How to establish new habits and achieve your goals thanks to the lessons of an Armenian mystic.
"I ask you not to believe anything that you cannot verify for yourself."
Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff.
Gur ... who ?! And now who is this gurciofo ?! artichoke?!
Georges Ivanovič Gurdjieff was an Armenian philosopher, writer, mystic and "dance teacher". Over the years, Gurdjieff's teaching has influenced numerous cultural and literary figures: from the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to our singer and director Franco Battiato.
But why do you want to talk to me about 'I'm Gormita ?! What's wrong with personal growth, good habits or the desire to change your life?
C'azzecca, c'azzecca ;-). As you will have understood by now, what interests me about personal growth They are his practical implications: small, great self-improvement techniques that we can apply to everyday life.
When I first read the Gurdjieff's law of seven, in a book by Claudio Lamparelli, I realized that this theory could be an excellent explanation for all those times I tried to start a new habit or achieve a goal medium term and I failed miserably.
The law of seven
The law of seven, also known as Gurdjieff's law of octaves, is the law, which according to the Armenian mystic, regulates every change process.
According to Gurdjieff (and many modern physicists) the whole universe is made up of vibrations: light, matter, heat, sounds, are nothing but different forms of vibration. These vibrations constantly change state, following phases of growth and decrease. These ascending and descending phases are never realized in a linear way, but always through a move to gradini.
You know well what I think of cosmic vibrations and the Law of Attraction in general; However Gurdjieff's law of seven it can have interesting practical applications when it comes to important accomplishments changes in your life: give it another chance, what do you say? Ok, let's continue.
According to Gurdjieff therefore, every change process follows a non-linear path similar to the musical scale of 7 tones (C, D, E, F, G, A, B), in which between E and F (at the beginning of the scale) and B and C (at the end of the scale) , there are no semitones, but there are gaps, intervals, which cause slowdowns.
This law therefore explains why nothing in nature develops in straight line.
This also applies to human behaviors: when we define a new goal our motivation is skyrocketing, nothing can stop us! At a certain point, however, our good intentions lose their initial "momentum" and we enter a phase of slowdown, in which we are unable to make progress (sounds familiar?). During these intervals many ambitious goals are abandoned and good habits remain among the unfulfilled good resolutions of the new year.
So let's see how knowledge of the law of seven can help us to fulfill our desires for change.
Law of seven: practical applications
When we become aware of the non-linear nature of the change we can prepare ourselves as best we can, by dosing our commitment in line with the phase of change in which we find ourselves.
When our goals or the new habits we want to establish require a prolonged effort, we must become aware of the gaps and intervals: once identified we must introduce one "additional shock“, Or a further push to continue in a straight line. Unfortunately, we usually do not realize these jumps, or we are so lazy and habitual that we prefer to slide along the line of least fatigue. To overcome the inevitable moments of crisis, of "deviation", the most important interventions are memory (awareness) and the transformation of negative emotions into positive emotions.
Um ... cool ... huh ?! Basically what should I do when I feel that life is taking over my good intentions ?!
Here are some practical examples of "additional shocks"
- Keep a personal journal. Recording your thoughts, your goals, the goals achieved and the obstacles encountered on a daily basis helps you to keep the focus on your goals, keeping the awareness of your daily choices high.
- Visualize your goals. Dedicating 5 minutes a day to visualize who we want to become, where we want to go and how we want to feel is in my opinion one of the best habits you can establish. Thinking vividly about what motivated you to pursue your goals can be a source of enormous motivation.
- Apply the rule of 1. Visualizing your goals is important, but taking daily action to achieve them is even more so. There is no more powerful "additional shock" to our accomplishments than looking over our shoulder and seeing so many small positive actions done on a daily basis.
- Stop procrastinating. When you keep putting off an important activity you can be sure that you are in one of those famous intervals that Gurdjieff talks about. In these cases, the best "additional shock" you can give to your life is to stop procrastinating: the little effort required will pay you huge interest.
Well, what are you waiting for? Your life needs an "additional shock"!
