Why does it sound easy to follow the advice we are given (or even that we give ourselves), but it is so hard to do?

Tons of books have been written on this topic. Why do people read all those self-help books and keep persisting in all the same things they have been doing, and not making real change for the better after finding answers that would probably work?

Inertia is a big part of it. We have an established pattern for how we live our lives and how we deal with problems and what we do in certain situations. It's so much easier to just react automatically and do what we have always done.

There are other factors too, many of the same ones that got us where we are in the first place. Maybe we sabotage ourselves because deep down we feel like we deserve to suffer or someone else might not like it if we suceeded in life or other such stuff.

And change is scary. Change will bring new problems along with it. Do we have enough confidence to be willing to face the problems that will come? One way to combat this is to realize that we are always going to have obstacles and problems, but we get to choose the problems if we are actively making choices to change our lives, so those problems will probably be worth it as opposed to the general junk that is going to get thrown at us anyway if we don't change.

And there probably is some payoff for doing what we have always done. Is it really worth it though?

Just a few thoughts,
Wendy

<font color=blue>Life is filled with tragedy; if you let it overwhelm you, you cannot enjoy life's innocent pleasures. -Robert Heinlein</font color=blue>