Bug In The Wall
Are you repeating your old ways just because you always have?
There's a cricket in a crack in some bricks in a wall in our living room. He's been chirping loudly, and incessantly for about three days. (Funny how different one loud chirper sounds from the lovely, peaceful background lull of a huddle of nighttime outdoor crickets.)
I studied what can be done to quiet him down (chemical-free) He's chirping to find a mate*, and, apparently, his noise level parallels temperature. I have basically two options. Cool down the temp, or find him a female. As I'm researching, my teen walks by and I explain. "Yeah, good luck finding a mate in a wall," he smirks. The thing is, even if I somehow found a partner for my cricket and tossed her in, he would continue singing, just a little more softly, to keep her around....
It struck me how often we are like this dear cricket.
Years of studying how we process change, and working with clients struggling to leave what's not working, and I know all too well how often we stick with our old ways, even when they are no longer relevant, no longer serve, and maybe drive everyone around us just a little bit crazy.
We're wired this way -- our brains have reinforced those neural pathways again and again and again - so our comfort zone, no matter how uncomfortable- has become our refuge.
The good news? There's a way out.
Ironically, one of the issues my clients sometimes have is that although the best way to circumvent the brain's neural wiring is by taking steps SO tiny, so as to almost trick us into not falling back on our old ways, we rebel. We tend to feel, "Nope, I need to do more. If I'm serious about it, I need to do a few hours a day. If I'm really serious, I should go back to school. At a bare minimum, I should redo my resume this week and draft a business plan over the weekend, just in case."
Problem is, that's exactly what backfires. But taking tiny, but concrete and boundary-pushing steps IS the key to success - to achieving any goal, to building in what you want, to getting out of chirping in the wall.
We all struggle to make huge shifts, even when our status quo is crazy-making. But the way to break out of old patterns is surprisingly simple- mini, quantifiable action steps, built-in motivation and accountability, and adding in the pieces you want instead of trying to stop what doesn't. You may sometimes feel like a cricket in a wall, but you're not alone. Let's do this together.
One-on-one support is available on a limited basis but if you are in the creative or spiritual sectors, or in a sector working towards the greater good, we now offer small-group coaching that may be a great fit for you.
Dawn is the Owner of Whole Life Solutions, career coaching solutions for overwhelmed professionals navigating major chaos and change. She struggled for decades with ADD, anxiety, and hypersensitivity that kept her screaming in the walls. You can now access tips and tools compiled from years of her one-on-one work in one brief and affordable new class: The Twenty Minute Solution. Dawn also facilitates exclusive small accountability groups for driven, creative professionals seeking to maximize impact and success.