I’m lucky really in that I get to work with people from all over. And one of the things that really strikes me about human nature from such a varied perspective, is that we are all the same! I know, disappointing isn’t it! We all think we are so unique and different but the truth is we are so similar it’s scary. Human beings are creatures of habit. And those habits tend to be pretty much the same wherever you go.
Having been interested in personal growth for many, many years now, I’ve watched lots of people, over long periods of time, whilst studying the principles of success. People I’ve worked with and for; people who’ve worked for me, people I know well or just heard of, friends, family .. all kinds of people .. and I’ve observed all these ‘different’ people over years and years, sometimes decades. And you know what’s interesting? Most people don’t like change. Any kind of change. Most people like things just the way they are. Now they’ll tell you they’re not happy or they want to change. They’ll tell you this big change is coming any minute or that big change. This big deal is coming .. this diet will work .. this scheme will make me rich .. and on and on it goes. But if you come back 6 .. 12 .. or 120 months later .. most people are still doing the same things and getting the same results. 10 years on autopilot can slip by in the blink of an eye can’t it!
Why do we do it?
Simple really .. it’s comfortable. It’s comfortable because it’s familiar. And it’s comfortable because it’s habitual. That’s why most people stick where they are. And that’s why they keep getting what they’ve always got. John Maxwell tells a great story in one of his books of a man who goes to a fortune teller. He tells the man that he will be miserable and poor until he is 40. The man then asks what happens next. Then you get used to it he replies! What a depressing thought! It becomes familiar .. it becomes habitual .. it becomes .. comfortable!
But there are some people, just a few, who break the normal patterns of behavior. What is it that they know that most people don’t know ..