A peg not to hang your hat on

In this article: We're sold on the idea of creating transformational change in a month or less. And then we're left wondering why it hardly ever sticks.

It's often claimed to take 30 days to build a new habit, but it takes years to re-wire the neural networks of our brain. Our thoughts, beliefs, pathologies and world-views which form the assumptive base we call our mindsets, may be expressed as patterns of behaviour, but they're also held as pathways of neural connections.

Our brains are amazing organs made up of a 100 billion (plus) neurons forming over a 1,000 trillion connections, all connected to each other in networks. And we have, it has, the capacity to reorganise these neural pathways [neural plasticity], resulting in brand new thoughts, beliefs, healed pathologies and world-views.

But it takes time, perseverance and consistency to do so. The deeper or more profound the belief, the longer it takes, because a greater amount of [re]engineering required.

Think of these neural networks as the systems, processes and procedures within a corporation, or the judicial, legislative and governmental structures of cultures. And although it could take 30 days to create a new habit, it takes much longer to make fundamental changes to the way massive corporations or countries operate.

A new habit on its own is unsustainable, but creating it could be the first step in changing an irrational, dysfunctional or self-limiting belief, or in building a new more empowered identity.

An inspiring talk may offer a glimpse of a new potential. A motivational retreat, a controlled experience of a new way of seeing the world, or of doing things. But transformation is limited, to no small degree, by the ability of our brain to re-wire and reorganise, allowing it to become a fixed part of who we are.