We all get stuck in the loop at one point or another, but it takes a keen eye to realize when it is happening and a great deal of intestinal fortitude to break out of it. At some point or another, we need to make a conscious decision to break the cycle and do something different if we hope to break the loop and move forward. We are not bound by the constraints of Hollywood in our own personal loops, so figuring out what to do to break the cycle can depend on a lot of different variables. The first of which is to actually identify that you are stuck in the loop.
One of the reasons it is so hard to diagnose the loop is that we are all hardwired for consistency and we find comfort in knowing what to expect. It is when we are thrust into change and inconsistency that we lose our ability to control certain variables and we get a little frustrated because we things are not happening the way we think they should. If an event plus our response equals the outcome (E+R=O), anything that is inconsistent with how we operated in the past is going to require us to develop a new response so a new outcome can be generated. This takes a lot of work because sometimes our go-to responses aren't going to work as they have in the past. This response, however, is the precise way to breaking the loop.
There is research available that tells us that our brain begins to create shortcuts when we repeatedly do things over and over again. These shortcuts conserve energy and allow us to normalize things so we can get into a routine. One of the reasons we get so tired and stressed when we are put in new situations is because the shortcuts our brain has established don't work like they are intended to and then we have to expend a lot of energy rewiring the connections. So, while the loop may sound like a good thing, it can actually be detrimental over the long run because we aren't challenging ourselves to create new connections and think about other ways to do things. That is when the loop becomes dangerous. When we get into such a routine that we aren't experiencing any changes, big or small, we run the risk of letting the loop turn in to rut.
Sometimes all we need is just a quick reminder that change can be a good thing. I'm not talking about change for the sake of change, but rather, just mixing things up a little bit to redefine our processes and how we go about doing our daily business. At the very least, if we make a concerted effort to try to modify things on a regular basis, we won't find ourselves reliving the same day over and over again wondering why we ended up where we are at and why things seem to never change. We are in control of the loop, we just need to have the courage to break it every now and then.
#OwnYourEpic #Embrace
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