Why Abrupt And Immediate Change Rarely Works
And The Two Situations Where It Can Work
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Why Abrupt And Immediate Change Rarely Works
And The Two Situations Where It Can Work
We are getting ready to come into a new year.
You know what that means...
Everyone is going to be trying something “new” to start off the year.
It might be a new diet.
Perhaps it is working out.
Maybe they are looking to start a new business process.
Whatever it is...
People are going to try to change...
Everything, abruptly and immediately...
And most of them...
Will fail in their goals to change.
Whatever it is...
From the new diet...
To the workout schedule...
Or the new business process...
Along with most other goals for change...
Will fail...
Often, before January is over.
Of all the people who commit to changes...
Only about 8% of them will finish the year still doing whatever they changed...
And most of those who fail...
Will fail for the same reason.
They tried to do it abruptly and immediately.
Now, does “everyone” who tries to change everything abruptly and immediately fail?
No.
But the vast majority do...
And there are really only 2 specific situations where abrupt and immediate change actually succeeds, which is why it rarely works.
But let’s look at why it fails first.
At any given moment...
Our bodies have a certain tolerance for handling stressors.
This is known as our Allostatic Load, or our Stress Threshold.
What is important to understand is that “all” change is a stressor.
Even “good” changes are stressors.
So, even if that diet could be a wonderful diet...
Or working out could be good for our health...
Or the new business process could create brand new revenue...
They are all still stressors at the beginning.
What happens when we move past our Stress Threshold?
We go into Dis-Stress...
And it sends our bodies into a Fight-or-Flight State, also known as Sympathetic Activation.
What does the body naturally do in this state?
It seeks to avoid stressors...
And defaults to past patterns.
The result?
Even if our mindset tells us that these changes will be beneficial to us...
The rest of our bodies will be set against the change.
Here is also where it becomes incredibly important to understand psychophysiology within this context...
The more extreme the stressor...
The further past our Stress Threshold we go...
The more violent our bodies will react.
This is known as a Shock Response.
By creating an abrupt and immediate change...
Often of a large proportion...
We create a Shock Response in our bodies.
This can then become what is called a Trauma Capsule that is stored within our Nervous System.
The problem here?
Anything that the Nervous System determines is relatively “similar” to what is stored in these Trauma Capsules...
Even if logically there is no correlation...
Will ignite a harsh Sympathetic Activation...
That is “very” difficult to overcome.
So, if we look at Diet as our first example.
Most people attempt to cut out sugars, a form of carbohydrate, from their diet.
But there are a few problems with that.
First, their bodies have usually gotten “used” to using carbs for fuel...
And often have become less efficient at using fats for fuel.
The result?
Is that at the cellular level...
Specifically in their mitochondria...
They have cut off their normal energy supply...
And their cells are not prepared to effectively change to a new source of energy.
This creates a catastrophic shortage of energy, which shocks the system...
Often causing our Neurogastroenterology to demand foods to make up for the sudden energy shortage...
Which is why people often get cravings and cannot stop themselves from breaking their diets.
Now, that is just an example within diet, but similar situations occur within all other changes as well.
The shock of the abrupt and sudden changes is simply too great for the vast majority of people to handle.
There are, however, two specific situations where people are able to handle the abrupt and immediate change.
The first is under extremely supervised conditions, where the person undergoing the abrupt and immediate changes has little to no other choices available to them.
This is how Rehab works, as well as how the contestants in the old show “The Biggest Loser” operated.
When people are in these highly designed environments...
It is “easier” to overcome the shock...
Partially because they do not have any other choices available to them...
But often also because they have professionals who are they to assist them through the most difficult aspects of the shock.
The downside to this, however, is that many of the people who experience change in these types of conditions...
Often succumb to relapses later on...
Because their environment is no longer highly designed as it was before.
That also does not include the many environments where people have a host of people around them that, directly or indirectly, do not support their goals.
So, this usually only works if these individuals continue to remain in highly designed environments and are persistent in maintaining those boundaries.
What is the second type of situation where abrupt and immediate change can work?
It usually requires two specific ingredients...
First, it requires your total stressors to be low...
So that when the stress caused by the immediate and abrupt change occurs...
It does not cause you to go past your Stress Threshold, and therefore does not cause the Shock Response.
Second, it needs a deeply important “why” that the individual deems significantly greater than what is changing.
Now, what is important here is that it needs to be “significantly” greater based on their “perception”.
The classic example here is the parent who smokes.
Is their child’s health important to them?
Absolutely.
But what else is important is that they are calm enough to handle the other stressors of their lives.
What tobacco does is create a “calming” effect.
Usually, smokers rely on this calming effect to help them handle the stressors of their lives.
This puts the parent in a dilemma where if they “stop” smoking, they may struggle to handle the stressors of their lives and therefore struggle to show up for their child the way they want to...
As a calm and collected parent able to handle the world around them, and to be an example of that to their child...
But if they do not stop smoking, then they may put their child’s health at risk.
Both of these are important to the parent and their relationship with their child...
And often one does not “win” over the other.
This means that the parent will usually look for a “middle ground”...
Where they only Smoke Outside...
Try to only wear specific clothing when they smoke to reduce the smell on their clothes around their kids...
Or always keep windows open to create air flow to reduce exposure.
Does it work?
Not completely.
But from the parents’ “perception”, this allows them to both handle the stressors of the world around them and show up for their child better, while also attempting to reduce the exposure as much as possible.
All that matters, from the Change Psychology perspective, is that neither option is “perceived” to greatly outweigh the other.
Now, what is the other reason that this second situation is rarely viable?
Most people in today’s world...
Are living in constant Dis-Stress...
Already past their Stress Threshold before they even begin.
80% of the workforce is in Burnout...
Which is a state of being that can also be described as being caused by Chronic Dis-Stress.
If you are already past the Stress Threshold...
Any abrupt and immediate change will simply cause a Shock Response...
Meaning that most people cannot actually “do” this second option.
So what are the options available to us then?
For most people...
The solution is not an abrupt and immediate change...
But a series of small and incremental changes.
Research in diet has shown that even 40% consistency...
Less than half the time...
Can create sustainable weight loss and changes in diet.
Is it perfectly ideal?
No.
But what the small and incremental change does...
Is “begin” the process of changes...
Which can be built upon along the way.
Small and sustainable changes...
Begins the process of momentum...
Gives your body proof of positive change...
Which helps create motivation to create further change.
The research on diet also shows that 80% consistency creates “dramatic” changes...
Meaning that we do not even need to get to 100% changes to see long-term and sustainable changes.
We do not need immediate and abrupt change to succeed...
We need sustainable change to succeed...
With enough of a window of imperfection to be human, and to enjoy our lives.
This applies to every area of our lives.
Will there be some things that you can become near-perfect at?
Sure.
But will that be everything?
No.
We have to pick and choose our battles...
While continuing to work toward something better.
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