Today we’re looking at a habit that Einstein once said was the first sign of insanity, yet most of us do it during the Holiday Season!

Do you keep doing the same thing, but expecting different results?

It always makes me giggle whenever I go to London and see foreign visitors following someone who has used an Oyster card through the underground barriers.
The visitor will invariably watch the Oyster card user in front of them carefully, then take their manual tube ticket and place it on the Oyster card reader, expecting the barrier to let them through.
When it doesn’t, they look confused and try again.
Only when someone comes to offer help do they learn that their ticket goes into the slot on the front of the barrier instead.

What they were doing wasn’t working, but they kept on doing it. And we all do it!

We even have a saying about it:
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.”

But that only works if you get flexible.

If what you’re doing isn’t working and you keep doing it, it’s likely to keep not working.

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is clearly not rational, but it’s something we’re all very good at. And when it comes to times like Christmas, we often end up unconsciously repeating the very behaviour that caused things to go wrong last year – but hoping for different results.

The bottom line is: if you keep doing the same things, you’ll keep getting the same results.

If everyone threw a tantrum because they hated sprouts last year, chances are they’ll do it again this year.

If you didn’t enjoy Christmas last year because you didn’t voice your needs and just expected people to magically guess what they were and meet them, what might happen again this year?

If you collapsed, exhausted, on Christmas Eve, just wishing it could all be over because you didn’t let enough people help you, then that’s what you are likely to experience again this year – unless you do something different!

If what you’re doing isn’t working, try doing something different…

Go on, I dare you!

It might not be as scary as you think.

I’m curious: where in your life can you see yourself running this pattern? Which changes could you make – today – and what impact might they have? Here’s where to share:

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Want Some Extra Help? Want To FINALLY Break That Habit Next Year?

If you want to make breaking that old habit one of your New Year Resolutions, you might want to join me for the webinar I’m running to help you make your New Year Resolutions ROCK this year: Masterclass: Why New Year Resolutions Don’ Work – And What You Can Do Instead.
If you enjoyed this article, then here’s where you can find the rest of your Advent Calendar – and scroll down to register for a free quick reminder, so you catch each instalment – AND a gift copy of my book: 101 Ways To De-Stress Your Christmas.

I would LOVE to hear how you got on with today’s message, via the comments.

See you tomorrow with Day 10!

With love, Namaste,