“You can’t sustain actions that directly conflict with how you see yourself,” Success Insider.  This is a reminder that we can tell ourselves we are a certain thing but if we aren’t that way (or don’t really feel/believe we are that way), our mind will fight us every step of the way toward that vision. That explanation may sound a bit defeatist but it gives me hope in a way because it makes sense from a neuropsych perspective.  If we don’t have the pathways in our brain that tells us or is familiar with the action we are trying to accomplish, we will default to what we know.  The other reference in this is that we can say things like, “I’m a millionaire” over and over again but if we automatically think of our bank account and know it isn’t at that level, then we fall back into the patterns we have of NOT being a millionaire.  That may be an oversimplification to a degree but the point is valid: if we don’t FEEL what we see in our being, we will never see it in our reality.  We have to become what we want to bring in what we want.

With time and focus we can shift the way the brain thinks—that is part of the concept of neuroplasticity.  We can shift our neural pathways to create new beliefs.  But if we don’t match actions to those beliefs, we will end up in the same position we were in at the beginning.  We can’t start new things when we repeat the same pattern.  We can’t change if we don’t change.  Until we believe AND do the work to change how we feel/act/view ourselves, we will always fall back on the path of least resistance to what we do know.  It takes time and patience but it also takes focus and belief.  Building a new vision and becoming something that matches it so we can bring it into reality requires work.  When we start to see the results of those changes, we start to form those pathways and the more we walk those pathways, the more they are a part of us.  I will NEVER claim the work is easy but I will always remind us that it IS doable.  Simple isn’t easy, discipline isn’t easy, but consistency is key.  Start small and keep going and eventually we will become that vision.