For the past 4o years or so, I have, like most people driven a car that requires me to put the key into the ignition to start. Just one year ago, Last year, I got a brand new mini, which started without inserting the key . So I have been just ONE year driving this new technology.
At the weekend, I swopped cars with a friend. I took the keys, got behind the wheel,engaged the clutch etc and waited for it to start. Much to my dismay, nothing happened! Finally, it dawned on me, this is an older car, I actually have to put the key into the ignition!
Time and again, this week, I was similarly caught out, tossing the key into the cup holder and waiting for the car to start.
So why am I bothering to post about this? Well, it strikes me as amazing, that ONE year’s driving the new way, has completely obliterated my FORTY year old habit. In the beginning, it felt very unnatural NOT to put the key into the ignition, but the “unnatural” has quickly become the new normal. It shows, how malleable our unconscious mind is, how a new way of doing things and new thinking habits can completely replace the old. This is called brain neuroplasticity and it is the most important research to emerge from research in the last 40 years.
This concept is central to my Take the Steps courses Focussing on the good stuff, may seem unnatural at first, but can quickly become our “default” mode. So we are not “stuck” with dysfunctional ways of thinking, we can rewire our brains to adapt a newer and better technology!
