Cutting The Main Line
The shortcut to accelerating your behavioral change.
For many of us on the journey of self-improvement, our initial instinct is to accumulate a long list of new, positive habits to adopt. We think, “If I do all these things, my life will magically transform for the better.” This enthusiasm is commendable, unfortunately, it is not always the most effective approach.
“Cutting the main line” approach simply means that when you are looking to change your behavior for the better, rather than finding 8 or 9 new good things that you could be doing to further your growth, you examine your behavior and cut out the one or two things that are really holding you back.
Identify the real culprits
Deep down, most of us know the one or two behaviors that stand as barriers to our desired growth: these are the habits we would rather not face, the ones we sometimes contort our lives around to avoid confronting head-on. Unfortunately for us, adopting additional habits to coexist with our real obstacles is counterproductive.
However, the good news is that these troublesome behaviors are also just as susceptible to change as any other positive habits you wish to instill. Of course, inculcating positive behaviors has its place, but they tend to be more effective when introduced after you’ve cut the main line of your problem.
“Of course, inculcating new positive behaviors has its place, but they tend to be more effective when introduced after you’ve cut the main line of your problem.”
Use the power of focused change
Focusing on one or two key issues can be a game-changer because it will simplify your journey and enable you to direct your energy toward the root causes of your challenges. By so doing, you will be going straight to the heart of the matter and clearing the way for lasting change.
A fitting illustration:
To drive home the importance of “cutting the main line” in our quest for behavioral change, consider this illustration by Dr. Orion Taraban, a psychologist who specializes in helping people overcome various challenges, including anxiety, and who has observed a common pattern in their journeys toward improvement: “One of the things I’m approached frequently about with clients has to do with anxiety. Sometimes these folks want to learn a whole bunch of new behaviors to deal with their anxiety. They want to learn about mindfulness, they want to learn about cardio-restructuring, they want to do exposure therapy…but then it comes out that they are like, you know, drinking two bottles of wine every night which, when they recover from it in the morning sends their sympathetic nervous system into overdrive because alcohol is a neuro depressant which creates the somatic experience of anxiety. So it is like they are putting liquid anxiety into their bodies every single day and rather than examine that behavior that is really putting fuel on the fire of their anxiety, they want to on some level keep doing that but to practice these other behaviors that are at best going to be band-aid solutions in dealing/lessening the impact of the symptoms of what might be the main line behavior issue which in this case is the alcohol abuse.”
Takeaway
The real power lies in focusing on the one or two key obstacles keeping us back to accelerate our journey toward positive and lasting transformation!
You can watch Dr. Taraban’s short 3-minute clip here:
