Building Muscles of Change

Some people handle change very well.  It is almost as if they have had training.  Maybe they have?  Maybe there is such a thing as building up muscles of change. 

I read Zen Habits, one of my favorite blogs, and there was Leo Babauto writing about the principals of growth that may aid in change like a workout helps build muscles.  Here is a list of a few things he said:

1.  Start Small - If you try to life too much weight at first, you'll have bad form and injure yourself and won't last long.  But if you start with just the barbell you can learn how to life and you are much more likely to stick with it for awhile.  The change muscle is the same; start with one change, just 5 minutes a day.  You will want to do more, but if you do more, you're much more likely to fail in the long run.

2.  Train regularly.  Some people will go to the gym for a week, then stop, the start again in a few months.  This is a waste of time, and no progress will be seen.  You have to do it regularly to see any progress.  Same with the change muscle, do it daily, just 5 minutes a day.  You'll get stronger and stronger with regular training.  Don't start big, then fail after 1-2 weeks, then start again later.  Regular repetition is the key.

3.  Increase load gradually.  If you don't increase the weights, you don't get stronger.  But if you increase too much, you'll get injured.  With your change muscle increase your daily training by 5 minutes each week -- so 5 minutes a day the first week, then 10 minutes a day the second week.  You'll be amazed at how strong your change muscle gets with gradual progressive loading.

4.  Res, and cut back on other work.  Most people don't understand the importance of rest when it comes to training.  We train, then rest, and we grow.  If we don't rest, we hurt our progress.  Growing the change muscle is the same --- you need to train, then rest.  Meaning don't try to make changes all day long at first.  Don't try to make your first change as you're traveling and taking on big projects and also taking classes and making three other changes at the same time.  You will overload yourself.  Make one change, and let yourself stick to your regular routine/load the rest of the day.

5.  Fuel the growth.  Aside from rest, fuel is one of the most overlooked aspects of muscle growth.  You need  sufficient calories for growth, otherwise all the training in the world won't get you anywhere.  So what fuels the growth of muscle change?  Motivation.  Find as many ways to motivate yourself as possible.  Make the change enjoyable, get a partner, join a class, blog publicly about it, join a forum, create rewards, celebrate small victories, create a chart to see your progress.  The more, the better!  Most people underfuel their change muscle.

So there you have it.  These tips are great whether it's actual weight lifting, or not.  This could apply to starting meditation on a daily basis, or even just deep breathing.  It could be anything you want it to be.  Don't beat yourself up - get out of the blame game - realize that you CAN teach yourself new tricks if you really want to.

Let me know what you think of these suggestions and be sure to share if you have something that worked well for you in the discipline/change department.