Change your mind, and the rest will follow!

"Progress is impossible without change and those who
cannot change their minds, cannot change anything.”
- GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Change has a very negative connotation for most people. On a deep emotional level, we are creatures of comfort, and we automatically seek out what feels good in the moment. We long for comfort, usually from what we know is familiar. Once we can comfortably deal with and "know" all the "unknowns," we can "relax." Because your nervous system and mind are designed to find and attach meaning(s) to everything, something new is always a confrontation between what is and will be in your mind.

The unknown is always something that your mind and nervous system must "unravel" afresh, and this process feels uncomfortable on many levels. When something becomes comfortable, you get used to it as you remove all the "unknowns," and your automatic behavior can take over again. Our nervous system works primarily by conditioning, and we notice and assume consistent patterns by repetition. This system is there to serve us, helping us be more efficient and able to do more.
 
Your mind is designed to always look for the best way. We learn certain orders and sequences in which things happen and recognize and respond according to these sequences through repetition. Every emotion you experience, for instance, is nothing but the result of a sequence of events and reactions triggered by your unconscious awareness that generates and creates the actual feeling, which is nothing but a sensation in your nervous system.

To change anything, you must first be aware of these patterns. It would be best to become aware of what goes on under your conscious awareness. This is not difficult, and everybody can do it. You need not understand everything about the human nervous system to use it. Be aware of the fact that there is a part of you that responds and acts "automatically" based on your past experiences and associations. The challenge is to go from one pattern that does not serve you to one that does. You would have to change your mind in that you have to change how you perceive yourself and your life. Doing things differently will make you feel uncomfortable at first. Still, you can rest assured that the "uncomfortable" will become "comfortable" as you start forming new associations and patterns of association.

Making the "uncomfortable" comfortable or making the "unknown" known is how we grow as human beings. What you are comfortable with represents your comfort zone, including all the experiences you can comfortably deal with. If you don't expand this "zone, " you won't expand yourself. The need to grow and become more like a person is a deep emotional need all humans have. Without growth, you won't be happy. Although it feels uncomfortable at the moment, all growth always feels immensely fulfilling in the long term, and it is this feeling that we all crave, the feeling that we call "good." You can do something that feels comfortable and "good" at the moment by staying with what you know, but true fulfillment comes from pushing beyond your comfort zone and creating a sense of pride in yourself. Growth means change, which involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown.

The truth is that all of life is constantly in a process of change. Nothing ever stays the same. It is the nature of all of life, including you. Even if you do nothing, life will still change. To progress, you have to decide to initiate and create the change consciously. It would be best to consciously put yourself in the uncomfortable place where you can grow, and as you do this, you progress. Progress is by choice, while change is automatic. To be in control of your life, you have to consciously choose to change and keep changing yourself to become the person you want to be. 

All change starts with a change of mind. You have to start by changing your thoughts about what you want to change. In changing the way you think about something you immediately change your perception and, consequently, how you feel about it. When you change how you feel, you change your behavior, which is how you progress. Constantly trying to change behavior will rarely create long-term and lasting change. Change your mind, and the rest will follow! If you don't change, you won't grow; if you don't, you are not living.