“Hypnosis. Really? That sounds like a bunch of BS to me. There’s nothing wrong. Besides, I’ve talked to head shrinks before, and all they want to do is talk about bad memories from the past.
It doesn’t make anything better. Instead, I have to relive the past again, and that’s the opposite of what I want. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
It’s common to think that our situation won’t improve or that things might get worse if we talk to someone about it.
Resistance shows up each time you are about to do something that’s out of the norm, like talking to new people, visiting a foreign place, or beginning a program that modifies your routine.
Resistance – the refusal to accept or comply with something.
People resist change for various reasons, including:
1. They want to be right or fear looking wrong if they accept new information.
2. Fear that their situation could somehow get worse than it is.
3. There will involve physical or emotional pain during the transition.
4. Loss of control.
5. Lack of understanding as to why the change is necessary.
6. Believing they are already right in their knowledge of the situation or that it won’t improve even if they tried (fear of failure).
7. Poorly structured reward system (pain associated with changing and insufficient pleasure connected to new behavior or outcome.)
Before developing my One Belief Away™ Method, I tried convincing people to change in various ways, including logic, reasoning skills (cognitive behavioral therapy/rational emotive therapy), positive affirmations, aversion (associating massive pain to a current behavior), and hypnotic suggestion.
Yet, none of these approaches seemed to produce lasting, sustainable change.
Having a clear understanding of a situation and acquiring additional knowledge doesn’t guarantee behavioral change.
Everyone knows eating doughnuts and smoking cigarettes is terrible for your health, but how many people have stopped doing it?
High stress can ruin your quality of life.
Yet how much time do you devote to daily practices that lower stress and increase feelings of peace and tranquility?
If the answer is “not much,” go through each of those seven reasons people resist and identify the one holding you back.
On the other side of resistance lies joy and tremendous success because of the rapid growth that comes from improving our responses to life.
“Your most significant breakthroughs hide in the places you resist visiting.”
When you get frustrated, angry, indignant, irritated, or annoyed, recognize this as resistance and an opportunity to elevate self-awareness and emotional maturity.
It won’t feel like that’s what’s happening at the moment, which is why becoming a more patient and wise human being is challenging.
But it’s worth the rewards that come from creating stronger relationships, experiencing greater vitality, or finally attaining that goal that was out of reach for so long.
Tim Shurr