4 Tricks For Turning Your 'Aha!' Moment Into The Life Of Your Dreams
You know what you want. Now what?
Peopleimages.com - YuriArcurs | Canva We've all had "Aha!" moments before, when the sudden thrill of something you hadn't understood before, the glimpse of a possibility or the moment when you finally "get it" shines through. It's like a lightbulb turning on in a dark room. Some of these "Aha!" moments can be valuable — if you know what to do with them.
The thrill factor in these moments probably had something to do with survival in our evolutionary past. For instance, a primitive human realizes predatory animals are afraid of fire. Wow, this could be big! The lasting value of this realization depends on what they do with it.
The thrill factor helps us remember better and remembering and following through are the big parts of "Aha!" moments. They may not have as much to do with survival, but they are valuable.
Here are 4 tricks for turning your 'aha!' moment into the life of your dreams
1. Write it down
The thrill factor may not be enough to keep it alive in your memory long enough to figure out what to do with it. We have a lot of distractions in our lives and new ideas have not been reinforced by years of repetition like old habits. So, the new connection you've made can be quickly forgotten and hard to retrieve unlike when we use handwriting, which has been shown by research to activate the visual-motor memory.
2. Think about what you can do differently as a result of this discovery
The one thing we each have more control over than anything else is our own behavioral choices. If I want to change something, the first thing I have to change is my actions. A review of attitudes, habits, and behavioral change supports that changing habits of behavior is not easy.
You will be more successful in turning your epiphany into a change if you have a plan. A plan starts with a ponder. What can you do that is different as a result of your new inspiration?
Let's say you discover your lover likes to hear you moan when you are intimate, but you are generally quiet. You have a choice to keep doing what is normal for you or try a little moaning and see what happens. You might discover it's fun for you as well as your partner. If you decide to try something different, that's a plan.
3. Tweak the plan
Gather information from experimenting or from others. Evaluate the results and keep experimenting until you are confident that you have a plan you are satisfied with.
4. Practice, practice and practice
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A new behavior won't become a new habit unless it is repeated over and over, as defined by Current Directions in Psychological Science,. You will also get the results you want over and over; it becomes self-reinforcing.
The important takeaway here is: don't let those "Aha!" moments go to waste. If they can be converted into a new habit that gets you better results, work those inspirations. Write them down, brainstorm, make a plan, and practice, practice, practice. How do you think Oprah got to be as successful as she is?
Brock Hansen, LCSW, author of Shame and Anger: The Criticism Connection, is a clinical social worker and personal effectiveness coach with over thirty years of experience in counseling individuals with a variety of problems related to shame and anger.