Here it is March already! The first day of spring is right around the corner and all those holiday festivities have long past, and so have those resolutions to be a new and better you. How did you do? Did you accomplish your goal? Did you lose that weight, or quit smoking, or kept your new workout routine? Chances are, based on percentages that at least 95% of you went back to the old you and forgot all about what it was you wanted to accomplish as you brought in the new year.

This ever-vicious YO-YO cycle is very common among many people today, not only in America but all around the world. Call it human nature if you want to, but there are reasons why we have trouble keeping up with our goals and a lot of it comes from our brains. Instinctively we all have a desire to be the best version of ourselves. We want to be strong, healthy, smart, and sexy but when push comes to shove many of us are not willing to go that next step to change our brains so we can get to the next level.

Here is a story I would like to share with you to illustrate the point a little clearer. A woman attended a piano concert of a world-renowned pianist. The music was so beautiful, and the woman was so moved, that after the concert she went up to congratulate the pianist and tell him how much she loved the concert. While she was speaking with him she expressed how she wished she could play such beautiful music on the piano. To her surprise the pianist said, “no you don’t”. The woman was shocked! Seeing the expression on her face the pianist continued, “You don’t really want to be able to play music like that; I have to practice that music over and over day after day for hours at a time. That is what I do because I love to play music, but you don’t really want to play music like that because you don’t want to have to put the time in to practice and take away the time from the other things you like to do.

You see we are creatures of comfort; we want to have our cake and eat it too. When it comes to accomplishing the goals in your life, you have to make a strong commitment to making them become reality. Dedication and commitment come from your conscious brain. But be wary, there is another part of your brain that wants you to go back to being comfortable again. That part is tucked away deep down in the oldest part of our brain “the lizard brain” or limbic system specifically the amygdalae. This part of the brain wants us to go back to the easy way of life, to be comfortable and away from the failures that can possibly befall us, to live in a safe and routine world that won’t hurt us. This is why many of those goals and resolutions are pushed back in the closet until next year after only a few weeks, and is also why we fail to achieve our full human potential.

Good habits are hard to make and easy to break, and bad habits are easy to make and hard to break. If you want to change your life you have to change your mind. You have to be like the pianist who is dedicated everyday to being the best he can be. Unfortunately the “Wagon” does not come with seatbelts. Jumping on the wagon is great, getting excited and motivated is a wonderful kick-start to many accomplishments. Motivational books, speakers, and goal setting workshops all can be great things, but there is nothing on the wagon but your own discipline to keep you from falling off, and that old lizard brain is constantly whispering to you to jump off and right back into your comfort zone. The greatest definition of discipline I ever heard is; “discipline is doing the things you don’t want to do now, so you can do the things you want to do later.” That means the pleasure at the end has to be worth more then the pain now.

Motivation to overcome the lizard brain needs constant reminders to be successful. Never ever start a change of life, or embark on a new adventure without a plan. It doesn’t need to be minute-by-minute or hour-by-hour, every detail hashed out plan. However making sure you write down your goals, and creating a plan of action, and a timeline for success is essential. Remember failure to plan is planning to fail.

Every person has something special inside themselves to give to humanity to make our world a better place. Tragically the human potential is often lost to selfishness, addictions, and self-pity; along with discouragement, or lack of support from those around us. Success does not come easy, every adventure has its share of potholes in the road to slow us down or make us think about turning back. Courage to persevere in tough times comes from having a plan, being flexible, and sticking to it. Find someone who you can be accountable to and share you goals and dreams with, so you will have a partner to help you work through the tough times.

Failure isn’t falling down, It’s staying down! If you fell off the wagon from your new years resolution think of it as a learning experience, reassess your goals and create a new plan. Remember Thomas Edison did not fail 99 times when inventing the light bulb, he learned 99 ways how not to make a light bulb. Keep your lizard brain at bay; don’t be afraid and run back to your comfort zone. You can do it, if you put your mind to it.

Dr. Phil Cameron is a Chiropractic Physician and Professional Applied Kinesiologist. He owns the Bozeman Wellness Center, where he treats each patient individually helping every person to live Heathy, live Naturally, and live Optimally.