Change can be a very difficult process. Plus, change means giving something up. The something may be a counter productive belief, a competing strategy and/or it may also be something tangible like the fulfilling feeling food holds for some. Change means giving up what is familiar and comfortable, no matter how uncomfortable it may really be.
Whenever one gives something up, the desire to change, one must also confront the so-called unknown. The unknown being; living without the “thing” that one wants to change (give up.) This often gives rise to feelings of uncertainty. Most people are very uncomfortable when they cannot predict their own feelings or responses. They cannot predict how they will feel because they will be entering unknown territory. Fear of the unknown then becomes another obstacle in the path of one who chooses change.
The desire to change can most likely produce resistance. Resistance is the process of avoiding change. Resistance to change is quite normal.
Most people seem to feel if they allow change then “who they are” gets lost in the process. In other words, by truly becoming the person they choose to become they no longer can identify with the person they once were. This process can actually be terrifying for most of us. This is a true conflict of interest (a conflict between who we want to be and who we are.) So, on a conscious level they want to change because they are no longer happy with some aspect of who they are, and on a subconscious level they resist the change because it is unfamiliar and unknown; that which is unknown is usually very frightening. Which level of consciousness do you think will win out, the conscious desire to change or the subconscious fear of change?
Take this process to a different level, and going back to my May 6 post “Are You a Monday Morning Winner,” just the process of wanting success (a change in the way you think) cannot simply bring success. Your mind (your subconscious mind) is not prepared to deal with “success”; it is resisting with all its might. It is at the core of your being that you need to change. This is where the work begins. This is where realization of what is really needed begins. This is why, for the vast majority of us, the "success" based products, books, tapes, DVDs and seminars don’t work.
Following is the beginning of what I call the “Change Chain”: Desire to Change – Unknown – Fear – Resistance – Conflict
There is much, much more to come……………