F61 — REWIRING YOUR BRAIN
How repetition, practice and new experiences build new pathways.
Have you ever wondered why it's so easy to fall back into old habits, even when you're absolutely determined to change?
Perhaps you've decided to stop worrying about what everyone thinks of you, become more assertive, exercise regularly, respond more calmly to stressful situations or finally stop reaching for your phone every time you have thirty seconds to spare.
You know what you want to do differently.
You've made the decision.
You've even bought a lovely new notebook to write your intentions in.
And yet, before you know it, you're doing exactly what you've always done.
It's tempting to conclude that you're simply not very good at change.
But there's something rather fascinating happening inside your brain.
Your brain is extremely good at learning from repetition. Unfortunately, it doesn't always distinguish between habits you'd like to keep and those you'd rather get rid of.
The encouraging news?
Your brain continues to adapt throughout your life.
And that means change remains possible, even when certain patterns have been around for decades.
Meet neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt in response to learning, experience, practice and other influences.
Your brain contains billions of nerve cells called neurons, which communicate through complex networks.
When you learn something new or practise a skill, activity within these networks can change. With repeated experience, some connections may strengthen, others may weaken, and the way networks work together can become more efficient.
These changes can help support learning, memory and the development of skills and habits.
Neuroplasticity isn't something that happens only during childhood.
Although the developing brain is particularly adaptable, adult brains retain the capacity to learn and change.
So if you've ever thought, "I'm too old to change", there's good reason to question that assumption.
You may have spent years practising one way of doing things, but that doesn't mean it's the only way you can do them.
Your brain loves a familiar route
Imagine walking across a field.
The first time, you have to make your way through long grass. It's slow, awkward and requires concentration.
But if you walk the same route regularly, a path begins to appear.
Eventually, you can follow it almost without thinking.
Now imagine deciding to take a different route.
At first, it feels unfamiliar. You have to pay attention to where you're going. You might even find yourself drifting back towards the old path.
But the more often you use the new route, the easier it can become to follow.
This is a useful metaphor for how practice and repetition can influence behaviour.
Familiar patterns often require less conscious effort because we've rehearsed them so many times.
And that's wonderful when it comes to brushing our teeth, driving a car or making a cup of tea.
It's rather less helpful when our well-practised response involves procrastinating, catastrophising or automatically agreeing to something we'd really rather not do.
Familiar doesn't necessarily mean helpful. It simply means familiar.
Why knowing what to do isn't the same as doing it
Here's one of life's more irritating truths.
Understanding something intellectually doesn't automatically change how we behave.
You can know that exercise is good for you and still struggle to do it.
You can understand that worrying doesn't solve a problem and still spend hours worrying.
You can recognise that you need stronger boundaries and still find yourself saying yes when you mean no.
You can know that comparing yourself with others makes you miserable and still find yourself scrolling through Instagram.
Knowledge matters, but behaviour also involves habits, emotions, motivation, environmental cues and previous experiences.
Sometimes a response has become so familiar that it happens before we've consciously considered another option.
This is why lasting change often requires more than a moment of insight.
We need opportunities to practise doing something differently.
And then practise again.
And, rather annoyingly, again.
Thoughts aren't facts — and they aren't permanent instructions
Our minds produce an extraordinary number of thoughts.
Some are useful.
Some are imaginative.
Some are anxious predictions.
And some are complete nonsense.
Yet we can become so accustomed to particular ways of thinking that they begin to feel like unquestionable truths.
"I'm terrible at public speaking."
"I've never been a confident person."
"I'm hopeless with money."
"I'm just not someone who exercises."
"I'm too old to start again."
These statements may reflect past experiences, but they don't necessarily describe permanent limitations.
And repeating a belief can make it feel increasingly familiar, even when it isn't entirely accurate.
This doesn't mean every thought creates a brand-new neural pathway, or that simply repeating positive affirmations will magically transform your brain.
The relationship between thoughts, emotions, behaviour and brain activity is far more complicated than that.
But learning to notice an automatic thought, question its accuracy and experiment with a different response can help us develop more flexible ways of thinking and behaving.
Instead of "I'm hopeless at this", perhaps try:
"I'm finding this difficult because I haven't had much practice."
Or instead of "I always give up", try:
"I've struggled to maintain this before. What could I do differently this time?"
You're not pretending everything is wonderful.
You're allowing room for another possibility.
The more we practise, the more familiar something can become
Think about learning to drive.
At first, there seemed to be an impossible number of things to remember.
Mirrors. Indicators. Gears. Clutch. Road signs. Other drivers.
And somehow you were expected to do all of this while maintaining a conversation with a driving instructor.
Now, much of it happens automatically.
Practice helped you develop the necessary skills until they required less conscious attention.
The same broad principle can apply to other behaviours.
You can practise responding more calmly.
You can practise speaking up.
You can practise organising your day differently.
You can practise approaching challenges with curiosity rather than immediately assuming you'll fail.
And you can practise healthier routines until they begin to feel more natural.
Of course, complex emotional and behavioural patterns aren't identical to learning to drive.
Some involve deeply established beliefs, difficult experiences or mental health conditions that may require professional support.
But the underlying message is encouraging.
The way you've always done something isn't necessarily the way you have to keep doing it.
But how long does it take?
Ah, the question everyone wants answered.
Preferably with a nice round number.
You may have heard that it takes 21 days to form a habit.
Unfortunately, the science isn't quite that tidy.
Research by Phillippa Lally and colleagues found considerable variation in how long different behaviours took to become more automatic.
In their study, estimates ranged from 18 to 254 days among participants for whom a reliable estimate could be made.
The time depended on the behaviour and the individual.
And developing a habit is not exactly the same thing as measuring changes in the brain.
There isn't a universal deadline for neuroplasticity.
Some learning happens relatively quickly. Other changes require extensive practice.
Sleep, stress, health, motivation, opportunity and the complexity of what we're learning can all influence progress.
So rather than asking, "How long until I've completely changed?", perhaps ask:
"What could help me practise this often enough for it to become easier?"
Repetition matters. But so does the environment.
Imagine deciding that you're going to stop looking at your phone first thing in the morning.
You could rely entirely on willpower.
Or you could charge your phone downstairs overnight.
The second approach makes the old behaviour less convenient.
Similarly, if you want to exercise regularly, laying out your clothes the night before might make it easier to get started.
If you want to eat more vegetables, having them prepared and visible in the fridge can help.
If you want to become more assertive, practising a few simple phrases beforehand may make difficult conversations less daunting.
The environment can either reinforce familiar patterns or support new ones.
And this is worth remembering because change isn't simply about being mentally strong enough.
Sometimes the smartest approach is to make the behaviour you want a little easier.
What about old habits? Do they disappear?
Not necessarily.
An established habit can remain available even after you've developed a different response.
This helps explain why old behaviours can sometimes reappear during periods of stress, tiredness or disruption.
You might have developed a healthier way of dealing with difficult emotions, but after a particularly exhausting day, find yourself falling back into something familiar.
That doesn't mean all your progress has disappeared.
Learning isn't necessarily erased by one setback.
The important thing is recognising what happened and returning to the behaviour you're trying to develop.
Progress doesn't require never using the old path again. It involves making the new one increasingly available and useful.
Neuroplasticity isn't always positive
Here's an important point that sometimes gets lost in the enthusiasm surrounding brain science.
The brain's ability to adapt is not automatically beneficial.
Repeated experiences can reinforce unhelpful patterns as well as helpful ones.
Chronic stress, persistent avoidance, repeated negative experiences and certain health conditions can also influence how the brain functions.
So neuroplasticity isn't a magical guarantee that we can think our way out of every difficulty.
Nor does it mean people are responsible for every aspect of their brain health or emotional wellbeing.
Our biology, circumstances, relationships, environment and experiences all matter.
But it does mean the brain isn't a completely fixed structure that stops adapting once we reach adulthood.
And that's a hopeful starting point.
A few ways to encourage learning and change
Start small. Choose something manageable enough to practise regularly rather than attempting a complete personality overhaul.
Repeat with purpose. Give yourself opportunities to practise the behaviour you want to develop.
Pay attention. Notice what triggers your usual response and what happens when you try something different.
Allow mistakes. Learning involves adjustment. One difficult day doesn't undo everything.
Make use of your environment. Reduce unnecessary obstacles and create reminders or opportunities that support your new behaviour.
Rest and recover. Sleep and recovery play important roles in learning and memory.
Try new experiences. Learning a language, developing a skill, exploring a new activity or challenging familiar routines can give your brain opportunities to adapt.
Be patient. Some changes take considerably longer than others.
And remember, you don't need to become an entirely different person.
You may simply want to develop a few different ways of responding to life.
A little coaching reflection
Take a moment to think about the patterns you've developed over the years.
1. What familiar behaviour or way of thinking would I like to change?
Perhaps something related to confidence, relationships, health, work or everyday habits.
2. When does this pattern usually appear?
What situations, emotions or circumstances seem to trigger it?
3. What does the familiar response give me?
Does it offer comfort, certainty, avoidance, reassurance or a sense of control?
Even unhelpful habits often serve a purpose.
4. What might I like to do differently?
What alternative response would feel more consistent with the person I want to become?
5. What would make that new response easier to practise?
Could I change something about my environment, routine or expectations?
6. How might I respond when I slip back into the old pattern?
Could I treat it as information rather than evidence that I can't change?
Try this: Create a new route
Choose one small behaviour you'd like to practise over the next week.
My familiar response:
The situation that usually triggers it:
The new response I'd like to try:
One thing that could make it easier:
When I'll practise it:
What I'll do if I forget or slip back:
At the end of the week, reflect on what happened.
Did you notice the old pattern more quickly?
Did you manage to respond differently, even once?
What made it easier or harder?
What might you adjust?
You don't have to get it right every time.
The experiment is about learning, not proving anything.
A final thought
Your brain has spent your entire life learning from your experiences.
Some of those lessons have been incredibly useful.
Others may have helped you through a particular stage of life but no longer serve you quite so well.
Perhaps you've spent years believing you're not confident, not disciplined, not adventurous or simply not the sort of person who changes.
But your past behaviour isn't a permanent instruction manual for your future.
You can learn.
You can practise.
You can experiment.
You can develop new skills, habits and ways of responding.
And you can do all of that at 30, 50, 70 or beyond.
It may take time. It may feel uncomfortable. And occasionally you may find yourself wandering straight back down the old familiar path.
That's part of being human.
You can't simply think yourself into a completely different brain overnight. But you can give your brain new experiences to learn from, one small step at a time.
And considering how many years you've spent practising some of your old habits, perhaps it's only fair to give the new ones a little time to catch up.
Sources and further reading
Kolb, B. & Gibb, R. (2011). Brain Plasticity and Behaviour in the Developing Brain. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 20(4), 265–276.
Lövdén, M., Wenger, E., Mårtensson, J., Lindenberger, U. & Bäckman, L. (2013). Structural Brain Plasticity in Adult Learning and Development. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(9), 2296–2310.
Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W. & Wardle, J. (2010). How Are Habits Formed: Modelling Habit Formation in the Real World. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009.
Wood, W. & Rünger, D. (2016). Psychology of Habit. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 289–314.
Squire, L. R. & Dede, A. J. O. (2015). Conscious and Unconscious Memory Systems. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 7(3), a021667.
National Institute on Aging — Cognitive Health and Older Adults. www.nia.nih.gov
FUSION FIT — MOVE WELL • EAT WELL • LIVE WELL