Pretty Smart

LESSON 5: EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF INSANITY

“To change one’s life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.” William James, philosopher and physician

You don’t have to be an Einstein to recognize that his theory of insanity holds true. He says that you can’t keep doing the same things the same way and expect different results. Follow the recipe for a pound cake and you’ll always get pound cake. In today’s fast paced world, change is inevitable. What was once thought impossible is now a daily occurrence. You can either get run over by events or use them to your advantage.

The secret to personal change is to examine your attitudes and behaviors and determine which ones keep you stuck, then do something about it. So simple, yet so hard. Habits can be tough to break. Significant effort will be required to excise that old fixed way of thinking in order to move in a different direction.

The women who compete in the Miss America pageant system understand that to get beyond being a runner-up, they have to analyze their own performance and the attitudes that hold them back. Then they need to be open to altering how they respond and to make the changes necessary to succeed. They recognize that not accepting the need to change is a risky strategy. Rather than let change be forced on them, they embrace it.

Donna Axum (1964) uses the analogy of the little engine that could. “You have to build up speed and keep going to get over the mountain. Once you’ve reached the top, the next hurdle doesn’t seem nearly as difficult to jump. The ability to break out of the mental prison of one’s own making holds so many people back from accomplishing their goals, achieving success, or overcoming illness or adversity. You’ve got a choice. You either do it or you don’t.”

You can talk about going back to school, getting a new job or losing weight until you’re out of air, but until you walk through that classroom door, or write your resume, or close the refrigerator and your mouth, none of those desired states will happen.

There is no road map to bring about change. You can start any time, any place. It’s never too late. When you shake things up, even just a little bit, amazing stuff starts to happen.

The butterfly effect

In 1960, Edward Lorenz, an American mathematician and meteorologist, discovered that microscopic alterations in his calculations of the weather forecast changed the predicted outcome dramatically. He wondered if that meant that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil could cause a tornado in Texas. Small changes in one part of the world can have a huge effect elsewhere.

Any action you take or decision you make, no matter how minute, has the potential to alter the course of your life and put you in either a place of joy and accomplishment or depression and defeat. A ship at sea can vary its course by a fraction of a degree and, over time, end up at a destination a thousand miles from where it would have landed if it had stayed its original course. So even if you have been on a downward slope in your life or just stuck in place, making one small positive change can put you in a very different neighborhood a year or two or three from now. Renovating your mind-set to say no to a negative influence or yes to someone offering a hand can make the difference.

Rebecca King (1974), an attorney, understands the butterfly effect. When she talks to young people she tells them that “the choices they make now will impact their future. I go to court with kids who come to me. They may have minor possession or driving issues, or curfew violations. We talk about the decisions they make and the impact those choices may have on the rest of their life. It will be on their record somewhere. I talk to them about My Space and Facebook. I tell them to think twice before they do something that may haunt them later.”

When Shawntel Smith (1996) changed her thinking after having competed for several years, she found her ability to achieve her goals was enhanced. “The third year I went to compete, I was comparing myself to others. I played mind games and it hurt me more than helped me. Going into that fourth year, I relaxed.”

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