did.  Somewhere around month five I started trying to walk with my phone in my left hand.  I’m right handed.  This doesn’t have much to do with walking but it does have to do with change.  You see, in order to create change, actual physical change in the brain, three things have to happen: 

Repetition- 

Each time you repeat a thought or action, the connection between neurons strengthens through a process called synaptic plasticity.  With consistent repetition, the new behavior or mindset becomes more habitual and automatic (less of a struggle).   So, I walked every day.

Emotional Connection/Intensity- 

An experience must have a level of urgency, importance, or strong emotion attached to it to stick. When an experience is meaningful, the brain releases neurochemicals (such as dopamine) that act as "glue" for new memories and habits.

I changed my mindset from “this is a chore”, to “this is a sacred time for myself.”

Novelty- 

New neural pathways only form by new experiences. The brain needs to be challenged, highly focused on one thing, or doing something new or out of your comfort zone for the brain to be capable of rewiring itself.

I started trying to train myself to hold my phone in my left hand.

I didn’t try walking with my phone in my left hand because I thought it was going to have some earth shattering, life changing impact on me.  I did it because I know it’s important for the brain and in the process here’s what I learned…

At first I couldn’t go more than a few seconds without habitually and unconsciously trying to put the phone back in my right hand.  Over time those seconds slowly grew but it was challenging. 

It made me self-aware about change in general.  It got me thinking about the change process for not only myself, but my clients, how difficult it can be and what it requires to create any type of change. 

It kept me present, I had to operate within that 5% of conscious behavior, versus the 95% of unconscious, habitual behavior where we spend most of our waking hours.  

A few months later, I can carry the phone in my left hand for most of the hour walk and only have to correct myself a few times.  I’ve created a new neural pathway in my brain.  

All right, time for Zach Bryan.  I was writing this post, turned blog, in my head as I was walking.  Because there was no way to take a picture of me holding my own phone in my left hand, I took a screenshot and this was the song that was playing at the time, Smaller Acts.  There are no such things as coincidences.  Change often just starts with smaller acts, the little things that one day you decide you are going to do or think about in a different way. Whether it’s the way you’ve been thinking about a situation, a habit you are trying to start or stop, a longstanding pattern of doing or being  that no longer works for you, you just start somewhere, somewhere small, somewhere that seems doable for you.

I often explain the process of change like a tower of building blocks.  If you are on the bottom block and look up at the top of the tower, it may seem daunting which will likely lead to self defeating thoughts like, “There’s no way I can do that,”  and then, you won’t. 

Instead, you take it one block, one step, at a time. You start where you are and you build on it. I started with a short walk, made it repetitive, made a positive emotional connection to the change, added some novelty and over time added on, one block at a time. Today I walked a little further. Other days I will continue to add my blocks in order to not become stagnant and to keep growing. Sometimes I will walk different routes, sometimes I will add a nighttime walk to the mix, sometimes I will write blogs in my head and make myself put them on paper when I get home. 

Smaller acts. 

Need a little motivation to get started? Join us on our 100 day summer challenge. Ask your therapist more about it.