Yes, People Do Change. You Can Too!
One of the expressions I heard while growing up was “leopards don’t change their spots.” While that’s literally true of leopards, we kids were supposed to understand this to mean that people don’t change. The bullies would stay bullies forever. The kid who stole my new boots from the cloakroom (go-go boots! true story!) would be a thief all their life.
I’m sure the lesson was given to us with the intention of protecting us from further heartache. Now that I’m an adult, I see that this lesson is deeply flawed. People do change. If they want to.
Recent research into how our brains work show that we think in patterns. Some of these patterns were set down by our distant ancestors to keep us safe. It was an evolutionary advantage to be alert to the dangers around us. Sometimes a stick on the path, was a dangerous snake. Some red berries were safe but others poisonous; you needed to know the difference to survive. That level of high alert to danger or attention to detail is still useful but not as a constant state of being. Yet our brains are still wired that way, to think negatively first (danger, run!)
Happily, we can rewire our brains to think more positively. Our neural pathways are “plastic“ and with time and practice we can retrain our brains to think positively first.
During coaching, I witness my clients make major changes. Stuck clients get unblocked. Aimless clients become focused. Stressed and unhappy clients find rest and contentment.
Using the tools and processes of Mental Fitness, my coaching clients learn how they have self-sabotaged. This realization begins the process of rewiring their brains so that they have access to their natural empathy, curiosity, and to clearheaded open-hearted action. They are excited to see the immediate impact of Mental Fitness on their mindset and the improvement in their sense of well-being, of optimism and on their productivity.
Yes, people can and do change. Is now the time you’ll take that leap?