Do Any of These Get in Your Way?
In my last post, I described some of the barriers to implementing creative ideas that you might have, and differentiated between internal barriers (those within our minds) and external barriers (those in the environment). What are our probable internal barriers, those within our minds, that can get in the way?
Inertia: It is easier to do things the way we always have. Change requires more energy, and the discomfort of not knowing whether a new way will be better than our usual way of doing things.
Custom: Changing how we do something is going against a custom. Might we alienate or even offend others?
These barriers are the result of habits that form as our minds handle stimuli. How do habits form?
To review:
1. As the mind scans its surroundings, it registers all stimuli, both external (the environment) and internal (within our body and mind). We refer to this as the "Scanning Function" of the mind.
2. The mind matches a stimulus with a response by searching the memory for previous responses to those stimuli. We refer to this as the "Matching Function."
3. Once a stimulus has been matched to a response, the two are so closely associated that when the stimulus reappears, it is automatically matched to the same response. It has become locked in. This is what creates an internal barrier to implementing a new idea.
4. To change the old way of doing something, an interruption must occur between the stimulus and the locked-in response because that gives the mind time to choose a new response.
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Courage: It does take courage to renounce an established way of doing things. No matter how small a change may be, it involves confronting the unknown. Will it work? If it doesn't, will that cause difficulties?
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The Inner Guide
An Inner Guide can create the necessary interruptions between stimulus and response to unlock locked-in habits and allow new responses to occur, which include creative ideas. Although interruptions occur spontaneously in nature, an Inner Guide can cause them to occur systematically, as they are needed. And because it is dedicated to increasing your comfort, it works to eliminate any fears you might have, which gives you the necessary courage to implement your creative ideas. If you don't yet have an Inner Guide, you can acquire it here: https://emotionalcomfort.com/blog/post/you-can-acquire-an-inner-guide-part-4
