All it wants is to keep us safe, to survive. But it’s rules are simple. In fact, there are only two:

1. Learn what we do
2. Don’t allow change

The first one is really useful, when we repeat something enough times, we find that we won’t even have to think about it. Thus freeing up our minds to focus on more important things. Or so we would like to believe. The second rule makes us focus mostly on the same things we did the day before. Studies show that at least 80% of our thoughts are the same as yesterday. And the day before that.

So you see why it can be hard to change our ways. To make it stick, to do it without thinking, we need to repeat it over and over. But we mostly repeat what we already know, what we already believe. That is what routines are all about.

This is why we need to use tricks to be able to change our routines. Tricks like setting goals, visualizing these goals, arrange our daily life to make it as easy as possible, tell people about our goals, take small steps and celebrate along the way. The efficiency of these tricks varies depending on your starting point, but you will need to make use of several of them. If one seems daunting, take the time to explore why before dismissing it. It may be that it works better than you would like to admit. Sometimes succes is scary, but don’t worry, it’s just the Guardian trying to make you stay the same.

So why is it so important for the Guardian we avoid change? To start with, we are talking about our subconscious, which you might have guessed. In short, what you have been done for a long time and not gotten you killed or injured must therefore be safe. So doing something else, something new could be dangerous. Why take the risk?

To use this to your advantage, remember that:

• You are not lazy because your inner voice is trying to talk you out of it, that’s just the Guardian getting worried
• You are not slow, many repetitions is needed before it becomes a new routine, this takes time