This Wednesday evening begins the new Jewish Year, 5785. Rosh Hashanah and the days through Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are a time of reflection for Jews. We look back on the past year: what did we do well, upon what could we have improved? The holidays are all about change.
As a Rabbi and a Personal Trainer, change is a key part of my professions. As a trainer, I work with clients to get them to make changes in their health and fitness habits. As a rabbi, I work with others to change the world for the better, and also to make changes within ourselves that help facilitate it.
Can we really change, though? Is it possible to break out of our habits?
Recently, I took a continuing education course taught by Julia DiGangi. Dr. DiGangi is an expert in the connection between our brains, emotions and relationships. In the course, she discussed habit formation; habits are actions triggered automatically in response to contextual cues that have been associated with their performance. About 43% of our conscious experience is engaged in habitual behaviors! Most of the time this a good thing (like hygiene), but other times they can be negative (like smoking). Many of us–in both the spiritual and fitness realms–want to take the habits that do not help us and turn them into something positive. It is quite an effort, and unfortunately many of us give up before we can allow the new, better habit to be formed.
DiGangi explained how our brains are key in this process. The brain is like a “predictor machine;” it is not perfect, but it works well enough to keep us alive. Habits are simply fast predictions of how things should go; they can be overlearned patterns that are carried out without attention. There is a part of the brain called the Basal Ganglia; it controls addiction, emotion, thinking, and voluntary movement. It is a hugely important part of the brain and it is where habits rest…and where they can be broken.
The Basal Ganglia is also where attention lives. If we want to make real change, it will require a lot of attention. We must figure out how attentive we are, whether our attention is out of whack (ie, we are paying attention to the wrong things), and how we can improve our focus. Too often we focus on our problems and save little of our prectious time and energy on solutions. We need to refocus and pay attention. We should ask ourselves what are we REALLY trying to change–what is the root cause that needs fixing? How many times have we addressed it before and what did we do–and why was it not successful? Once we have done this, we must determine what is the TRUEST solution to the problem–not the easy one or the seemingly obvious one, but the one that will truly be successful. Then we need to be judicious with our time and resources to put that solution into effect.
This requires a tremendous amount of attention. Research shows that it takes 66 days to build a new habit. How many of us have the patience to work on a habit for that long? Does knowing it takes that long make a difference? Will it give us perspective and patience?
Again, whether we are looking at spiritual or health matters, attention is at the core of making real change. It is a difficult process, but it is possible to accomplish our goals and create positive habits that lead to positive character.
Best wishes to all who celebrate for a happy, healthy New Year. To all of us, pay attention. It is the foundation for change.
Kosher Fitness 