Odds Against Change
I just read a fascinating article on change in Fast Company. According to research done by Dr. Edward Miller, the dean of the medical school and CEO of the hospital at Johns Hopkins University, the odds against change are nine to one! Their study involved heart-bypass patients. Even with their life on the line, only 10% of those patients changed their lifestyle to avoid a possible relapse!
The question is why? Conventional wisdom would say that a crisis is a strong motivator of change! But neurologists and psychologists are making fascinating discoveries about change. Here are a few of the insights:
A compelling vision of the future is a much stronger motivator of change than a negative fear of something bad happening! Here's my take, heaven is more motivating than hell. Romans 2:4 has always been a linchpin in my theology--"His kindnes leads us toward repentance." In other words, when God wants to change us he doesn't threaten us. He doesn't use fear tactics. He's entices us with his kindness.
One myth of change is that the facts will set us free. But our thinking isn't guided by facts. It's controlled by narratives. The key to change is changing one's metaphors! Change isn't sustained intellectually. It is sustained emotionally. We need compelling reasons that emotionally charge us. And it can't be someone else's reasons. It's got to be reasons we came up with ourselves!
Another fascinating myth is that small gradual changes are easier to make and sustain. The truth is that radical sweeping changes are easiest and most sustainable! That is fascinating. Incremental change rarely works because we can't see sufficient results. I think radical repentance--like buring the books in Acts 19 or burning the plowing equipment in I Kings 19--is the best way to sustain change. You have to "burn the boats" so turning back isn't even an option.
The good news is that neurologists have discovered that our brains retain plasticity throughout our lifetimes. In other words, it's never too late to change.
The question is why? Conventional wisdom would say that a crisis is a strong motivator of change! But neurologists and psychologists are making fascinating discoveries about change. Here are a few of the insights:
A compelling vision of the future is a much stronger motivator of change than a negative fear of something bad happening! Here's my take, heaven is more motivating than hell. Romans 2:4 has always been a linchpin in my theology--"His kindnes leads us toward repentance." In other words, when God wants to change us he doesn't threaten us. He doesn't use fear tactics. He's entices us with his kindness.
One myth of change is that the facts will set us free. But our thinking isn't guided by facts. It's controlled by narratives. The key to change is changing one's metaphors! Change isn't sustained intellectually. It is sustained emotionally. We need compelling reasons that emotionally charge us. And it can't be someone else's reasons. It's got to be reasons we came up with ourselves!
Another fascinating myth is that small gradual changes are easier to make and sustain. The truth is that radical sweeping changes are easiest and most sustainable! That is fascinating. Incremental change rarely works because we can't see sufficient results. I think radical repentance--like buring the books in Acts 19 or burning the plowing equipment in I Kings 19--is the best way to sustain change. You have to "burn the boats" so turning back isn't even an option.
The good news is that neurologists have discovered that our brains retain plasticity throughout our lifetimes. In other words, it's never too late to change.
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