"The One Thing": Read This One First

This is the first of "The One Thing" blog articles. The premise around these articles is a reflection of the one thing I learned this week that stood out or resonated with me the most.  'Love of learning' is my dominant character strength according to the VIA Strengths Assessment.  As a side note, if you haven't taken this assessment, I highly recommend it.  There is no cost to take it and you can access it here. Now, back to my story. So, because I love to learn and then share that knowledge with others, I take in A LOT.  I learned early on in my study of personal and professional development that whenever I read a book, article, attended a training or webinar, that I needed to identify just one thing that most stood out to me and then reflect on how I could apply it. 

Was there more than one thing?  Typically yes.  There were a lot of things that I would learn about.  But I also learned that trying to take on or implement too many new behaviors at once was the key to overwhelm and NOT taking consistent action on any one of them.  I don't want to go too deep into this here, but, as a general rule, we as humans do not like change.  In fact, we have a variety of systems in place to maintain that stability.  This state is known as homeostasis, and it doesn't only impact our physiological systems.  When we start to stray too far outside of our comfort zone, it not long before we will start to cognitively feel the effects, whether it be through self-doubt, negative self-talk, or a variety of other signs that are employed to bring us back to "safety". We can also see this occur within our social circles.  Think about if you have ever decided to make a change that was different than what your social circle was used to or comfortable with.  Maybe you wanted to start a new activity or take on a new goal or quit an activity that you and your circle commonly engaged in. Maybe you wanted to start a new company or engage in healthier behaviors, and you were met with resistance and didn't receive the support you had expected. Has this ever happened to you?  If so, that, my friend, is your social circle trying to maintain homeostasis. Even when change is good for us, we resist it.

If you want to know more about this and how to build habits that serve you and eliminate those that don't, I invite you to check out my free training, Building Habits That Stick.

Back to "the one thing"- Each week, I will be writing about the one thing that has stood out to me the most and share it here.  I hope that you enjoy and find value in these reflections and are able to implement these lessons in your life to help you #GetBetterEveryday.