I loved Lego as a kid. I would spend hours sifting through bricks and bits, trying to come up with something.
My Son is 4, coming 5, and he has started to really get into it. So recently I’ve brought my old box of lego out and we have great fun coming up with buildings, cars, spaceships and whatever else pops into our heads.
One of the cool things I find about Lego is how when you are looking for something in particular, your brain filters out every else.
“Yellow brick.”
“Long, straight.”
“1 bit wide, 6 bits long.”
With those rules in place, you filter out everything else. You are seeing other pieces but you aren’t actually taking in what they are.
Then when you find the first piece you are looking for, you now look for something else and your internal algorithm changes again.
Now piece number 1 that you were looking for before is also filtered out and you filter in, piece number 2 that you now need.
You may have even pushed aside piece number 2 when you were looking for piece number 1.
What is really helpful is to have a good idea of what you are trying to build, a big picture of what it might all look like in the end.
That way, when you come across different pieces you can think “I might need that, but I won’t need those.”
What does this have to do with Behaviour Change?
When you are making choices during the day you are constantly choosing what to filter in and what to filter out, in alignment with what you want to achieve in the long term.
This feeling of what you want to achieve is deep rooted, and the choices it drives are subconscious.
You aren’t necessarily “cheating” on your exercise and diet. It’s just that at this point, subconsciously, taking a rest and eating the delicious food serves your needs more on some level.
This is not to say discipline doesn’t matter. It absolutely does.
This is just to say that if you can nurture a sense of identity in what it is that you want to achieve, then it is easier to make choices that align with it.
It’s easier when you are not competing against yourself.
This doesn’t necessarily need to be a huge goal like a significant weight loss, a marathon or a new outfit.
It could just be feeling a bit healthier, being more active, getting to bed earlier.
This isn’t going to be like flipping a switch, this takes intention and time.
But if you think about what you want ‘the point’ of it all to be and you might find those positive decisions come just a little bit easier.