Here we are again at the beginning of a new year. A fresh start and a time to renew old dreams, think about new ones and declare your commitment to make something happen this year… It’s that time of year for introspection, resolutions and a renewed determination to make changes! Yeah, right..

In a perfect world you would declare with certainty your desire to achieve something and with knowingness and confidence you would find the necessary inner resolve to make that thing a reality!

But what happens between that moment of clarity when you know and feel that this one thing will be a goal and manifest itself during the coming year and the realities of your day to day life? Well for 98% of the people who make a New Years resolution, the determination to achieve that desire will run out of juice before the coming weekend. Sure, those intentions may be honorable and good. It’s just that without the proper “personal infrastructure” already in place, wishes and dreams have little or no chance of ever seeing the light of day.

Why is this the case? Comfort zone!

Fully 80% or more of our waking hours are spent on autopilot. That means we are virtually sleepwalking our way through most of our life reacting to situations by following a preprogrammed script… and it’s not always a script we wrote for ourselves. We don’t think about what we say or how we act most of the time. So it’s no surprise that any new desire we may have which is in conflict with our habitual reactions, attitudes, opinions and beliefs will quickly fizzle out.

Want to make one of your resolutions happen this year?

You can start by changing just one habit. The way you do it is to address the attitudes, opinions or beliefs which support that habit. This simple change in your current comfort zone will result in a dramatic change in the trajectory of your life!

Think of it this way: If you launch a rocket to the moon and it’s only 1% off course, you’ll miss the Moon by about 2,400 miles! Extrapolating that fact to the trajectory of your life: Change only 1% of your attitudes, opinions and beliefs. They are the underlying cause and support system for your current “autopilot script”, that controls the habit. The result is that you will see a substantial change in the future course of your life. A change that will become more apparent during the coming weeks and months!

Resolve to make only a 1% change.

Think about one thing you do habitually that you find yourself (usually) regretting after the fact. Resolve yourself to change that one habit. Become aware of it when it happens and if you can “catch yourself”… stop before you do it. It’s going to take a little practice because you are going to have to “wake up” and become fully aware of that single automatic reaction. You’ll get the hang of it over time and pretty soon you will have replaced that automatic reaction with a new consciously chosen replacement …One that reflects who you are now not who you might have been somewhere back in time when the bad habit was formed.

The neat thing about this approach is that you will usually discover the attitudes, opinions and beliefs that support the habit you want to change. When this happens you will be able to change the habit easily and completely because you will be able to consciously alter the infrastructure supporting its’ continued existence. In other words, you will be able to modify your comfort zone.

Mark my words! At this time next year, as you review the past twelve months you are going to be amazed at the difference that single change has made in your life. Remember: Change only 1% of your attitudes, opinions and beliefs and you will forever alter the course of your life…

-Bob Baran