Practice makes us stronger. If you have a musician in your life, or if you play an instrument, you’re well aware that regular, daily practice is necessary. The internal discipline of regularly putting some of your energy into practicing your skills helps those skills stay strong and develop over time. Lately, I realize that I’ve started practicing something that I never intended to develop: consuming the news.
Don’t Practice What You Don’t Want To Build.
Subtle changes to how we spend our energy are always happening but sometimes we start inadvertently practicing these behaviours regularly. That’s great, if you find yourself putting more energy into a part of your life that feeds your goals. But, I find that I’m drawn to repeatedly consuming the news and this feeds anxious thoughts. I don’t want to be practicing what I don’t want to build.
…our brains continue to change throughout our lives. Depending on our experience, including the memories we revisit and the skills we practise, some synaptic connections (connections between neurons) become stronger, while others wither away. This ability of our brains to change is known as plasticity.*
A Personal Energy Audit
I’m regularly using energy to read the newspaper, talk about what I’ve read, and return to read some more. The news is taking an increasing amount of my time and energy away from the positive things that I want to be building. My practice of consuming news is getting stronger and creating intense, draining emotions. This new habit doesn’t fit into the type of life I want to be living.
Where I Use My Energy
I want to be practicing what I want to build and so I’m making a small shift. It’s a gentle re-adjustment to my day before this new habit gets any stronger. When I look at how things were before I slid into this “news practice,” I was using that energy to write and create. We all have a finite amount of energy and if one activity is using up some of it, then that energy is being taken away from something else.
The redirection of thoughts and actions will start to change neural pathways as habits begin to be replaced, and new parts of the brain are used. The brain literally starts to rewire itself with a simple change of mindset.**
I want to use my energy for writing and creating. Redirecting my energy to write, instead of reading the news is a positive swap for me. It allows me to practice what I want to build.
Comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts about practicing.
*How to practice changes in the brain.
**How to rewire your brain.
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