How to avoid backsliding | Tools for Mastery

When embarking on any adventure we need to prepare ourselves mentally for the road ahead. George Leonard poses a series of questions in Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment.

• How can you avoid backsliding?
• Where will you get the energy for your journey?
• What pitfalls will you encounter along the path?
• How can you apply mastery to the commonplace things of your life?
• What should you pack for the journey?

All of these questions are designed with the intention of bringing awareness to the areas that may lead us astray.  In, this blog post we will be diving deep to address, “How can you avoid backsliding?”

How can you avoid backsliding?

We’ve all made a New Years Resolution to save more money, lose some weight, get out of debt, spend more time with family, and so many more.  All of these resolutions take place on the road to mastery and require the development of a regular practice of choosing to be different.

You might tell your friends and your family about your goals and you fully intend to follow through.  With each day you progress toward your goal(s).  Then you backslide.

Backsliding is part of change and it happens to everyone at some point or another.  We all resist making significant changes in our lives, not per say on a conscious level.  The body, our habits, and brain all seek to optimize and streamline processes and creating a type of homeostasis.

1. Be Aware of the way homeostasis works

On the path to mastery or change in your life, you can and should expect resistance and backlash.  You went to bed the night before pumped and full of intention to wake up at 6 am for your “new morning walk or workout.”

Your alarm clock rings. You are tired and have no motivation.  You wake up at 7:30 and arrive at work by 9 am.  Sure, it could be the fact that “you” are not a morning person, but most likely it is because 6 am is not your habit.

Resistance to change doesn’t just come from within it can come from external sources as well.  Let’s say you want to lose weight or save more money, but your spouse isn’t on board.  It may not be that they are actually not supportive, maybe it’s homeostasis at work.

2. Be willing to negotiate with your resistance

We don’t know when resistance will strike or in what form.  Resistance could occur at work after a new manager comes in and completely flips the organization on its head.  It can happen as pain in the body when you are working out.  In both cases we can leverage the discomfort to transform it.

The easiest way I learned to negotiate with my resistance to change was by taking a cold shower, which I do daily at least once if not twice per day.  At the beginning of the shower, I scream from the discomfort.  I remind myself of my commitments and I surrender to the discomfort.  In that moment, I physically feel a shot of energy run through my body.

The only way that I can describe this rush is through physics.  In physics, an atom is composed of protons and electrons.  More importantly, that the energy of electron is quantized or discrete.  An electron can only exist in certain orbital states around the nucleus of an atom.  Each of these orbitals are associated to an energy level.

For me the cold shower is a quantum leap to a higher energy state and in that moment I have negotiated with my resistance and overcome it.

3. Develop a Support System

Yes, you can take the journey to mastery and change on your own.  It helps to include others into the fold.  Whether you and that person are making the changes together or not. It gives you someone who you can confide in and receive encouragement from.

Being an introvert I need my “me time” and I withdraw often as I am undergoing change.  Like the caterpillar before it becomes a butterfly.

4. Follow a regular practice

Starting to develop a regular practice or routine can aid you in develop of a habit.  Once the habit is developed it will get easier to incorporate the change into your life.

5. Dedicate yourself to lifelong learning

Learning isn’t something restricted to K-12 and your college life, if that is the path you went.  Learning can be beautiful and should be a part of everyday life.  To learn is to grow.  You can learn from your own experiences, book, podcasts, others… Whatever you do keep on learning.

These are 5 tips that we can incorporate to avoid backsliding or at least minimizing its impact on your journey to change your life.  I will be discussing, “Where will you get the energy for your journey?” in the next blog post.  If you’ve enjoyed this post, please do me a favor, share it and sign up to be notified of future posts.